Wobble to Death

I am three quarters through this invigorating police procedural set in late nineteenth century London. The venue for the murders is a wobble. This is a race-walking endurance contest lasting 6 days and 500 miles. These contests are part carnival and part sport. The leading contestant is quickly poisoned by strychnine. Sergeant Cribb of the aquiline nose and unruly muttonchops is accompanied by the burly constable Thackery who is not so agile in the mind; but, a steadfast and hale assistant. These two characters are as finely drawn as a Picasso etching. The Victorian English setting is lifelike. Every night I anticipate taking to my bed to devour this police procedural. I will return to this review when the crime is solved. The whodunnit is tied up as neat as a bow on a ribbon. I shall be looking for the other 7 books in the series.

Lovesey puts Cribb and Thackery on the trail of a killer at a long distance walk race. An unusual setting for a murder but then passion and greed aren't very selective emotions. I read this book years ago and just read it again. It is just as good now as it was 15 years ago. Lovesey's attention to detail is excellent - you are fed a lot of information to put the setting into context and you don't even know that you are getting a social history lesson. The charecters are well defined and believeable, from the organizer of the race down to the competitor who fades quickly from the race. There are lots of suspects and lots of motives and how Cribb and Thackery sort them out is great to read. One gets a tremendously amusing picture of Thackery conducting an interview on the run, as it were, with the competitors in his wool suit, bowler hat and regulation boots - and him not an athletic person. Cribb continues as the brains of the team and his determination is prevented from being an obsession, in the readers view, by the unintentional humor he injects, usually at Thackery's expense. Even though at times Thackery gets exasperated with his boss, there is a respect and willingness to serve that keeps the team together.This is a fine Victorian mystery novel that is a great read from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

When I first heard of this novel, the premise didn't sound particularly appealing. What's interesting about a bunch of guys participating in a week-long walking contest or "wobble"? However, after reading about the book in the Crown Crime Companion: The Top 100 Mysteries of All Time, I decided to read the book anyway. I'm glad I did. Peter Lovesey's novel is very engrossing and effectively captures the period. Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, should really like this one.

This is a new series to me, and although this book is currently out of print I had it brought in by my library since it's the first book in the series. I enjoyed the story. Detective Cribb and his sidekick are quite unique and the setting is certainly so. It takes place during a six day foot race. These were apparently quite common in the Vicotrian age, where participants would go around a track inside a building for six days - totally 624 miles. They take time off for eating and sleeping (about 3 hours a night), but the winner is the one who completes the most miles in the allotted time. This is a pretty good mystery, and the hero is wonderful. Don't expect an Anne Perry, but the story is entertaining. I intend to read the others in the series.