Review: LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK, Colin Dexter

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004ZI0OFO
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan, Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 1991
• Originally published 1975
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1743035771
• Book 1 of 13 ‏ : ‎ Inspector Morse 

Synopsis (Amazon)

'Do you think I'm wasting your time, Lewis?'

Lewis was nobody's fool and was a man of some honesty and integrity.

'Yes, sir.'

An engaging smile crept across Morse's mouth. He thought they could get on well together . . .'

The death of Sylvia Kaye figured dramatically in Thursday afternoon's edition of the Oxford Mail.

By Friday evening Inspector Morse had informed the nation that the police were looking for a dangerous man - facing charges of wilful murder, sexual assault and rape.

But as the obvious leads fade into twilight and darkness, Morse becomes more and more convinced that passion holds the key . . .

My Take

It is 50 years since this book was first published, and of course I have read it before. 
I am reading it this time with my U3A Crime Fiction reading group, introducing them to an author who is not only an award winner (see below), but someone who made a unique contribution to British crime fiction, and through that to our television screens with Morse and Endeavour.

This is the first in the series, the first time Morse and Lewis have worked together. So we learn a lot about each of them as people and as detectives, and the way they complement each other. We see Morse at his best and at his worst. As characters both are fleshed out, we learn important things about each.

The plot is an incredibly complex one, a murder mystery where the murderer and motive are not obvious until almost at  the end. Several times Lewis thinks Morse has lost his marbles; Morse also falls in love 

My rating: 4.5

I've already read

4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE - #7
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD -#8
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - #4
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING - #2
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - #6
4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - #9
4.8. THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS - #10
4.7, THE DAUGHTERS OF CAIN - #11,
4.7, DEATH IS NOW MY NEIGHBOUR - #12
5.0, THE REMORSEFUL DAY, Colin Dexter  - #13  

The Inspector Morse series (Fantastic Fiction)

   1. Last Bus to Woodstock (1975)
   2. Last Seen Wearing (1976)
   3. The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (1977)
   4. Service of All the Dead (1979)
   5. The Dead of Jericho (1981)
   6. The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983)
   7. The Secret of Annexe 3 (1986)
   8. The Wench Is Dead (1989)
   9. The Jewel That Was Ours (1991)
   10. The Way Through the Woods (1992)
   Morse's Greatest Mystery (1993)
   11. The Daughters of Cain (1994)
   12. Death Is Now My Neighbour (1996)
   13. The Remorseful Day (1999) 

Awards

2011 Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award 1997 CWA Diamond Dagger 1996 Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short Story : Evans Tries an O-Level 1992 CWA Gold Dagger : The Way Through the Woods 1989 CWA Gold Dagger : The Wench Is Dead

Award nominations

1981 CWA Gold Dagger (nominee) : The Dead of Jericho 1979 CWA Gold Dagger (nominee) : Service of All the Dead 1975 ILP John Creasey First Novel (shortlist) : Last Bus to Woodstock