Wobble to Death (A Sergeant Cribb Investigation Book 1)

It is a big deal at the cavernous Agricultural Hall in Islington, a borough of London. Promoter Sol Herriot is sponsoring the Six Days Pedestrian Contest. How far can a man walk in six days, from 1 am Monday November 8, 1879, to 10 pm the following Saturday? 400 miles? 500 miles? It will be worth it, because the winner gets £500 and a fancy belt.The purse and special accommodations attract 2 pros, Erskine Chadwick, Ex-Captain of the Third Dragoon Guards and Charlie Darrell, with a beautiful lonely wife to cheer him on. Fourteen others round out the field, including the man who trails behind on the first days, "far in the rear came the entrant widely suspected of having bribed his way into the event. It was patently evident, after ten minutes, that the puny F. H. Mostyn-Smith was no runner, and not much of a walker either."Feelings can run high in any sporting event, and pedestrianism is no different. Someone is going to die. And Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray are going to have to figure out why."Wobble to Death", published in 1970, is the 1st of Peter Lovesey's Sergeant Cribb mystery series, and his first published novel. . The writing style is intelligent and fun to read. I just found out that there was a 1979 TV series based on the series, starring Alan Dobie as Cribb, but it looks like it will have to be reissued before I can watch it.Trivia: Pedestrianism wasn't just big in England. It became a lesser hit in America, too, partly because sporting types loved to bet on the outcome. I've attached a "Brooklyn Eagle" newspaper clipping from 1867.Happy Reader

This mystery has most of the elements of a classic who-dunnit. It is set in Victorian England, replete with gaslight and surrounding fog. It takes place in an enclosed, claustrophobic setting where a limited range of likely victims and perpetrators are compelled to stay in place for the duration of the plot. In this case, that self-contained space is an indoor race course where some contenders are doggedly running, trotting, walking, through a 6-day marathon event. Their mileage is recorded as spectator interest grows in accordance with the size of the blisters on the men's feet.The description of the accommodations that the promoters of this kind of event made for the contestants provides interesting historical background. I didn't know that such contests, reminiscent of the grueling, inhuman Depression-era dance marathons held in the U.S. - were a popular Victorian entertainment. Lovesey casts the reader back onto the scene as the field of runners/walkers go through their paces, accumulate laps, take breaks, consume tinctures of strychnine to renew their energy, and then get back on the course to go round-annd-round some more, until one or more drop out – or drop.The writing here is plain, with no literary flourishes. My main disappointment with the book is that the series detective, Sergeant Cribb, is relatively featureless in this installment. He is given no personality, no memorable quirks or characteristics.In this paperback edition, there are a few teaser pages of a subsequent Sgt. Cribb mystery (“The Detective Wore Silk Drawers”) reproduced at the end. In these brief paragraphs, the reader gets to know Sgt Cribb better than in all the pages of “Wobble to Death.” But this book is still worth reading. It will likely introduce you to an aspect of Victorian life that you never suspected.

It is inconceivable that anyone would consider a six day walking race as entertainment now, let alone pay to watch it, but it was considered sport in 19th Century England. In Wobble to Death, murder occurs during the competition, and practically everyone is a suspect, including competitors, trainers, the promoter, his manager and an unfaithful wife.Charles Darrell, perhaps the biggest threat to the odds-on favorite,Captain Chadwick, dies suddenly despite his fine physical condition. At first, the cause of his demise is thought to be tetanus, as he had raced barefoot for a time to ease his aching tootsies, but eventually strychnine is found to be the culprit. His trainer admits to giving Darrell small bits of the stuff purchased from a pharmacist, as a sort of energy booster, but denies lacing the drink beyond the usual dose. Meantime, Cora, Darrell's wife has a sexual dalliance on the first night of the race, as her husband has abstained from sex while in training and she has certain physical needs. The various suspects all had a motive or maybe two revolving around the prize money, the gate, or winnings some may hope to gain through betting. Or so we are led to think. And there is an attempt to fix the race, a devious method used to knock a challenger out of the race without a potential funeral being necessary.Into this morass of human effort and sweat arrives the stolid pair of Sergeant Cribb and his constable sidekick, adorned with the delicious literary name of Thackeray. While investigating Darrell's case, his trainer is found dead, a note pointing to a possible suicide. Everyone is questioned, and Cribb and Thackeray use their deductive powers of reasoning to attempt to sort it all out.Peter Lovesey writes with a light, wry and airy touch, and you can tell he did his research about the times and the sport, if attempting to walk or run about 75 miles a day can be called sport. The myth that sex robbed an athlete of endurance if engaged in six weeks before a major competition was like the Holy Grail among boxers and especially their trainers into at least the 1970's. The walkers are sponged off with a combination of water and vinegar. Today, on hot summer days or nights, baseball players towel off with water and amonia. Small points surely in this winning murder mystery, but a credit due the author for careful depiction of an athletic competition as it must have happened a long time ago.I'm glad I read Wobble, biut I wouldn't want to walk over 500 miles in six days, especially in those heavy leather boots worn in those days. But you can enjoy the book in a couple of days without getting blisters.

Would have liked to read about the competi-tors, cham-pion(s) and their cele-brated feet and would have contin-ued to the end of the book if not for the hyphens everywhere.Might have been good enter-tainment to read about exer-tions as an answer to mechanisa-tion but I’ll probably never know. I returned the book.

A good historical murder mystery by a great author.I first read this book years ago when it first came out.I have been unable to find copies, and then found them on kindle and brought it.It's just as much fun as I remember and Sergeant Cribb is just as entertaining.If you like the Murdoch Mysteries, then I would recommend Sergeant Cribb .

I am a fervent admirer of Mr Lovesey's 'Peter Diamond' books but was disappointed with 'Wobble to Death'. The supposed main character Sgt Cribb was not defined as well as Diamond is and came across as rather 2-dimensional, in fact his assistant PC Thackeray was better. I did not find the plotting as enthralling as Mr Lovesey's other books.However, cannot wait until next month when the latest Peter Diamond is delivered to my Kindle.

True to period, but I did not enjoy this book. I have all the Peter Diamond series by the same author, and hoped Sgt Cribb would feel the same, but was disappointed.

I like detective stories that are set in the 19th century. They usually encourage me to do a bit research on the story's background. Finding out about these endurance races made me think that running a marathon a day is a bit cissy. The character of Cribb is not very well drawn in this book, but later books in the series show more of him.

I loved the television series from way, way back and i'm trying to see if there's a box set of it available from somewhere (doubtful) but in the mean time I'm reading this and watching it all again in my head. And when I've finished this one there's plenty more!