At first I felt the same as Thackeray: Where's the body? I do remember reading this yonks ago, probably during my first incarnation as library worker in the 70s. Why is Sgt. Cribb investigating music hall mishaps? As usual, when reading in this series, you get the impression you're learning a lot about the period, in this case, the peculiarities of the English Music Hall. I had noted from past BBC watchings that there seems to be what we would call an Emcee, someone to direct the audience on what was coming up and when to start clapping ... someone with a definite personality of their own but no actual talent, such as Ed Sullivan in the US. This person in the music hall seems to be stationed off to the side. There's a startling description of one of these men, a man almost too heavy to stand up. It's also interesting to learn that the music halls were famous for the prostitutes that lingered, offering "companionship" to men in the boxes and further "entertainment" for after the show, thus depriving the starving performers of more lucrative employment. Much of the story is seen from the suffering Thackeray's point of view, Lovesey happily torturing the poor man by putting him in uncomfortable clothing and situations (and blaming Cribb for it). Anyway, Lovesey seems to like writing about upper and middle class women who not only don't submit to Victorian Standards of Behavior, but blatantly violate them and enforce them by turns. In the case of this book, it's Mrs. Body who ensures that her boarders, music hall performers on the skids who are taken in and cared for until they recover ... or escape, behave properly but acts lasciviously herself. It's rather nice of a wealthy donor to sponsor this home for the aged or down-on-their-luck performers, but is that what is really going on?And where's the titular cadaver? Now you see her, now you don't!
It’s the late 19th century in London as the events of “Abracadaver” begin to unfold. We open on two sisters’ argument over who’s to blame for a trapeze act gone wrong, only to find their act had been sabotaged through no fault of either sister. It is soon discovered that this is not the only act of the old music halls that has succumbed to sabotage, there seems to be a dark practical joker on the loose, and his theatrics seem to know no bounds. After one of the joker’s antics proves fatal, Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray of Scotland Yard are called in to catch the now murderous and always elusive villain.Through excellent descriptions and detail, this fast paced, fun, and intriguing novel takes the reader straight back to London’s streets and music halls of the late 1800’s. Follow Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray as they attempt to solve another great Victorian-era mystery.
