The Great Train Robbery (1975)

Edward Pierce’s scheme to steal gold from a train in 1855 London needs access, copied keys and people who can perform the right social role at the right moment. Crichton lets the separate preparations become pleasures in their own right, then brings them into a moving operation. This is a historical novel inspired by a real robbery, not an account of the 1963 train robbery. Its interest in Victorian customs supplies context as well as occasional pauses in the action.