Dead on the Track

Dead on the Track is a 1943 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty seventh in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Like a number of mystery novels of the era, it has a railway setting. In theme and plot it is very similar to the author's earlier 1931 work Tragedy on the Line. It is the first entry in the series since Hendon's First Case (1935) in which Priestley's old associate Hanslet is the lead investigator. The other recurring police officer in the series Inspector Jimmy Waghorn is now working with military intelligence.

Synopsis
Near the small settlement of Filmerham, the stationmaster discovers a body lying close to the tracks not far from the station. Due to a wartime shortage of police personnel, the retired Superintendent Hanslet is called back into action. By recalling an earlier deduction made by Priestley in a similar case, he is able to work towards a solution.