This volume contains 28 short stories, divided in two collections, of Thrilling Stories of the Railway; as well as one crime novel: Murder at the Pageant. Several of these mysteries feature the author's best known character: Thorpe Hazell, a vegetarian railway detective, whom the author intended to be as far from Sherlock Holmes as possible... The stories were written by a clergyman -Chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford-, Victor L. Whitechurch, and in its time were widely admired by big names such as Ellery Queen and Dorothy L. Sayers for their "immaculate plotting and factual accuracy: he was one of the first writers to submit his manuscripts to Scotland Yard for vetting as to police procedure."The following is the complete list of stories:BOOK ONETHRILLING STORIES OF THE RAILWAY1. PETER CRANE'S CIGARS2. THE TRAGEDY ON THE LONDON AND MID-NORTHERN3. THE AFFAIR OF THE CORRIDOR EXPRESS4. SIR GILBERT MURRELL'S PICTURE5. HOW THE BANK WAS SAVED6. THE AFFAIR OF THE GERMAN DISPATCH-BOX7. HOW THE BISHOP KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT8. THE ADVENTURE OF THE PILOT ENGINE9. THE STOLEN NECKLACE10. THE MYSTERY OF THE BOAT EXPRESS11. HOW THE EXPRESS WAS SAVED12. A CASE OF SIGNALLING13. WINNING THE RACE14. THE STRIKERS15. THE RUSE THAT SUCCEEDEDBOOK TWOMORE SHORT STORIES16. THE SLIP COACH MYSTERY: A RAILWAY ADVENTURE17. A PERILOUS RIDE18. THE CONVICT'S REVENGE19. IN THE ROCKHURST TUNNEL: THE GANGER'S STORY20. A WARNING IN RED: THE STORY OF A RAILWAY MYSTERY21. A JUMP FOR FREEDOM: AN ENGINE-DRIVER'S STORY22. SPECIAL WORKING INSTRUCTIONS: A STATION-MASTER'S STORY23. PIERRE COURNET'S LAST RUN:AN INCIDENT OF THE PRUSSIAN ADVANCE ON PARIS24. BETWEEN TWO FIRES: THE STORY OF A LOST GUN25. THE TRIUMPH OF SETH P. TUCKER26. A POLICY OF SILENCE27. THE ROMANCE OF THE "SOUTHERN QUEEN":TOLD BY THE FIREMAN28. IN A TIGHT FIXBOOK THREEMurder at the Pageant