[1] He graduated from Reading with an honours degree in 1958; he then did three years of National Service in the Royal Air Force.

[1] Lovesey has written that he entered into writing detective fiction by way of his interest in British sports history.

His first detective novel, Wobble to Death (1970), was set within a historically accurate depiction of a 19th-century foot race.

His first novel was followed by seven others in the Sergeant Cribb series set in Victorian England with the stories often placed in sports or entertainment events such as boxing, rowing, and music hall.

[4] Peter Lovesey has won awards for his fiction, including Gold and Silver Daggers from the British Crime Writers' Association, the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and first place in the Mystery Writers of America's 50th Anniversary Short Story Contest.

Lovesey's novels and stories mainly fall into the category of entertaining puzzlers in the "Golden Age" tradition of mystery writing.

Novels featuring Victorian-era detective Sergeant Daniel Cribb and his assistant Constable Thackeray.