An elementary school teacher in training takes a midnight swim in the Thames and witnesses a body being dumped. Cribb and Thackerey investigate and uncover strange parallels with the then-popular Jerome K. Jerome mystery Three Men in a Boat . After Jerome K JeromeвЂTMs Three Men in a Boat became a Victorian bestseller, rowing on the Thames was the great craze of 1889. The novel begins, however, with skinny-dipping (under another name) by some student teachers. By chance one of them finds herself a witness in a case of murder. The suspects? Three men in a boat. When Cribb and Thackeray take to the river in pursuit, nobody will take them seriously. However, they stick doggedly to the trail, which leads upstream to Oxford. “Here’s charm and delight. A puzzle postlude to Three Men in a Boat .” — The Times London, 1889: After Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat became a Victorian bestseller, rowing on the Thames was the great craze of 1889. When an elementary school teacher in training takes a midnight swim in the Thames and witnesses a body being dumped, Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackerey are called to investigate. They uncover strange parallels with the enormously popular Victorian novel, but nobody will take them seriously. Following their instincts, they stick doggedly to the trail, which leads upstream to Oxford. "The late Victorian atmosphere and dialogue are beautifully and accurately rendered. The characters are done with a masterly hand. But perhaps the best thing about it is the way you feel all the time that this must be an account of a real-life crime, because nothing strikes a false note, nothing seems contrived."'Ruth Rendell An elementary school teacher in training takes a midnight swim in the Thames and witnesses a body being dumped. Cribb and Thackerey investigate and uncover strange parallels with the then-popular Jerome K. Jerome mystery Three Men in a Boat. From the Trade Paperback edition Harriet Shaw, pupil at a proper English boarding school, is persuaded to participate in a midnight skinny-dipping party by two less than proper schoolmates. Alas for Harriet, she finds herself not only separated from her clothes and facing possible expulsion, but also the inadvertent key witness to a murder. Peter Lovesey. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.
