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This page lists novels that feature the Victorian policeman Sergeant Daniel Cribb.

Wobble to Death

Peter Lovesey

1970

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"In Victorian London, race-walking, or 'wobbles', are all the rage. So on a Monday morning in November 1879 the crowds gather for Islington's bizarre six-day endurance walking race. By Tuesday, one of the contestants is dead. Tetanus from a blister is assumed, but then there is a second death, and this time it's definitely murder. A bemused Sergeant Cribb from Scotland Yard is called in, along with Constable Thackeray, and they soon discover that something foul is at play."

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers

Peter Lovesey

1971

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"Forbidden in Victorian England, the grim and violent world of bare-knuckle fighting has gone underground. So when a headless body is found floating in the Thames, his hands 'pickled' for fighting, Sergeant Cribb knows he is facing a challenge. Desperate for information, they select the young constable Henry Jago to infiltrate the gang, subjecting him to a rigorous programme of purging, pickling and training. Cribb is certain that the losing fighters are being killed, or worse, so getting Jago out just in time is crucial."

Abracadaver

Peter Lovesey

1972

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"A practical joker is haunting the popular music halls of Victorian London - but far from being funny, his intentions are deeply sinister. A trapeze artist misses her timing when the ropes are shortened; a comedian who invites the audience to sing along with him finds the words of his song 'shamefully' altered; mustard has been applied to a sword swallower's blade; a singer's costume has been rigged; the girl in a magician's box is trapped. And then the mischief escalates to murder. Or was murder intended all along? The indomitable detective team of Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray dive into the back rooms and dark alleyways of London as they pursue the elusive criminal."

Mad Hatter's Holiday

Peter Lovesey

1973

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"It's 1882 and Albert Moscrop is holidaying in Brighton, his time dedicated to taking in the seaside scenes, no matter how private. Marching down Queen's Road to the beach, he draws us straight into a compelling drama played out in the fashionable haunts of the nineteenth-century resort: beach, pier, promenade, swimming bath and Devil's Dyke. A keen observer, Moscrop is fascinated by one particular family - the Protheros; and in particular the beautiful Zena Prothero, excessively taken for granted by her husband. Gradually, Moscrop moves into the circle of the Prothero family, only to become involved in a sensational and gruesome murder which horrifies all of Brighton. The local police seek the help of Scotland Yard, provided in the persons of Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray. Once there, they find themselves facing the strangest case of their careers, one just as mystifying as it is macabre."

Invitation to a Dynamite Party

Peter Lovesey

1974

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"The year is 1884 and London is being terrorised by a series of bomb blasts. One of the 'infernal machines' has even bombed the CID office at Scotland Yard and, worst of all, Constable Thackeray is suspected of conspiring with the perpetrators. Determined to help Thackeray at any cost, Sergeant Cribb reluctantly agrees to attend a course on the science of bomb-making in a bid to gain the expert knowledge he needs to infiltrate the terrorists. But before he is ready, he is abducted at gun-point by an Irish-American hammer-thrower, and finds himself an unwilling but vital member of the Dynamite Party."

A Case of Spirits

Peter Lovesey

1975

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"The spiritualist movement has captivated Victorian society: 'sensitivities' and reaching out to the dead are highly in vogue. But the séance is also the perfect cover-up for fraud, or worse, by some decidedly less authentic individuals. As Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray investigate one such instance resulting in an art-theft, they are drawn into a dark and unsettling world, where it is almost impossible to see who is telling the truth. A medium has been murdered, and the suspects are a mix of the eccentric and the highly unsavoury."

Swing, Swing Together

Peter Lovesey

1976

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"After Jerome K. Jerome's Victorian bestseller Three Men in a Boat, rowing on the Thames has become a huge craze. But when several student teachers partake in a midnight skinny dip, one of them finds herself a witness to a body being dumped. The suspects: three men in a boat. When Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackery begin to investigate, no one will take them seriously. However, refusing to give up, they stick to their trail and follow their supicions upstream towards Oxford."

Waxwork

Peter Lovesey

1978

A Sergeant Cribb novel.

"By her own confession, the beautiful Miriam Cromer is a murderess. She is sentenced to death for the killing of her husband's assistant, and the hangman travels to London to earn his fee. Then the Home Office is sent a photograph that casts doubt on her confession, and the matter must be investigated - fast. Sergeant Cribb is called in, but his investigations produce nothing to ease the minds of the authorities. As he plunges deeper into the relationships and history of the intimate group connected with the murder, he becomes increasingly suspicious that something very different indeed happened at Park Lodge, Kew Green, on that March day in 1888."

Motives for Murder: A Celebration of Peter Lovesey On His 80th Birthday by Members of the Detection Club

Editor: Martin Edwards

2016

Sergeant Cribb appears in two stories in this collection: Unfinished Business by David Roberts and The Mole Catcher’s Daughter by Kate Ellis.

"Members of London's famed Detection Club have joined together to honor Peter Lovesey, winner multiple times of the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger and Silver Dagger, and Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. He has also won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar for Best Novel, as well as Grand Prix de Littrature Policire. He is the creator of Victorian sleuths Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray, Inspector Peter Diamond, and the almost true-to-life Bertie Prince of Wales."

• Introduction (Martin Edwards)
• Foreword (Len Deighton)
• The Reckoning Of Sins (Alison Joseph)
• The False Inspector Lovesey (Andrew Taylor)
• Dreaming Of Rain And Peter Lovesey (Ann Cleeves)
• The Walrus And The SPy (Catherine Aird)
• Unfinished Business (David Roberts)
• The Adventure Of The Marie Antoinette Necklace: A Case For Sherlock Holmes (David Stuart Davies)
• An End in Bath (Janet Laurence)
• The Marquis Wellington Mug (John Malcolm)
• A Question Of Identity (Kate Charles)
• The Mole Catcher’s Daughter (Kate Ellis)
• The Trials Of Margaret (L. C. Tyler)
• Ghost Station (Liza Cody)
• The Suffragette's Tale (Marjorie Eccles)
• Murder And Its Motives (Martin Edwards)
• Alive Or Dead (Michael Jecks)
• The Right Thing (Michael Z. Lewin)
• The Super Recognizer of Vík (Michael Ridpath)
• Digging Deep (Ruth Dudley Edwards)
• A Sonnet For Peter Lovesey (Simon Brett)
• A Village Affair (Susan Moody)
• Afterword: Spies, Superheroes and Stolen Goods: Peter Lovesey's Memories of the Detection Club In The 1970s (Peter Lovesey)