''Wobble to Death'' is a 1970

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

by the British writer

Peter Lovesey Peter Harmer Lovesey (10 September 1936 – 10 April 2025), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of Historical mystery, historical and Detective fiction, contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known ser ...

. It was the first of a series of eight novels featuring the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

policeman Sergeant Daniel Cribb, a member of the Metropolitan Police. It was published in Britain by Macmillan and in America by Dodd, Mead & Co. it received positive reviews from critics. The plot revolves around a

walking marathon A walkathon (walk-a-thon), walking marathon or sponsored walk is a type of community or school fundraiser in which participants raise money by collecting donations or pledges for walking a predetermined distance or course. They are similar in for ...

in 1879 in which several of the participants are murdered.Herbert p.XVII

Adaptation

In 1980 it was adapted as an episode in the first series of the ITV television show ''

Cribb ''Cribb'' (''Sergeant Cribb'' in North America) is a television police drama, which debuted in 1979 as a 90-minute TV film from Granada Television in the United Kingdom. Later, thirteen 50-minute episodes were produced, which ran from 1980 to ...

'' starring Alan Dobie and

William Simons Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played from 1992 to 2010. Early life Simons was born on 17 November 1940 in Swansea ...

References

Bibliography

* Herbert, Rosemary. ''Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing''. Oxford University Press, 2003. * Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. Garland Publishing, 1984. *Murphy, Bruce F. ''The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery''. Springer, 1999. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1970 British novels British mystery novels Novels by Peter Lovesey Novels set in London Novels set in the 19th century British detective novels British crime novels Historical novels Macmillan Publishers books Dodd, Mead & Co. books British novels adapted into television shows {{1970s-crime-novel-stub