The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse, #5) by Colin Dexter

The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse, #5) Reviews

• 
  Paromjit

  Once again, I am listening to another audio of a book I read so long ago that I barely remembered this twisty addition to Colin Dexter's Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis series. The reasons why I am enjoying this series now is partly because I love the narrator, the wonderful Samuel West, it is 7 hours and 15 minutes long, and I like indulging in the nostalgia factor in terms of the location of Oxford, a city I know well, and which the author portrays in authentic detail. By now the characters of Morse and Lewis are well established as is their relationship, Morse is irascible, does not always treat Lewis well, refrains from paying for his drinks at the pub, but there is no-one else he would want investigating with him, only the diligent and hardworking Lewis. As usual, Morse comes with speculative theories that may not always pan out, here there is the echo of an ancient Greek tragedy.
  
  It all begins with Morse at a dinner party at which he consumes rather a lot of alcohol, becoming increasingly drunk. He meets the attractive Anne Scott, and the pair share a mutual attraction, only for their connection to be broken when work calls. Anne gives him her home address in Jericho, but it is many months later when a curious Morse is in the area and decides to call, astonished to find the front door open. He enters, there is someone in the house, but he leaves, only to learn later that Anne had committed suicide, she was hanging in her kitchen when he had visited earlier. He decides to pursue his own below the radar personal investigation, breaking the rules, until he is caught out by a perplexed DC Walters, and is forced to come clean. When the promotion of another officer takes place, Morse finds himself officially in charge of the complex and intricate inquiry that delves into the details of Anne Scott's personal life history.
  
  Morse and Lewis encounter the brothers of a small publishing firm, Charles, married to Celia, and Conrad Richards, plus two brothers that Anne had tutored, blackmail, and there is the murder of a neighbour. This was an engaging and entertaining read which I enjoyed revisiting by listening to the audio, which I can recommend. This is for fans of the series and others who like the crime and mystery genre.
• 
  Supratim

  I have been meaning to read this book for a long time and I am so satisfied now that I finally did. What a story! What characters!
  
  This is the fifth book in the Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter, but you can read it as a standalone novel.
  
  Our protagonist, Inspector Morse meets a young, attractive woman, Anne Scott at a party and gets attracted to her. Anne also reciprocates, but before things could move forward, Morse gets called off for a murder investigation. Some time passes by and driven by his loneliness, Morse finally pays her a visit in her home in Jericho – a not-so-posh neighbourhood. He could not meet Anne, and on the very same day our good inspector learns about her suicide.
  
  Using his guile and subterfuge, Morse would bend the protocols to carry out his private investigation into the matter. Later he would be officially given charge of the matter. Assisted by his trustworthy aide, Sergeant Lewis, Morse sets out to crack this case and the case of another murder. No need to say that the said murder is related to Anne’s death, right!
  
  Morse is ageing, drinks far too much, and suffers from loneliness. But he has a brilliant mind, loves literature, listens to music to forget his troubles and admires honesty in people. Lewis is an efficient man who is also very genuine.
  
  The enjoyed the relationship between Morse and Lewis. Morse’s behavior towards the sergeant can be very mean at times, but Lewis is the man Morse wants to work with. Lewis also takes pride in working with Morse.
  
  “Morse knew again at that moment exactly why he always wanted Lewis around. The man was so wholesome, somehow: honest, unpretentious, humble, almost, in his experience of philosophy and life. A lovable man; a good man. “
  
  The novel is very well written. The mystery is excellent: there are plenty of red herrings, suspects and a sub-plot mirroring a Greek tragedy. The tragedy was by Sophocles, but I won’t say anything more! Almost every chapter starts with a literary quote by the likes of Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, Oscar Wilde and many others. Oh! There are some loose ends, which the author left to your imagination.
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to lovers of whodunits. I look forward to other books in the series, especially to the Last Bus to Woodstock – the first book in the series. It’s a pity that there are only 14 books in the series.
  
  I would end by saying that this book appears in the list - The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time published in 1990 by the UK based Crime Writers' Association (CWA). You can find the list here – (
  Link ).
• 
  Bionic Jean

  Although The Dead of Jericho is the fifth novel in Colin Dexter's "Inspector Morse" series, published in 1981, it was interestingly the first one to be dramatised for television in 1986. The rest, as they say, is history. The characters of Morse and Lewis are now solidly defined and sparring against each other nicely. John Thaw made the role of Morse very much his own, and it must have been impossible for Dexter to forget Thaw's idiosyncratic depiction in subsequent novels, so that the TV adaptations would then feed into Colin Dexter's future ideas and portrayals. Dexter had been living in Oxford for a few years prior to writing these novels, and was never one to hide his personal views, referring in this one, for instance, to
  
  "the vandals who sit on the City's planning committees".
  
  But digressing apart, perhaps it is precisely because the two main characters have found their feet, that this was the first novel to be chosen. Certainly we see a much more human side to Morse in this novel. Typically he falls for a woman right at the beginning, but atypically she is murdered very early on too, and this leads Morse to some very reckless decisions and foolhardy actions. The reader is encouraged to sympathise with his predicament, and see his character as flawed, as Morse uses more and more unconventional methods to discover how Anne Scott met her death. Sometimes the action even approaches farce, as Morse behaves with less and less caution, even to the point of falling over dustbins whilst trying to gain unlawful access to a property, and making Detective Constable Walters increasingly puzzled, not to mention suspicious, as to the eccentric behaviour of his boss.
  
  False leads abound, as usual. Several husbands and/or fathers seem to be absent or dead, with circumstances left vague. Did Anne's husband Michael really have a fatal accident in his car? How exactly did the father of two of her pupils, Michael and Ted Murdoch die? Why did the older brother Michael nearly put out his eyes? What of the other two brothers, Charles and Conrad Richards? Was Conrad having an affair with Charles' wife, Celia, or was that past history? What about George Jackson, the nosy neighbour with binoculars across the road from Anne. Was he just a peeping Tom or maybe also a blackmailer and/or murderer? And what of all the bridge-playing set, none of whom seemed very upset at the murder of one of their own - except that they were then a player down?
  
  Feed into this satisfying jigsaw puzzle a subplot directly echoing Sophocles, and you have a rich conundrum. Morse explains to Lewis the story of Oedipus, who unknowingly murdered his father Laius and married his own mother Jocasta. Strangely, they agree that the events seem uncannily to mirror the story. But Lewis is puzzled. Surely his boss is not advocating superstition; a kind of predetermination of events? And Morse puts his mind at rest. It was just an idea, a quirky coincidence, partly brought to mind by Anne's predilection for Ancient Greek Tragedies.
  
  Lewis and Morse have developed a mutual admiration for each other in this novel. Lewis admires his boss' flair and intelligence; his talent for inspired guesswork. In one episode where Morse is behaving in an unbearable way towards Lewis, Lewis reflects that,
  
  "he had often seen Morse in this mood before, snappy and irritable. It usually meant the chief was cross with himself about something; usually, too, it meant that it wasn't going to be long before his mind leaped prodigiously into the dark and hit, as often as not, upon some strange and startling truth."
  
  Morse in his turn, values Lewis' tenacity and dedication to the job.
  
  "The man was so wholesome, somehow: honest, unpretentious, humble, almost, in his acceptance of psychology and life. A lovable man; a good man."
  
  And he is quick to give credit where credit is due, "You are a bloody genius, my son!" he tells an uncomprehending Lewis, thereby encouraging the reader to chuckle at the slow-wittedness of both characters, in certain situations.
  
  Yet Morse does not suffer fools gladly. The relationship between him and the pathologist Max is brought out for the first time in this novel. Morse, we are told, has a "profound contempt for the timid twaddle of pathologists". Yet he has a grudging respect for Max, who is more of a friend, and the two engage in light banter and bets.
  
  We learn too that Morse "had never quite forgiven his parents for christening their only offspring as they had", although all we know at this stage is that his initials are E.M. We learn too that Lewis left school at 15, and dragged himself through various adult classes at technical college until he could enter the police force. He is not afraid of hard graft.
  
  So now we have the two characters nicely polarised; grumpy Morse and industrious methodical Lewis. Morse, who always seems to get out of paying for his round at the pub. Morse, who prides himself on his speed at completing crosswords. (There is rather a nice episode where Morse is doing "The Times" Crossword in one room, whereas further down the corridor at the same time, Lewis is completing a far easier puzzle.) And we have a voyeuristic enjoyment from watching the sparks fly between these two.
  
  Dexter has again structured this novel into four "books", and the chapters within each are preceded by a quotation - usually a literary one. This is an engaging device. Also becoming a regular feature is the secondary murder, partway through the book. Yet again, the plot has a satisfying twist right at the end. However, reading the books in chronological order, the same plot device is used here as was used in the previous book, "Service of All the Dead" (that of substitution, in order to provide a seemingly infallible alibi.) Nevertheless, I did not guess the substitution myself; it came as a surprise. The red herring Greek "subplot" was fiendishly clever, and the whole novel was a very entertaining read.
• 
  Ken

  I’ve been meaning to read some Morse for a while, the character is ingrained in British culture main because of the brilliant portrayal by John Thaw.
  So it was quite ironic that my first Morse novel and oddly the first to be adapted for TV.
  
  When Morse meets Anne Scott at a party he is instantly attracted to her, so it’s unfortunate that he is called away on a murder case - at least their was time for her to give him a contact address.
  6 months later on a whim Morse decides to stop by, but I’d unable to find Anne.
  When he learns that she had committed suicide that day, he believes theirs something more to this tragic event and starts to investigate further...
  
  I absolutely love the era that this book was written eked from the page, especially Morse’s love of ale and the frequent visits to the pub. He’s brash arrogant attitude feels so fitting.
  But it’s his relationship with assistant Lewis (including them scenes) that really shines through with some nice string moments.
  
  The mystery itself is enticing and vivid and Oxford is wonderfully brought to life.
  It’s easy to see why they decided to pick this one for television first!
• 
  James Thane

  Jericho is a down-at-the-heels residential area of Oxford, England. One night at a party, Chief Inspector Morse of the Oxford Homicide Division meets an attractive resident of Jericho named Anne Scott. There's clearly some chemistry between the two of them, but before anything can happen that night, Morse is called away to a murder investigation. Anne gives him her address and he thinks of her from time to time, but she's a married woman, and so he decides not to pursue her.
  
  A few months later, Morse is in the neighborhood on another matter. He still has her address and, on an impulse, he decides to stop by. He gets no answer when he knocks on the door and is somewhat surprised to find the door unlocked. He steps into the home and calls her name but gets no response. He leaves and is shocked to hear later that evening that Anne had been home when he called. Unfortunately, she'd been hanging from her kitchen ceiling, an apparent suicide.
  
  A coroner's inquest confirms the suicide verdict, but Morse is troubled by it. Even though it's not his case, he begins to poke around at the edges of it and soon finds tangled threads leading everywhere. Then one of Anne's neighbors is murdered and Morse is charged with leading an investigation into the mysterious deaths of Jericho.
  
  This is another very good entry in the Inspector Morse series, even though the reader does have to get beyond the unbelievable coincidence of the fact that Anne Scott dies on the very day that Morse finally decides to come visiting. But it's fun to watch Morse at work, puzzling out secrets that no one else can divine and fans of the series won't want to miss this one.
• 
  Baba

  2012 view:
  Inspector Morse No.9:
  The fifth Inspector Morse 'mystery'… second time I've read this… and will most definitely be the last a pretty average mystery, nothing better found on the second read. 4 out of 12
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  2009 view:
  Inspector Morse No.9: My very first ever Colin Dexter read and it turns out to be this nicely structured and highly readable Inspector Morse tale - A suicide in Jericho, Oxford turns out to be lot more, which we may or may not find out after many twists and turns. 6 out of 12
  
• 
  Jim Dooley

  Although I’ve since learned that THE DEAD OF JERICHO is the fifth Inspector Morse book, it was my introduction to the character. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be taking a 5-day Road Scholar course on “The Art of the English Murder Mystery” and this was one of the books suggested as a pre-read. Well, if this is typical of the Inspector Morse mysteries, sign me up for the lot of them!
  
  Two things strongly impressed me (in addition to the incredibly readable writing style):
  
  * The mystery to be solved isn’t bigger than life or intricately elegant. Yet, I found myself frequently thinking, “Oh, just one more chapter and then I’ll stop.” Yes, I wanted to see where the mystery was going, but I also wanted to spend more time with these characters. And there were some surprising revelations.
  
  * Wow. Talk about people living lives of quiet desperation! Are the other books in the series this melancholy? That wasn’t a problem for me. In fact, it made every character much more believable. (I also liked that the observations of Inspector Morse weren’t infallible … especially when he was feeling particularly “full of himself.”
  
  One thing that I can say with some confidence is that the books do not need to be read in order. Again, I started with book 5 and I felt right at home. That said, I do intend to continue with them in order … unless folks start telling me, “Ah, you read the only good one in the batch.” THE DEAD OF JERICHO felt a little like a P.D. James mystery, but without some of the more gruesome aspects.
• 
  Jaksen

  Well I give this book three stars, but just barely.
  
  First off, Inspector Morse, the MC and so-called problem-solver genius in this book cannot even come close to comparing with four of my favorite investigators:
  
  Reginald Wexford, in the series by Ruth Rendell, is honest, scrupulous, sometimes overbearing but always polite and respectful to his subordinates. Inspector Morse isn’t.
  
  Richard Jury, in the Martha Grimes series, is smart, sharp, urbane and well-educated. He can quote the classics at the drop of a hat. He’s also courteous to just about everyone, even those he can’t stand. Now whereas Inspector Morse can also quote the classics, the rest in this paragraph? He just isn’t.
  
  Adam Dalgliesh, in PD James’ series of mysteries is similar to Jury in personality, though maybe a bit more retiring. He writes poetry and has a good grasp of the classics, but in comparison to Morse, there is none.
  
  Even FBI Inspector Pendergast of the mystery-horror-weird series written by co-writers Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child has this ‘dash’ about him that sets him above and beyond most ordinary mortals. Aloysius Pendergast is just plain weird, which makes him interesting. Inspector Morse isn’t.
  
  So there you go, I didn’t like Morse. He’s brash and arrogant, shouts and criticizes everyone and hasn’t a single redeeming trait that I could find. He meets a woman in the first part of the book and wants to go to bed with her, but doesn’t because she says she’s married and he doesn’t need the complication. He eventually regrets screwing her, goes to see her and finds her house open but empty. Later it turns out she’s dead, hanging from a noose in the kitchen. Oh, well, he should have screwed her when he had the chance.
  
  But does he tell those running the investigation into her death that he was in her house, walking around, noticing this and that? Nah not until a good way into the story. Who does that? (At least in a novel, who does that?) I didn’t like him at all. He’s supposed to be this ‘genius’ who everyone admires, who can figure out a crime or mystery or whatever just by observation and yet he makes multiple mistakes figuring out who killed the woman – and later one of her neighbors – and why.
  
  (There’s also a contrived scene where he’s put in charge of the investigation and the lead investigator taken off with very little real explanation.)
  
  Every theory Morse comes up with – which has to be the right one as he’s the genius – turns out to be wrong when the evidence doesn’t quite fit.
  
  (And incidentally, what really happened with regard to the woman and her neighbor is so convoluted and strange and ‘forced’ that I can barely believe most mystery-readers would buy it.)
  
  The story is also written from a POV where things are ‘hidden’ from the reader. Okay, I get this, but in the other series I’ve mentioned if the MC knows something, the reader does, too. Very little is hidden, for example, where the MC goes off and ‘does something,’ but the reader doesn’t know what the ‘something’ is. Hate that.
  
  One more thing: I can read a story with an MC who I dislike with the best of them. (Hated Scarlet O’Hara, yet she’s the MC in one of my fav. books.) And an ornery cop is a great cop, one who takes no guff and plunges into a case even when everything seems against him. Seen that happen in multiple books I’ve read; in fact, it’s almost a staple of criminal investigation-type novels. But Morse? Please let me find something interesting or appealing about him, because if I don’t, then these books are not for me.
• 
  Belinda Vlasbaard

  4 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
  
  Recensie volgt later.
• 
  icaro

  Per i gialli seriali è così: o ti affezioni al poliziotto e al suo modo di condurre le indagini o no. Tutto ne discende. Se Morse sentisse parlare di affetto nei suoi confronti direbbe una frase molto antipatica per distruggere immediatamente l'insicuro ammiratore. A meno che costui, come il suo sergente Lewis, non avesse la prontezza di controbattere: "all'affetto non si comanda, signore, nonostante sia così male indirizzato verso una persona odiosa come lei".
  Questo è tutto. La bravura di Dexter sta proprio qui: nel riuscire ad avvincerti alle sue storie gialle nonostante la natura scostante del suo personaggio.
  Questa volta il plot è al limite della credibilità, ma tant'è: viva l'ispettore Morse ( e il sergente Lewis, naturalmente!)
• 
  Mark

  Occasionally I find another Morse book in a hardcover and I find a good reason to reread the Morse novels, and thus releasing another pocket into the wild west of second-hand books.
  
  This one has Morse fancying a lovely lady whose attentions he does not follow up and some months later the lady in question is found having killed herself. Sad fact is that Morse himself was there on the day but he did find her.
  Morse does end up with the case in the end and the original lead policeman in the case gets the promotion as Morse is a great detective but a lousy policeman. And Morse does solve the Jericho killing and the cause for suicide of the lady in question. He does get some decent assistance and a renewed respect for his sergeant Lewis who does a lot of policing.
  
  This is not a great book but a Morse mystery is always special and an interesting puzzle nonetheless. I always find a lot of pleasure visiting Colin Dexters' books as do I watching the Morse or Lewis TV shows. They do remain a guilty pleasure one I am not ashamed to admit.
• 
  Alexander

  Gewohnt solide Krimikost. Humorig.
• 
  Andrew

  DI Morse, as depicted by John Thaw in the '90s series, was a little too sour for my liking, but I watched many nonetheless because they were well designed and charactered, as well as nicely set. I recently treated myself to the entire Endeavour series, with the excellent Shaun Evans and Roger Allam (who makes an appearance in an early Morse episode), and thought them infinitely better, with perhaps only a couple of episodes not entirely absorbing. The characterisation of this latter series was superb, as was the sense of time as well as place, something the original series didn't have to recreate, being contemporary. While initially the '60s setting felt as drab as the reality of the era - with the pervading sense of grubby formica and outside loos - I soon began to appreciate the amount of work put into Endeavour, and that Russell Lewis, who wrote the entirety of the 6 series, had had a hand in one of the original Morse episodes. But the pull of the later series was not merely its superb scripting and production values, or its superb blend of characters with their homely names, from Endeavour to Thursday, Bright to Strange, Fancy to Trewlove, but the very fine performances of the two leads, made their own while developing a father-son relationship that was affecting, and developing the characterisation and mannerisms of the evolving Morse persona.
  
  So a certain sourness - from years of establishment nonsense, reorganisation, injustice, corruption, and simply not fitting in - was, I see now, inevitable in the older Morse; yet it still detracted from the enjoyment of the watching, whereas every nuance Shaun Evans brought to the prototypical detective - the impatience, the earlobe tugging, the booze - was beautifully apt, and I initially watched the series for that superb characterisation than anything else.
  
  Such a preamble to my first Dexter novel is by way of establishing probably a common factor that many people must have been very familiar with Morse as DI before they turned to the novels. After the loyal cameos and later references to Colin Dexter throughout Endeavour, I became curious... I had had no intention of reading any of the Morse series; there were far too many detective mysteries, hardboiled private eye stories, spy thrillers, suspense thrillers, procedurals and crime-horror novels on my immediate to-read list already, all of them classics. But escaping a sudden shower the other day gave me an opportunity to browse in Waterstones - just browse, mind - and I was drawn ineluctably to the crime shelf, where I selected my first Morse novel, slightly grudging the full rrp. On return, I scheduled it for 'soon', but books rise to the surface of the mind and so the list, call to be read, and establish an appetite for specifically that title which must be sated. From 6th to 1st in 24 hours, a call I could not ignore.
  
  I don't know why I had unfairly judged that, with all the classics on my list of crime fiction to read, Dexter's novels could not compete. Having recently finished The Big Sleep [1939] (again), what really could compete or compare? Perhaps I had assumed that they might be pedestrian, non-literary and so not quite yet worthy for a claim to the rare and precious reading space I put aside for pleasure. But none of any of it. They are erudite, comfortable as old boots, somewhat demanding (Latin and Poetry), and while the pace may be pedestrian, the writing and content are certainly not. You can tell without referring to his bio that Dexter did classics at uni. Yet it doesn't have the feel of being highbrow, of talking down; it establishes its sightline, and you lock in or put down. And the setting! It is as classical as Rome, but still with that inevitable English smuttiness - largely due to the corruption of the council vandals of the past, like any other provincial town. But none of this detracts; rather it lends a realism, that, despite gorgeous appearances, every place, every life, has its patina, shadows or grime. And crime.
  
  For you are, before anything else, inside the personality of the man before you are inside the mind of the inspector, the one greyish, baggy and boozy, the other brilliant, braggish and tetchy. And almost immediately in that sense of shyness comingled with social awkwardness and the inevitable tristesse of failure as a private man, against the success of the accomplished detective. While, for example, you are very aware of Marlowe's personality, attractions, needs, tolerances, compromises and ethical lines, they are sublimations of the primary narrative, the private eye caper; with Morse, the balance is much finer: there is no separating the personality from the detective, so well is he characterised and compromised. He doesn't just fight a winning battle with the criminal; he fights a losing battle with himself (which Marlowe never quite does).
  
  So a certain melancholy lingers amid the honeyed and verdigris Oxford imagery, and not a little pedestrian soot. The great and the good, the ordinary and the nondescript, all are levelled by death - and murder. But we are raised from pondering these baser points by the flux of the classics streamed throughout, from the chapter epithets to the involvement of mythology in the plot. And if Morse gets some things wrong, it's the fact that his mind leaps into these more cultured backwaters which are the setting for the series, novels and TV. It's an essential part of the fabric, and it's seeded in Dexter's books. I enjoy those splashes, as much as I enjoy the establishing shots of the cupolaed rooves of Oxford. I also enjoy the idea of the eclectic - the opera, the crosswords - whereas I enjoy neither pursuit, just as I enjoy the idea of rewarding and refreshing pints, but indulge for neither reason. It adds flavour.
  
  A very convincing start, and I'm wanting for more. I feel comfortable, somehow, here. This is certainly because we are not in the otherwise modern terrain of the slasher, the serial killer, the psychopath, nor the forensic spatter-land. It's all much more urbane, aimed at the brain, and I fancy more of the same.
• 
  Ellen

  
  
  
  
  Oedipus-a Greek tragedy or a red herring!, January 16, 2013
  
  
  This review is from: Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse Mysteries)
  
  How could I not continue reading Inspector Morse and call myself a mystery lover? Top notch writing. Top notch mystery definitely not for the shallow reader. Fantastic endings.
  
  And so we come to "The dead Of Jericho". Yes, Inspector Morse is his familiar self. He continues to drink at the local pub with or without company and continues to fail miserably with women. And yet...his observations of already thoroughly examined crime scenes are far superior to those above him in the Thames Valley Police.
  
  I started to miss the fellowship of sorts between Morse and Lewis when finally ...Lewis enters the picture.
  
  The Dead of Jericho begins with Morse meeting a lovely younger woman, Anne Scott, during a party. She gives him her address and later (too much later) he decides to drop by. Unfortunately, no one was home...or were they? A sad ending for a lovely woman and what could have been.
  
  The characters include 2 successful brothers in business together. Are they involved with Anne Scott? And if they are how?
  
  The ending was so far above just suspenseful that I was glued to each page. Can I compare Inspector Morse and Lewis to any other mystery series. A resounding NO to that question. This series stands alone as it should as this book stands alone. Whether you read the series in order or just pick one out at random...you can't miss with Inspector Morse.
  
• 
  Tittirossa

  Perfetto per le notti insonni. Morse piglia sempre quelle 2-3 cantonate prima di arrivare alla soluzione finale. Beve in modo inquietante, non ha una vita propria. Tutto molto Britis!
• 
  Emilia Barnes

  It's the first Morse novel for me, and at first I was a little taken aback by the rapid progression of events, but once I embraced it it had all the twists and turns and mistaken identities and illicit relationships and gossip and rumours one could possibly wish from an English mystery novel. I took it with me on holiday, and it was pretty much the perfect read for those circumstances.
• 
  Penny

  Morse number 5.
  
  This is a solid offering from Dexter. Morse is descending further into grumpiness and alcohol while Lewis is putting up with him and not getting much of the credit.
  
  The plot follows a suicide and a murder. Neither are straightforward and Morse ends up following false leads here and there as usual.
  
  I'm finding the characters of Morse and Lewis are rounding out nicely and appear almost verbal - you can 'hear' them speaking at times - my problem is beginning to be around the resolutions. As this is number 5 I'm remembering how the previous books ended and that gave me a clue to how this would end - and I was right. This seems a little below par hence 3 stars. I wanted to be more surprised by the ending.
• 
  Pamela Shropshire

  It has historically been difficult to find some popular British authors in my area (Oklahoma) so I was thrilled at one of my last pre-COVID visits to my favorite UBS to find a nearly-complete set of Morse. As always, I’ve been reading it in order, and it has been really interesting to watch the character development of both Morse and Lewis. By this one, book 5, their characters seem to have “matured” although I expect there will be additional minor tweaks as they go along, much like experience molds our own personalities as we age.
  
  Also, Morse’s rather holistic - and often faulty - approach to crime solving also seems to have become his trademark, and this case is no longer exception. For example, Morse first visualizes an Oedipus-myth motif when the truth was both simpler and more complicated.
• 
  Karl

  "The Dead of Jericho" is the fifth novel in Colin Dexter’s Oxford-set detective series and was the first of a highly successful series of television adaptations of the novels.
• 
  Subodh Garg

  5/5
  
  Ok, so I finished The Dead of Jericho, the fifth book in the Inspector Morse Series, written by Colin Dexter. To keep things short for impatient readers, this book is absolutely amazing. It has everything a good whodunit should have and plenty more. Interesting characters, multiple suspects, numerous red herrings, and twists galore. After finishing the book, I was left with a feeling of utter satisfaction. This is without a doubt, my favorite Inspector Morse novel, and easily my top ten of all times.
  
  To think, that this masterpiece was only able to snatch a Silver Dagger, makes me really curious to find out who exactly won the Gold Dagger.
  
  So, with my general thoughts out of the way, let's review this book as we usually do:
  
  The Detective and the Method of Detection : 5/5
  The Criminal : 5/5
  The Method of Crime : 5/5
  
  The Detective is, as usual, Detective Chief Inspector Morse, of the Thames Valley HQ. Morse is his usual self, with a single twist in the narrative. This time, Morse actually knew the victim. He infact had a nice little evening with her, and had gone to the victim's house to continue the relationship, when he found her hanging in the kitchen. Slowly and steadily, Morse wound his way through clues and suspects, until ultimately, he found the killer.
  
  Like any other Inspector Morse novel, here too, we are following Morse's exact thought process, throughout the book, as he solves the case. And as usual, we are right along with Morse as he gets fixated on an idea, finds the clues that supports the idea, boasts of having found the killer, only to later be proved wrong. It is a testament to the literary capabilities of Colin Dexter, that he is able to create such believable solutions to the mystery, that the audience thinks it is the correct one, only to later be proved wrong by an even better solution; all without making the detective look like a complete nincompoop.
  
  Now on a character front, in this book, we find Morse in one of his lowest points, pondering the numerous 'if only's and 'what if's of his life. I just hope that by the end of the series, Morse can have a satisfactory ending for his character.
  
  Now, the Murder itself is nothing special in itself. Two men have an argument, one of them hits the bed post and dies. But, the shear genius of the writing is evident in the way the mystery is revealed. The twists and turns of the story are just so satisfying. But, the most shocking, yet the most satisfying thing about this mystery and the thing that elevated this book to one of my all time favorites was the answer to the final and first mystery of any whodunit: The identity of the Murderer. In my opinion, it is one of the best reveals in any whodunit. I recommend everyone to go in blind, and be pleasantly surprised by the masterpiece in front of you.
  
  Overall, a really really great book. Can't Recommend it enough for anyone who is even remotely interested in whodunits.
  
  Can't wait to read more.
• 
  Shabbeer Hassan

  In the fifth novel within the Inspector Morse series, and (surprisingly)
  first one to be televised , we have Morse with his steely blue eyes and a mind of muddling, pondering genius, investigating the rather sordid death of a woman in the shambling neighbourhood of Jericho. We see that this is the same woman, who had once strung the chords of our forever lonesome Morse, but the day he decides to visit her, he finds her dead. Then begins, a cat and mouse game, with false leads aplenty amongst Morse's penchant for drinking, crosswords and loneliness coming to fore.
  
  But in the end, as always, Morse along with his faithful and honest Lewis, stumbles on the mystery's resolution, which instead of leaving me with satisfaction, left me with a strange pathos at the woman who died, the lovers who could have been and the lonesome, poetry-filled Morse watching all of it from afar.
  
  My Rating - 4.5/5
• 
  Jessie

  Definitely not the best Morse I've read. This felt quite out-dated and the plot wasn't as engaging as the previous Morse stories I've read. It picked up in the last half though. 2.5/ 3 stars
• 
  Jill Holmes

  The ancient university city of Oxford, England, is not all spires, churches, and medieval colleges. The lower middle class live in less resplendent areas like Jericho, a small neighbourhood of mean streets and decaying homes between the canal and railway on one side and the massive complex of the Radcliffe Hospital and Oxford University Press on the other. At a otherwise boring cocktail party, Detective Chief Inspector Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets the fetching Anne Scott, a resident of Jericho. Time passes during which Morse thinks of Miss Scott as a potential romantic opportunity, but he neglects to call until a chance passage through the area brings him to her door. The door is unlocked and Morse goes in finding no one home. A short time later, Inspector Bell is called out on a case--to that same front door. Anne Scott is dead inside, an apparent suicide. Learning of her death, Morse thinks of what might have been if he'd only visited days or even minutes earlier and if he had explored the house further. Instead, he offers uncanny insights to Bell and Constable Walters into the case based on his observations as a visitor. Morse is dreadfully disheartened over Anne Scott's suicide and part of his intuition won't accept it.
  
  Canvassing the neighbours proves nothing to the police although it dredges up some odd characters and habits. To Constable Walters, Morse and his insights are more of a mystery than the woman's death. Morse's arrogance and eccentricities are legendary amongst other coppers, but Walters has never encountered him before. Bell and Walters--with some hints from Morse--find that the local handyman had a key to Miss Scott's, that she tutored students in German, that she had attended bridge club occasionally, and that she had previously worked for a small publishing firm run by a pair of brothers. Meanwhile (there are always a number of 'meanwhiles' in the Morse mysteries of Colin Dexter), a blackmailer is trying to extort one of the publishing brothers and two teenagers are hospitalized with drug overdoses, a type of crime becoming much too common in Oxford. Walters continues diligently pursuing the case but keeps tripping over Morse who is investigating on his own.
  
  All the story needs to pull these disparate pieces together is for Morse to be in charge of the case. The Assistant Chief Commissioner recognizes that the case needs superior deductive skills; Bell receives a sideways promotion, Walters has family matters requiring his attention, and Morse inherits the case along with his own secret weapon, Sergeant Lewis, whose common sense and straightforward plodding is the perfect compliment--as always--to Morse's intuition. Morse is awarded the case just in time for the second death--this time it is certainly a murder. With the case now fully under his control, the details are failing to fall into place. The likely suspects have convincing alibis, but the alibis keep shifting. The two sets of brothers--the teenagers and the publishers--have secret lives and shifting excuses. And the women comprising the bridge club as well as the wife of one of the publishing brothers are somehow keys to the death of Anne Scott and the murder that followed. But how exactly?
  
  The murder victim has a curious trail of income, and Miss Scott's library of literary classics is crucial to understanding her character and motivation. Morse and Lewis follow the money, and Morse digs into his own history as a student of 'greats' (that is, classical Latin and Greek language, philosophy, and writing) to develop a theory regarding Miss Scott's motivation. Finally, the adoption of a baby by another couple provides the missing link in the suicide and the murder. Morse and Lewis solve the case again; but this is the only certainty the reader has when beginning a Colin Dexter masterpiece. Whilst that word may sound excessive, Dexter is a master of literary suspense, complex plots, and delightful character development. Not only is Morse aggravatingly fascinating and Lewis a contrasting delight, but many of the lesser characters are developed to such extreme in so few words that they also linger in the memory long after the story ends. The streets of Jericho give a very different picture of Oxford, but Dexter's Oxford is always a prime character in the Morse mysteries. This story, like all the others, is a savory treat.
• 
  Poornima

  3.5 stars
  
  This is the fifth book of the series.
  
  Anne Scott is found dead in Canal Street, Jericho. It’s initially not really Inspector Morse's case, but he is indirectly involved because he happens to have visited the scene of death. Morse having met Anne at a party, after lot of deliberation Morse decides to drop in on her – but walked into an apparently empty house. He returns again to Canal Street following the discovery of Anne’s suicide and starts poking around looking for answers. Canal Street has its share of characters for residents & visitors all carrying their own secrets. There is more tragedy at Canal Street with drugs and more death. Is that linked to Anne’s suicide? Did Anne really commit suicide? What is happening with the Murdoch boys? Morse is handed the case and he has Lewis to assist him – to get to the bottom of it all.
  
  I have been reading the series in order and this book was an easy read again. Morse is more mature than in the previous books, more dignified but just as grumpy. Lewis is still the stable head among the two. There was more of bonding between them and was good to see Morse admit his need for Lewis! As usual, there are red herrings in the plot and you can anticipate some twists, though not exactly what uncover the entire plot. I was so glad his initial theory turned out to be a dud, am sure wouldn’t have liked the book with that plot.
  
• 
  Charlotte (Buried in Books)

  Again, I'm amazed at what quick reads these books are, once again the voices reverberating around my head are those of John Thaw and Kevin Whately.
  
  Unlike other series I'm not bored of reading these books virtually back to back. Because there's always so much going on, even when it seems like nothing is happening, it all suddenly comes together.
  
  No so much time was spent setting up the initial crime, as it was in previous books and Morse is involved from page one. As the initial crime involves a women he met a party, a woman who could have been so much more to Morse, if he'd just taken the time.
  
  Months later, when he does take the time to drop in on the women he finds the front door unlocked and the house apparently empty - he doesn't know that she is hanging in the kitchen...
  
  And so begins the sorry tale of Ann Scott, in love with a married man (who can't keep his hands off other women), Charles Richards, his wife Celia and his brother Conrad.
  
  A tale of murder, blackmail and desperation.
  
  One thing that still doesn't make any sense to me is Michael Murphy, why he tried to blind himself? Was it just a side effect of the drugs he'd taken?
• 
  jennifer

  Inspector Morse meets an attractive woman at a party and his hopes are raised, but he quickly figures out that the woman is unavailable and so lets it go. A few months later he learns of her suicide and takes over the investigation, as he still wonders what might have been with this woman. Morse and Sergeant Lewis find that her death was far from a typical suicide and that her copy of Oedipus was very important to her.
  
  This was my first Inspector Morse and I like him. He's a grumpy, snapping alcoholic who basically hates himself but he's very likable to the reader. This would have been quite the mystery to me if I hadn't seen the episode of this book from the t.v. series. Still, enjoyable and I'll read more.
• 
  Hemavathy DM Suppiah-Devi

  **Warning: this text may contain spoilers** A weird, horrible little book. Poorly constructed, poorly plotted. There were more questions than answers at the end. How did Morse get to know Mrs Murdoch? Why was he invited to the party? What was the party for? What was the point of the while Murdoch family storyline with the cocaine binge and the blinding? Why did Anne kill herself? Why does Morse have to perv on every women he meets under the age of forty?
  
  Morse is a coward and an asshole. With the exception of Bell, Walters and Lewis; every other male in the book is crude, dishonest and disgusting. And the Oedipus Rex Jocatha plot was really, really, really, twisted.
• 
  Margaret

  I really enjoyed reading this. Ah, Inspector Morse - he's a little eccentric, sometimes a womanizer, he drinks too much & his crime-solving brilliance does not really endear him to the rest of the force - he's a great character. I loved it when he likened solving the mystery to doing a "paint-by-numbers" - you can't really see the big picture until some of the details are filled in. I didn't guess the twist at the end of the book, so it was a nice surprise. A well-written mystery - I had only read one other Colin Dexter book (The Jewel That Was Ours) but I will look for more!
• 
  Gabriella🪐

  This book was good, it was. I just took really long reading it, and almost DNF’ed it, because there was too much happening in very short spaces of time. Morse would have a theory that appeared rock-solid, until the literal next page where someone says something that blows it to bits. And this happened several times in the book, such that I kept feeling like I was reading more pages but not actually moving forward in the story. That’s the only problem I had with the book, read it if you will.
• 
  Kin

  British sense of humour.In ogni pagina (anche brava la traduttrice).Questo vecchio signore (nato nel 1930) gioca con noi ed un po' ci prende in giro. Una cosa sola da dire dei suoi polizieschi:eccezionali.