Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey is one of Britain’s most prolific and successful crime writers, having produced more than fifty novels and collections of short stories. Wobble to Death, published in 1970, was his first novel and introduced his enigmatic Sergeant Cribb, or Cribb of the Detective, as he is called by one of the characters.

Set in the late nineteenth century, Wobble to Death recounts the mishaps that befell an endurance walking race staged in Islington. Such events, known as ‘wobbles’ because of the jerking gait of the participants, became increasingly popular in Victorian London, attracting great media interest and becoming the subject of extensive betting. This race started at 1.00 a.m. on Monday and was scheduled to continue until late on Saturday night, with an enticing prize of £100 on offer to the competitor who had covered the greatest distance during that time. There were fourteen contestants, two of whom are allowed to compete on their own separate track, being what would now be termed ‘elite’ athletes, having performed with great success in a number of previous endeavours. One of them, Captain Erskine Chadwick, is a former army officer, attend by an assistant who had previously been his batman, while the other, Charles Darrell, is a professional walker/runner, who had racked up a number of celebrated victories in previous endurance races around the country. He is attended by Sam Monk, his personal trainer. While they are clearly the strongest contenders, neither Chadwick nor Darrell had previously competed over six consecutive days. Each of them is assigned a hut of their own in which to snatch any periods of rest, eat their meals and receive any ministrations from their attendants. The other competitors are less well known, with no racing pedigree to boast of, and each find themselves sharing their hut with another contestant, with all twelve having to compete on the same crowded track.

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