The Dublin Railway Murder

The gripping true story of a Victorian murder mystery, shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2022.

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Dublin, November 1856. George Little, the chief cashier of the Broadstone railway terminus, is found dead, lying in a pool of blood beneath his desk.

What appears to be a baffling locked-room mystery explodes into one of Victorian Ireland’s most complex and intriguing criminal investigations. For seven agonising months, the hunt for the killer grips Dublin, as detectives struggle to make sense of this baffling mystery.

A sensational arrest. An electrifying trial. A phrenologist who claims he can read guilt in the shape of a skull. Drawing on newly unearthed police files and secret government documents, The Dublin Railway vividly reconstructs an extraordinary real-life murder mystery – and the almost incredible events that followed.

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Written like a whodunit and wearing its vast research into Victorian Dublin ever so lightly, Thomas Morris’s wholly factual murder mystery is easily one of the most entertaining page-turners I’ve read this year. It’s a compelling, evocative, thrilling, must-read.

Sunday Independent

Illuminates a fascinating Victorian culture and society. And, most importantly for the silent man at the centre of this story, Morris’s painstaking investigation of this perplexing crime and its far-reaching consequences ensures that George Little is no longer forgotten.

Irish Independent

A true-crime masterclass: meticulous, vivid and as compelling as any thriller…beautifully reconstructs mid-19th century Dublin, while never easing up on the pace. Brilliantly done throughout.

Philip GrayAuthor of Two Storm Wood

If, like me, you love everything Kate Summerscale writes, you’ll lap up this compelling murder mystery…Morris draws us beautifully into his expert reconstruction of this baffling case.

The Bookseller

As compelling a read as any fiction thriller.

Thomas Morris unpacks this baffling case with the taut, just-the-facts spareness of the best police procedurals…He deftly peppers the narrative with historical context…An intriguing and compelling true crime whodunit as well.

Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. CreamIrish Times