Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers
A Sergeant Cribb Investigation #2

by Peter Lovesey



      The Detective Wore Silk Drawers is the second Sergeant Cribb investigation by Peter Lovesey and just as enjoyable a read as the first, Wobble to Death (also reviewed on Myshelf.com).  Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray find themselves back in the world of Victorian sports, although a much less respectable segment than the walking race "wobbles" of the first book.

When a headless corpse is found in the Thames, physical signs make it clear the victim had recently been a bare-knuckled prizefighter, even though the sport had supposedly been penalized out of existence some dozen years before. Nor was this the first such body in recent years. Could it be the cost of losing a bare-knuckled fight had gone far beyond broken bones and scars? Taking advantage of his boss’s instructions to re-examine his methods to reduce his unsolved crime rate, Cribb decides to co-opt a wellborn young constable named Henry Jago, who boxes legitimately (with gloves), and use him to infiltrate the bare-knuckled world.

This is a suspense-filled tale, with much of it focused on Henry, who finds himself over his head in a country house not that different from the one his family lives in, but filled with a whole new world of people who are very different from those he’s used to (he’s not only from an upper class family, he’s been sheltered in a clerical job with Scotland Yard.) His job is to find evidence of the crimes they know were committed and where, but without getting caught. The exhausting physical training to mold him into a fighter is the least of his problems, even before he himself discovers the latest victim.

As with the first book, the story springs to vivid life through fascinating characters who clearly belong to their equally well-crafted Victorian world rather than this one. It’s another shortish, fast-paced read, filled with even more action and suspense than the first, but still dominated by excellent writing with a light seasoning of dry humor.  I’m really happy that Soho Constable is reissuing this series to remind people of just how well this sort of story can be done.

Highly recommended.

The Book

Soho Constable
October 2008 (reissue of a 1971 release)
Trade Paperback
1569475245 / 978-1569475249
Historical Mystery [Southern England 1880]
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Peter Lovesey has been awarded the CWA Gold, Silver and Diamond Daggers

The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2008
NOTE:
© 2008 MyShelf.com