Waxwork

Lovesey completely held my interest with this one. A beautiful (and truly photogenic) young wife of a professional photographer confesses in writing to killing the husband’s assistant. Her unusual calm is striking. Just to absolutely sure before her death sentence is carried out, Sergeant Cribb is asked to go over the case. He does…and things get very interesting.

I took a star off because the theme of Cribb being overlooked for promotion, despite stellar detective work, has become tiresome to me. That said, I would recommend this one to any lover of detective stories set in the Victorian era. I found the book somewhat reminiscent of John Dickson Carr, whose work I love. But I recognize that Lovesey is a much better writer than Carr.

Really, the more I read Peter Lovesey, the more I like him.

Sergeant Crabb has been asked to look into a case. That's not so odd. But the case has already been closed, a murderer arrested, and the sentence of death passed. So why look into it now? Plainly put, because Scotland Yard has had a few delicate hints dropped that they might have arrested the wrong person. And since the person is a woman, public sympathy is running high. So Inspector Jowett, who has never liked Crabb and whom Crabb thinks is incompetent. But Crabb is expendable. Crabb is hardly flattered, but in the interest of justice and in the vain hopes of furthering his career, he agrees to take on the case.

Miriam Cromer confessed to murdering her husband's assistant. She show more says that he was blackmailing her, and she put cyanide in the poison decanter. But as Crabb digs into the case, he finds many clues that the officer in charge of the investigation failed to follow. Now Cromer is sitting in jail, awaiting her hanging.

Through all of this, Lovesey weaves in the story of Miriam while in the jail, frustrating the jailers in charge by her icy demeanor, and the story of James Barry, the public hangman, busy in negotiations with Madame Tussauds about a new figure of himself, the waxwork of the title. But as the story progresses, the waxwork in question seemed to be the facade of the accused murderer, Miriam herself. Only at the very end does the reader get a glimpse into what was really going on inside her head.

Very well done. I hesitate to give it 5 stars, but I think maybe I am just being picky. show less

Lovesey was rater a pioneer in the now-crowded field of modern detective stories set the Victorian era In this case, Miriam Cromer, wife of a photographer in Kew (where I go now for the National Archives) has been sentenced to death for poisoning her husband's assistant who was blackmailing her over a risqué photo she had been tricked onto posing for when young and naïve. She has confessed to the crime and seems to be taking her impending hanging very calmly, but then someone anonymously sends Scotland Yard a photo showing that her husband had is key to the poison cabinet with him when she supposedly took the poison --and the only other key was on the murdered man himself. Sgt. Cribb is asked to discreetly investigate.

Miriam Cromer has confessed to the murder of her husband's photographic assistant. As she awaits her execution, Detective Sergeant Cribb is called in to find an explanation for the one small inconsistency in her confession. In his search, he stumbles across more information than his superiors are comfortable with. The stories of his investigation are interspersed with Miriam's prison life and the seemingly unrelated adventures of the hangman in London. A fun little mystery.

Short but sweet. A very interesting mystery. Alas, Lovesey again telegraphs the result too early but it is still a fun read.

i expected this to be better. the killer's motive is really stupid.

This was the pilot for the television series Cribb. (Cribb's sidekick Thackeray is missing here). Miriam Cromer (Carol Royle) is a former model and the wife of a renowned society photographer Howard Cromer. She confesses to poisoning her husband's assistant. Josiah Percival because he was blackmailing her over some risque pictures she posed for some years earlier. As she has confessed, Miriam is sentenced to be hanged. She and the hangman will feature as a waxwork at Madame Tussauds. The sentence of capital punishment causes an outcry. Cribb is asked to investigate just how Mirian killed Percival. She did not have the key to access the cabinet where the poison was kept. Cribb ponders whether Miriam is innocent and should be pardoned. show more Her husband does not seem to be squeaky clean. So why does Miriam take the fall for her husband? Cribb is dogged in his investigations. The twists and turns at the end come across as startling. This was made in video, looks a bit low budget, but does feel atmospheric and the story is very strong. show less