Mad Hatter's Holiday

MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY is a novel set in Brighton, England in 1882. Cribb and Thackeray are sent to investigate reports sent to Scotland Yard by one Albert Moscrop (Derek Fowldes), a hatter who is on vacation and has seen some odd doings regarding a possible murder. A woman may have been killed - Moscrop observed it using an expensive pair of binoculars he owns (Moscrop has several optical devices with first rate lenses, and is your basic peeping Tom). The problem is that he is seeing more than optical illusions or horseplay. A woman's body has turned up near where Moscrop saw an attack. Although Moscrop is a possible suspect (and certainly peculiar) there is nothing that links him with the victim.

Cribb and Thackeray start digging into the background of the victim, who was an occasional servant. They trace her back to the vacationing household of a Dr. Prothero (Conrad Phillips) and his son Guy (Adam Richardson), and his daughter Zena (Fenella Fielding). The victim's body was cut up, so it suggests a knowledge of anatomy. But before fully accepting the Doctor as the leading suspect in place of Moscrop, Cribb has to notice that nothing in the Doctor's reputation or background suggests he is a killer.

Based on one of Peter Lovesey's "Sgt. Cribb" novels, MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY is an ironic mystery story - which ends in a draw of sorts for Cribb and his chief opponent. But it is a well written mystery for all that.