| Title | : | Death Is Now My Neighbor (Inspector Morse, #12) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0517707861 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780517707869 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 347 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1996 |
| Awards | : | CWA Silver Dagger (1996) |
Chief Inspector Morse, investigating the murder on Bloxham Drive, follows a trail that leads first to a tabloid journalist, then to the strip clubs of Soho. It soon winds back, however, to the university. For Morse and his partner, Sergeant Lewis, the question becomes: Is the Mastership of Lonsdale worth killing for?
Death Is Now My Neighbor (Inspector Morse, #12) Reviews
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Chief Inspector Morse returns in his twelfth outing more than a little worse for the wear. His drinking and smoking, in particular, are now catching up with him and he's beginning to pay the price for all of the years through which he's neglected his physical well-being. Any number of people, including his faithful sergeant, Lewis, urge him to reform before it's too late, but any long-time reader of the series understands, like Lewis, that it isn't going to happen.
The demands of another complex and demanding case certainly won't help. As the book opens, the Master of Lonsdale College in Oxford has announced his retirement. Two candidates stand for election to the position. Each man wants the job very badly, although perhaps neither man wants to be the Master as much as his wife wants to be the First Lady of the college.
One would expect that the academics would get all of this sorted out within the confines of their own small world, but the larger universe intrudes when a young woman is found shot to death early one morning. There would appear to be no motive, but as Morse begins his investigation of the crime, he will discover that the poor woman did have a connection to one of the candidates in the college election. There's also a journalist involved, and the demands of the investigation will require poor Morse to have to work his way through a number of tacky strip clubs in Soho, a task he would never think to assign to his poor, overworked sergeant.
Like all of the Morse mysteries, this one is densely complicated, and only someone as gifted as the Chief Inspector will ever be able to sort it out--assuming that he lives long enough to do so. This penultimate addition to the series is another very very entertaining read, even if a little bittersweet, knowing that we're approaching the end of the line. It should certainly appeal to any fan of the series. -
Death is Now my Neighbour is the 12th novel in Colin Dexter's "Inspector Morse" series; another enjoyable and very well-written read, in the series focusing on the crimes solved by Chief Inspector Morse, and Detective Sergeant Lewis. It is not vital to read the books in order - each one can stand on its own - but a regular reader will tend to become involved with Morse's own personal story. Both the slow reveal of facts about him, plus many emotional nuances, may be lost if this penultimate novel in the series is the first to be read.
Yet these are not long sagas in the current trend, with the personal lives of the "heroes and villains" almost overshadowing the plot. The chapters are extraordinarily short, and headed by cleverly appropriate, yet diverse quotations, as is Colin Dexter's wont. He once joked in a interview that he liked to keep his chapters short, so that the reader feels they are making good progress. He liked to include conversation too, because of all the consequent space on the page. This way of writing he partly attributed to being a slow reader himself, and partly because his brother told him he particularly liked to read the Morse novels, because there was just enough in a chapter to read before he fell asleep at night!
Joking aside, Colin Dexter's books could be termed as cerebral whodunits. The twists and turns of the plot are always paramount, convoluted and complex. As each novel in the series was published, Dexter cleverly kept his readers guessing about Morse. In some ways eliciting any personal information about the main character was like getting blood from a stone, and readers would pounce on the merest snippet. It is difficult in retrospect to realise just what a big deal it was that the reading audience still did not know his first (or Christian) name, especially in the light of the new series of prequels, by other writers, whose one-word series title gives the game away.
For the publication of Death is now my Neighbour, however, Dexter made the gift of a publicity hook for his publishers, with the fact he was going to reveal Morse's Christian name for the first time. This caused a media frenzy, even being announced on ITV's "News at Ten"! The book shot to the top of the bestseller list, selling over 120,000 in the first four weeks in the UK alone. Reading it at this distance, the final two words, "Endeavour Morse", still manage to bring a lump to the throat. This is perhaps because of the history and presence of the main character. All the additional TV episodes by other writers, have contributed to consolidating the public's perception of the personality of Morse. He is now almost a cult figure. In the later books we can see that although TV writers have been scrupulously careful to write "in character", with no inconsistencies, some have inevitably emerged. But even Colin Dexter himself has been prey to this influence. Morse no longer curses and swears as much as he did in the early novels, his attitude towards women has undergone a slight update, and his physical type relates more now to John Thaw's than it does to the early descriptions. It's likely that Colin Dexter visualised John Thaw's portrayal when he wrote,
"hair that had thinly drifted these last few years from ironish grey to purish-white"
Death is Now my Neighbour is satisfyingly complex. Two main story threads are interwoven. An additional layer is provided; that of Morse's own personal story. His increasing health problems mean that there is an impending sense of doom hanging over this novel. In much of the novel, Morse typically proceeds by thinking and mulling things over, being too impatient to deal with actual "clues". And the reader knows that when Morse finally fits all the pieces of the jigsaw together, and knows who is lying and who is not, the case will be solved. He frequently goes off at a tangent, often to Lewis's exasperation and the reader's amusement. There is a very amusing episode, for instance, involving a tie-rack at Marks and Spencer's. Sometimes Lewis admires his boss's "inspired guesswork" - but in this novel he frequently states a wish to get back to "proper police work". Unusually, Morse piously agrees with him... before doing the exact opposite himself.
"You make it up as you go along, sir,"
Morse's face betrayed some irritation. "Of course I bloody do! That's what I'm here for"... and
"it's all so - so airy -fairy, isn't it? And you said we were going to get some facts straight first."
"Exactly."
Lewis gave up the struggle."
There is a crime near the beginning of this novel. A young physiotherapist living at 17 Bloxham Drive, Rachel James, has been shot and killed at almost point blank range, through the closed blind of her kitchen window. Morse and Lewis deduce that all that could have been seen would be her head and upper body silhouetted in the window, as she was in the process of getting breakfast before going to work. Her murderer must have been standing in her back yard. Unfortunately, none of the other residents in the road can recall seeing anything suspicious that morning. Even her immediate neighbour at number 15, Geoffrey Owens, says he saw and heard nothing. Since he is a newspaper reporter, this would have been a welcome scoop for him.
Alongside this crime is interwoven a story about the application of two academics for the position of Master of Lonsdale College, to replace the 69 year-old Sir Clixby Bream. Owing to a loophole in the constitution, Sir Clixby, a most unpleasant individual, has been in position for far longer than was ever expected. The rivalry between Julian Storrs and Dr. Dennis Cornford for the position of Master, is very acrimonious. As the novel proceeds, secrets about both of them, and their wives, are unearthed. Would either of them resort to dirty tricks to keep these covered up and ensure their appointment? Would the odious Sir Clixby Bream do likewise, to keep his favoured position?
And are these two separate stories, or will they be shown to be connected? Previous novels have usually shown the latter, but it is difficult at first to imagine how these "Town and Gown" characters can ever have had anything to do with one another. However the links become apparent, when it is revealed that
Morse is taken with the idea that a cryptic "seventeenth-century" love poem by John Wilmot and a photograph of Rachel with a mysterious grey-haired man are clues, mainly because he doubts the provenance of the poem. He even goes to the extreme of
The crimes all seem to be linked to the competition to be the next Master of Lonsdale College. The rivalry between Julian Storrs and Dr. Dennis Cornford is becoming ever more intense and sordid, which is par for the course in a Morse novel. Several affairs seem to be going on, and it is cleverly written so that the reader is not always privy to know who is involved in the author's descriptions of events. This keeps the mystery element intact, and is something which would be even more difficult to manage in either an audio or a visual dramatisation.
Meanwhile Morse is carrying on with his self-destructive drinking, and occasional womanising. Almost too late, it seems, he diagnoses himself with , and despite his protestations is immediately sent to John Radcliffe Hospital as an inpatient for 5 days. He develops a new love interest, He is strongly advised by the medics to both eat carefully and stay off the alcohol. Of course he does neither, arguing the pros and cons of his behaviour all the time, both with himself and with others - especially Lewis. There is one rare particularly unpleasant scene between the two in this book.
Alibis for the crimes abound. It seems that none of the relevant suspects could actually be the perpetrator. The reader can get a little lost in following the various threads, with all their implications. There is even a suicide, and eventually Morse's health issues neatly provide the key to the solution.
As with all the later Morse novels, this is a well-crafted crime read, in which the Oxford setting is both well portrayed and also an essential part of the novel. All the places are genuine, although "Lonsdale College" does not exist. In real life it is actually Brasenose College, one of the oldest colleges, founded in 1509. I am married to an alumnus of Brasenose, who lived "in Hall" as an undergraduate. Both of us remember the locations well. All the scenes within the quadrangle in the TV drama, the Dining Hall, staircases and some of the students' rooms, both in the dramatisation of this episode and others set in "Lonsdale" are filmed at Brasenose,
"He looked around him lovingly at the gilded, dimly illuminated portraits of the famous alumni - the poets and the politicians, the soldiers and the scientists - who figured so largely in the lineage of Lonsdale. The rafted timbers of the ceiling were lost in darkness, and the shadows were deep on the sombre panelling of the walls, as deftly and deferentially the scouts poured wine into the sparkling glasses."
The exterior too with the porter's lodge and Radcliffe Square with Radcliffe Camera is very familiar, although it never seemed to look so clean; the glamour of the camera, perhaps?! It is a mystery as to why Dexter preferred to use a different name for this College, which features so prominently in his novels. Presumably Brasenose College received ample location fees, but did not want to be officially connected with the dramatisations. Interestingly too, although he has lived in Oxford for quite a few years, Colin Dexter went to Cambridge University, not Oxford! The dramatisations of the novels are well worth watching, though. They do differ slightly, but they do also bring the locations to life.
However, if you like to be able to proceed steadily through a crime novel, and be able to deduce the murderer, this may not be for you. You can almost guarantee that you will not "see it coming". It reads smoothly and entertainingly, but provides intelligent fodder, rather than being light and easy to read. Death is now my Neighbour typically has a huge number of potential suspects, and this can be confusing at times. Morse's tendency to alight on coincidences - or perhaps more realistically Colin Dexter's penchant for throwing in red herrings - adds to the confusion.
Because this is such a long-running series, we have grown to know Morse and Lewis better as the years have passed. We both accept their faults and admire their qualities. For regular readers, Morse's ability to go off at a tangent is part of his charm, as is his pig-headed determination. A big part of the reason for the continuing popularity both of the Morse novels and the dramatisations, is the brilliantly conceived chalk-and-cheese relationship between the two men. Morse's sidekick, Lewis, comes across as far less curmudgeonly. Lewis is a placid family man who loves his wife and children (and his egg and chips!) very much. He doesn't always follow Morse with his leapfrog mind, but has a strong moral sense and is equally determined to solve the case. As Morse says to him,
"You usually manage to find the unimportant things - and often they're the things that really matter in the end."
In this particular novel it becomes clear that both he, and Morse, know that Lewis is probably the closest friend that Morse has. It is Lewis, to whom at the very end of the novel, Morse divulges his Christian name, "Endeavour". We have learned a little more about Morse's parents. His mother, who died when he was very young, was a Quaker. His father idolised Captain James Cook, so much so that he named his son after his hero's ship. And Colin Dexter makes be the device by which he lets Lewis know his first name. It is at her insistence that Morse sends Lewis a postcard, which he has signed with his full name. Is she to feature further in Morse's life, the reader is left to wonder?
It is probably not only Lewis whose eyes feel a little damp as he reads the postcard, with its final words,
"Let me thank you for everything, my dear old friend. Yours aye, Endeavour (Morse)"
The sense of foreboding in this novel is very strong, and we watch Morse recklessly ignore all his health warnings. We want to shake some sense into him, as he persists in telling himself that the immediate satisfaction he gains from his beloved beer, far outweigh any possible long-term benefits in denying himself. He cleverly convinces himself being far more preoccupied with the puzzle of the case. This is wholly in keeping with the character of the Morse we know and love. Here is Lewis,
"Suddenly Lewis felt very happy that he was back in harness with this arrogant, ungracious, vulnerable, lovable man with whom he had worked so closely for so many years; a man who looked somewhat slimmer, somewhat paler than when he had last seen him, but who sounded not a whit less brusque..."
But can Morse ever change?
"Thinking and drinking...drinking and thinking...the twin activities which in Morse's mind were ever and necessarily concomitant."
The next and final novel will probably prove to be a very tough read. -
This hard cover book is signed by Colin Dexter.
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Read by................... Terrence Hardiman
Total Runtime.......... 8 hours 53 mins
Description: As he drove his chief down to Kidlington, Lewis returned the conversation to where it had begun. 'You haven't told me what you think about this fellow Owens - the dead woman's next-door neighbour.' 'Death is always the next-door neighbour,' said Morse sombrely. The murder of a young woman ...A cryptic 'seventeenth-century' love poem ...And a photograph of a mystery grey-haired man ...It's more than enough to set Chief Inspector E. Morse on the trail of a killer. And it's a trail that leads him to Lonsdale College, where the contest between Julian Storrs and Dr. Denis Cornford for the coveted position of Master is hotting up. But then, Morse faces a greater, far more personal crisis ...
We open this penultimate story to
the sound of breaking glass as an early morning bullet through a window claims the life of a woman.
A convoluted story that rather stretched the realms of possibility, yet I enjoyed the gruff pedantic bantering as usual. This is the one where Morse discovers he has diabetes, and Lewis, finally, finds out Morse's first name. On to the last...
4* Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse, #1)
3* Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse, #2)
3* The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse, #3)
3* Service of All the Dead (Inspector Morse, #4)
3* The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse, #5)
4* The Riddle of the Third Mile (Inspector Morse, #6)
3* The Secret of Annexe 3 (Inspector Morse #7)
3* The Wench Is Dead (Inspector Morse, #8)
3* The Jewel That Was Ours (Inspector Morse, #9)
3* The Way Through The Woods (Inspector Morse, #10)
4* The Daughters of Cain (Inspector Morse, #11)
3* Death Is Now My Neighbor (Inspector Morse, #12)
CR The Remorseful Day (Inspector Morse, #13)
3* Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories -
This is the twelfth Chief Inspector Morse's book and the writer has chosen to finish the series with the 13th book. In this book you already read the signs of the Morse Lifestyle and its consequences which are quite sad. Good to know that Morse did deliver some great adventures on the telly (The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding commercials) produced between 1987 and 2000 ). This one was filmed in season 8 episode 3 where episode 5 turned out to be the last of the shows run.
By sheer accident I had seen this episode not so long ago on the television which in a way was a bit of spoiler when you read a novel, but John Thaws immortal personification of Morse does not alter the fact that Colin Dexter does write a very decent book.
The book and its story about murder and the election of Master for some Oxford College are masterfully entwined and deliver some interesting story in which Morse is morally disgusted at the Oxford elite in the end. And he does Lewis, his trusty sergeant, the honour of finally trusting him with his name besides Morse that is.
Lewis worries about his boss about his health and discipline, Morse does make an awful policeman but a great detective and he proves it with this case and for a change the book ends with Morse being happy for a change.
This is certainly not one of the great novels written about Morse but certainly it shows you a lot about his inner musings and physical downfall. But any Morse book is worthy of your time so make the effort please.
I still enjoy the Morse and Lewis TV show, somewhat disappointed that the latter never received a single book written by Dexter. The young Morse series have so far defied my watching, I am sure I will get to the series one day. It is a quintessential British TV show, all three of them I am quite sure Inspector Colombo would be watching them. -
This is #12 in the long running series featuring Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis and Dexter's writing just keeps getting better and better and the plots keep getting more and more convoluted. But that is the beauty of a Morse book.....just when you think that the answer to the murder(s) might be staring you in the face, it evaporates and the author leads you in a different direction which sometimes makes it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing circumstances.
The plot of this story centers around the Masters of Lonsdale College at Oxford and the hidden and somewhat smarmy activities that are being conducted in this temple of learning. We have a couple of murders, some blackmail, and mistaken identities. This book gives us a little more of Morse's personal life as his bad habits are beginning to affect his health and Lewis is trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. We also find out for the first time what Morse's first name is....the name that he has tried to keep secret through the first eleven books. And it is rather endearing as to how that is revealed.
It's another winner from Colin Dexter!! -
4,25 starsx- English Ebook
Pomposity mixed with beer seems an odd formula for a crowd-pleasing mystery hero, yet there's no arguing with its track record: first Nero Wolfe and now Inspector Morse, the curmudgeonly Oxford copper who is currently the darling of the PBS crime set.
The wild popularity of the Morse novels, both in print and on screen, derives largely from the shrewd way author Dexter decorates the traditional English puzzle-solving detective story with enough surface realism to extend his audience beyond the cozy crowd.
This time, the murders are particularly bloody, the sensitive Morse barely deigns to examine the bodies, and the trail leads directly to those nasty Oxford dons, mired in yet another power squabble.
Morse intuits the solution as always, but not before a personal crisis intervenes: too much beer has resulted in a spot of diabetes.
The inspector's fans will positively swoon at the way their gruff hero talks back to the nurses and continues to abuse his long-suffering, ever-capable sidekick, Lewis.
Watched the series with my mum and now reading the novels. Love them. -
In this penultimate book in the Inspector Morse series, Morse and Lewis investigate the seemingly motiveless murder of a young woman, shot through the blind-covered window of her kitchen by an intruder who came down the back alley behind the houses. Of course, it is Morse who realises eventually that it could have been a case of mistaken identity due to the house numbering.
Morse has a serious health issue which develops in this story but which, in his usual curmudgeonly fashion he tries to ignore as best as he can. He comes up with a number of theories as to who the murderer is, especially when another occurs, and with how it relates to a contest at Lonsdale College where two men and their wives are rivals for the position of the next Master. I'm not sure though that the character of the Master as portrayed, although sickening to Morse, is as obviously nasty as in the TV adaptation which I still remember some years after last viewing it.
There is a foreshadowing of the final novel here and an air of sadness especially over the fate of the young wife of one of the characters. But there is some nice interplay with subtle humour between the two detectives and once again Lewis' long suffering nature is to the fore. Morse finally reveals the secret of his first name in this volume, which was a long kept secret at the time. All in all, a solid and page turning 3 star read. -
3.5 stars
Morse is starting to see his own mortality in this book when he is diagnosed with diabetes. He is hospitalized in a health crisis and starts to reevaluate his life. Not too much, of course, as the first thing he does when he is released from the hospital is to get an alcoholic drink and have a cigarette.
The mystery surrounds a murder of a young professional shot in her house through the kitchen window. Surrounding the murder is the selection of a Master at Oxford by one of two local professors. How does it fit into the murder? Everyone knows her. Then her next door neighbor, a newspaper reporter, is shot and killed too.
This is one series, I feel, that is better on TV than it is in the books. In the books I am mystified by Morse's power over women but in John Thaw's capable hands, it makes perfect sense. I do like exploring the Morse- Lewis relationship which you can see is growing in every book. In a touching moment, Morse reveals his first name to Lewis which was a powerful moment.
There is only one more book in the series. I started this in my Cozy Mystery Group quite awhile ago and it will feel good to complete that goal. -
This was my fisrt Inspector Morse novel to read, the only one I've been able to find State-side, and I absolutely loved it. This is book 12 of 13 so some of the sub-plots I was not privy to. But It was an amazingly well written and planned mystery. Kudos to Mr. Dexter. I am actively hunting all of the series now.
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La mia prima volta con l’ispettore Morse. Certo avrei potuto iniziare con il primo della serie ma questo era a portata di mano. Una lettura divertente in cui ambientazione e humour inglese sono notevoli e preponderanti rispetto alla trama. L’ispettore poi, pedante e non sempre immacolato, è accompagnato da un aiutante che, come nelle migliori tradizioni, diventa figura chiave, volontariamente o involontariamente, anche nello scioglimento del mistero. Simpatico.
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The end is in sight. Morse's health takes a real turn for the worse with the discovery that he has diabetes - this isn't a man to be told what to eat and drink - although he does seem to give up smoking. Once again he gets lucky with the ladies and once again he finds himself deep in a murder investigation.
A woman shot in her own kitchen is the start of a story that involves blackmail and infidelity. Before the story is over 2 more bodies are added to the count. 2 men who want to become master of the Oxford university that they work at, both with their own secrets.
It's a bittersweet book, because you again see the way that Morse and Lewis work together, relying on each other. The realisation that Lewis is Morse's on real friend, that he cares about what happens to Morse - even trying to tell him to stop drinking. His reward? Finally learning Morse's Christian name. You feel the end coming, as Morse again faces his mortality, his possibly retirement - because you truly feel that without his work Morse couldn't live. Wouldn't want to live. He needs the puzzle (much the same as Sherlock Holmes). -
Very cleverly written. Well plotted and entertaining. This might be an odd book in the series to begin with, but I know the TV programmes very well. You can hear John Thaw & Kevin Whately in the dialogue! Oddly, since I've watched the series often, I didn't remember who the murderer was and Dexter kept me guessing until at least very nearly the end. Excellent stuff - I shall be reading more of them!
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I loved everything about this Morse & Lewis tale. The crime bits were well-done; the secondary characters were wonderfully drawn and the drama around Morse’s health is steadily increasing. And with his knowledge about his forthcoming mortality, Morse is showing his appreciation of Lewis to Lewis. Loved the scene where Lewis receives the postcard at the end.
Can’t wait to read the finale. -
Inspector Morse mystery No. 12 sees what appears to be an assasination of a woman through her kitchen window! A puzzling case for Morse; in addition the Inspector struggling on many other fronts… including not letting anyone know what is first name is! A bit of a snoozefest 4 out of 12.
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“And suddenly Lewis felt very happy that he was back in harness with this arrogant, ungracious, vulnerable, lovable man with whom he had worked so closely for so many years”
“Some people took little or no mental exercise except that of jumping to conclusions; while Morse was a man who took excessive mental exercise and who still jumped to dubious conclusions”
Death is Now My Neighbor is the penultimate book in the Inspector Morse series and the one where Morse’s first name is finally revealed to the reader. Other than that, I don’t have much to add. It is a classic Morse/Lewis mystery where their synergy ultimately solves the mystery and gives the book its unique flavor. Morse is still a hard drinking, classical music loving, porn sniffing perv, however. -
Morse ha il fiato corto (del resto, fisicamente è ormai quasi un rottame) ma con alti e bassi Dexter lo porta anche a un glorioso (e inaspettato, per lui) finale.
Ormai il barocchismo ha invaso anche la già limpida e pregevole relazione dell'ispettore con il suo sergente Lewis. Ma tant'è, li amiamo lo stesso -
Not a good book to start to Colin Dexter/Inspector Morse series but an excellent entry in the ongoing saga, not least because we sense the Angel of Death hovering in the near distance. The mystery is satisfying; a person is killed for no particular reason. With no motive and no suspects Morse and the redoubtable Lewis are at a blank wall. Then Morse has an idea, then another person is murdered, somehow linked to but seemingly separate and distinct from the first. In the background is the cut and thrust of academic politics (so vicious because so little is at stake) over who will become the next Master of an Oxford college and the breakup of a marriage, told in a very few horrifyingly real pages.
Highly recommended for Morse fans but best to have read a few earlier ones beforehand. -
Pretty standard entry to the Morse series. Dexter established his template early on and never really saw fit to go beyond it. That said, it's a pretty good template. In part, it's this sense of reliability that makes the series a pleasure.
Dexter gives the reader a contrasting pair of protagonists in the grumpy, intellectual, fainty alcoholic Morse and the loyal, dogged Sgt. Lewis. British mysteries have a long tradition of the otherworldly brainbox and the common-sense, common man sidekick; Holmes and Watson or Poirot and Captain Hastings are a couple examples. At the risk of sounding sociological, it's probably an expession of the English class system or, perhaps, it's just a literary device (see Don Quijote and Sancho Panza). Regardless, it works in book after book.
As always, Dexter provides us with bits of literature and philosophy that make us feel clever. And, not least, we get the Medieval weirdness of university society, where delicious pettiness plays out against Oxford's dreaming spires.
All in all, an enjoyable read. -
In this penultimate book in the Inspector Morse series, Dexter has clearly been influenced by the success of the TV show -- Lewis is now explicitly stated as being younger than Morse despite the fact that this contradicts statements in the earlier books in the series. Morse continues to have health issues in this book, but in some regards his character is reminiscent of that shown in the earlier books. This is most evident in his scattershot approach to solving the crime.
I thought that the mystery part of the book was done well. However the mood the book left me with was melancholy -- not only is Morse sick, but the solution of this particular case left me feeling sorry for some of suspects as well (mostly ). -
Inspector Morse is good for a guessing game to the end. And he's a cranky bastard. Love it. What do you love? Er-him, as Endeavor would have it, er--me. I started reading Colin Dexter just recently after enjoying Inspector Lewis on PBS. I highly recommend to those who love a good pretentious literary maze. This is not a light read by any means. Enjoy!
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Just re-read this, more slowly this time. A very good, elaborate plot and I love (as always) the interaction between Morse and Lewis. And it's so nice that Morse gets a bit of luck with his lady - though he also gets the first signs of his demise.
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The core story was good, and Morse's deduction skills were brilliant as always, but some rather crude sexual references, as well as an overuse of profanity, kept this from being as good as it could have been. Discerning readers, beware.
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My god I thought I was pompous and pretentious!
That said I read it, but do feel TV series had much to do with that. -
One of my favourite ever Morse novels, and that's saying something, from 1998.
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Colin Dexter at his best.
I miss Inspector Morse, his crosswords, Oxford and his drinking problem. -
Lovable. Well written. We learn Morse's first name. What a wonderful way to spend time
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One of the very best detective writers.
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Good. Very good. The chapter openings are a bit odd... But Morse and Lewis are in good form, here, and the plot is sufficiently mysterious. A nice, easy and strangely upbeat read.
