Customer Reviews

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers: A Sergeant Cribb Investigation (Sergeant Cribb Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am very glad to have found Peter Lovesey. This is the second book in his Victorian series starring Sergeant Cribb and the long suffering Constable Thackery. Mr. Lovesey recreates the Victorian atmosphere very accurately. And this is a new form of English cozy crime. Mr. Lovesey seems to want to delve into the Victorian sports era. This particular book is about "knuckle fighting" without the mittens as they call it. There was a huge following of this sport in England at this time despite the fact that even watching was illegal. We get right into the whole area and learn all about the clothes, the gear and the lingo. On top of that it's a cracking good thriller. I certainly intend to read more in this series. I am thourougly enjoying it.

When a headless corpse is found floating in the River Thames in Victorian England it is up to Sergeant Cribb( of the agile mind and bushy side burns) and his hale and hearty sidekick, Thackery, to get to the bottom of the murder most foul. Although fighting under the LONDON PRIZE RING-RULES (bare knuckled, no rounds, spiked shoes for stomping, throws o.k. ) has been outlawed for twenty years Cribb taps into an underground bare knuckle fighting ring. They recruit the young, handsome, and jacked rookie constable Jago, to go under-cover and train as a bare knuckled boxer. Well the police procedural gallops along at a furious pace. There is a beautiful young widow with a touch of evil. Bare knuckled fights are staged surreptitiously. All together it makes for a worthwhile read.

The second of Peter Lovesey's Victorian mysteries (now reissued) plunges Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackery into the underworld of bare-knuckled pugilism. In 1880, fighting with "the raw `uns" has been outlawed in England for a decade, yet matches in out-of-the-way locales still draw huge crowds. When the headless body of a man with scarred knuckles washes up on the Thames Embankment, Cribb recruits a young policeman, Henry Jago, to pose as one of these midnight pugilists. But young Henry, good-looking, fit, earnest and callow, is no match for the seductive, sadistic Mrs. Vibart, who manages a stable of brutal fighters on her estate. And when Mrs. V. is herself found brutally murdered in her bed, the evidence points to, of all people, Henry. Will Sergeant Cribb crack the case--and hopefully before the unfortunate Henry is beaten senseless in the ring? Read on.

Like all the Sergeant Cribb mysteries, this one is deftly plotted, lightly ironic, and full of the color of Victorian sport.

I have read a lot of Peter Lovesey and read any of his books I can get. This series is kind of light and fluffy-entertaining but not one to keep you on the edge of your seat or make you want to know more about the characters.