- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Allison & Busby; New edition edition (25 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749004371
- ISBN-13: 978-0749004378
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 165,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
London, 1879. Crowds are gathering in the freezing Agricultural Hall in Islington to place their bets on who will become champion pedestrian of the world in a race over 500 miles in six days. Sergeant Cribb also has a race on his hands - he must catch a ruthless murderer.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wobble to Death is a brilliant victorian "Who dunnit" which keeps the reader guessing until the end. Sgt. Cribb of Scotland Yard is a down to earth, no- nonsense character with a methodical mind. Aided by the long suffering Constable Thackeray, they investigate the death of a champion walker, during a 6 day event at the agricultural Hall in Islington. The story is very descriptive of victorian London. It is a compulsive read with a lot of humour.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Atmospheric, page-turning whodunnit introducing Inspector Cribb. This has an effective period setting and good characters and pacing. I look forward to reading more of this author.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A very unusual venue for a murder
24 Jan 2002
Format:Hardcover
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.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Rightfully Considered a Top Historical Mystery Novel
18 Dec 2001
Format:Hardcover
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.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Good Ride for Most of the Way
2 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
The setting is interesting (a six-day walk-and-run marathon contest in mid-Victorian London), as are the characters. The writing is full of period color, too. And if those were the only factors, I'd rate this book five stars. But in "Wobble to Death," as in another Sergeant Cribb mystery, "The Detective Wore Silk Drawers," the solution to the crime is almost a throwaway, hastily given and not altogether convincing. It is as though an editor told the writer that he had already written 200 pages and that the book had to end in five more, regardless. The finales of both "Wobble" and "Silk Drawers" were so disappointing that they soured the enjoyment that had carried me through both books. That's a shame, because otherwise they are quite entertaining.
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