Wed 12 Oct 2022
Archived Mystery Review: PETER LOVESEY – Swing, Swing Together.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
PETER LOVESEY – Swing, Swing Together. Sgt. Cribb & Constable Thackery #7. Macmillan, UK, hardcover, 1976. Dodd Mead, US, hardcover, 1976. Penguin Books, US, paperback, 1978. TV Adaptation: Cribb, 20 April 1980 (Series 1, Episode 2).
For some reason, I’ve never until now attempted any of Lovesey’s tales of mystery taking place Victorian England. I’m not sure why. Too much exotic background to detract from the mystery? Maybe. At any rate they never tempted me.
I was wrong, I admit it.
On a dare, a schoolgirl goes midnight bathing in the Thames, naked. Not only does she have to be rescued downstream by a policeman, but she is also caught: up in a manhunt for three murderers. Nothing surely to help her reputation!
But she proves herself a most remarkable heroine in helping Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray solve the case, built incidentally about a certain .Jack the Ripper. Told with happy good humor, slightly naughty at times. Lovesey doesn’t let the mystery detract from the background, b it blends the two into a wholly delightful concoction.
Rating: A
The Cribb/Thackeray series —
Wobble to Death. Macmillan 1970.
The Detective Wore Silk Drawers. Macmillan 1971.
Abracadaver. Macmillan 1972.
Mad Hatter’s Holiday. Macmillan 1973.
Invitation to a Dynamite Party. Macmillan 1974.
A Case of Spirits. Macmillan 1975.
Swing, Swing Together. Macmillan 1976.
Waxwork. Macmillan 1978.
October 13th, 2022 at 9:49 am
I read many of Peter Lovesely’s mysteries in the 1970s. After that…not so much. But I have fond memories of SWING, SWING TOGETHER.
October 13th, 2022 at 10:15 am
I remember getting WOBBLE TO DEATH when it first came out, and I read the rest of the series that followed, as well as his Bertie books, his many short story collections, some non series books – ROUGH CIDER, KEYSTONE, THE FALSE INSPECTOR DEW, ON THE EDGE – plus some of the Peter Diamond books. I know those are very popular, but I prefer his others.
October 13th, 2022 at 10:17 am
I loved all of Peter Lovesey’s Sergeant Cribb mysteries, particularly “The Detective Wore Silk Drawers” and “Waxwork.” I’ve hoped in all the years since the series ended that he would offer up a new entry, but so far without satisfaction.
Cheers,
Jeff
October 13th, 2022 at 6:20 pm
I’ve just added the complete list of the Cribb/Thackeray series to the end of the review. I should have done it earlier!
After this small epiphany of a review, I read most but not all of the series — which ones, I no longer remember — but I do recall reading WAXWORK and expecting the have the next one in my hands soon, but of course I never did.
October 13th, 2022 at 7:18 pm
This series and the series based on it are a delight. The books are lean, well researched, and full of incident and solid mystery mongering at the highest level.
Lovesey and H.R.F. Keating probably did the historical mystery as painlessly and well as anyone after Carr, and always with panache and humor.