Review: LAST SEEN WEARING, Colin Dexter

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FG3X5NH8
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pan, Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 21, 2009
• Originally published 1976
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0330468527
• Book 2 of 13 ‏ : ‎ Inspector Morse  

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Last Seen Wearing is the second Inspector Morse novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.

Why now? Why Friday 12th September – two years, three months and two days after Valerie Taylor had left home to return to afternoon school?
He frowned. ‘Something’s turned up, I suppose.’
Strange nodded. ‘Yes.’

After leaving her home in Oxford to return to school in London, seventeen-year-old Valerie Taylor completely vanished. Despite the efforts of the police and Chief Inspector Ainley, the trail went cold and she was never found.

Two years on, Ainley is dead, and Inspector Morse is handed the case. But now, someone has decided to supply some surprising new evidence . . . 

My Take

This title, the second in the Morse series, was first published 50 years ago. I have read it before, and have read it again for my U3A Crime Reading Group.

Morse is given the case of the disappearance of Valerie Taylor after the death in a road accident of the original investigator. After over 2 years since Valerie left home Morse is convinced she is dead. Lewis is less convinced. They haven't worked together very often so they are still learning about each other. 

Morse comes up with a number of theories about what has happened and then Lewis goes down with the flu. 

An intriguing investigation 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.5, LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK - #1
• 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

 

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

review: THE REMORSEFUL DAY, Colin Dexter - audio book

• format: audio book from Audible
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 13
• Originally published 1999
• Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
  Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 12-14-17
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio

Synopsis (Audible)

'Where does this all leave us, sir?'

'Things are moving fast.'

'We're getting near the end, you mean?'

'We were always near the end.'

The murder of Yvonne Harrison had left Thames Valley CID baffled. A year after the dreadful crime they are still no nearer to making an arrest. But one man has yet to tackle the case - and it is just the sort of puzzle at which Chief Inspector Morse excels.

So why is he adamant that he will not lead the re-investigation, despite the entreaties of Chief Superintendent Strange and dark hints of some new evidence? And why, if he refuses to take on the case officially, does he seem to be carrying out his own private enquiries?

For Sergeant Lewis this is yet another example of the unsettling behaviour his chief has been displaying of late....

My Take

This is the last of the Morse series and again another excellent novel, and another excellent narration by Samuel West.

Morse met Yvonne Harrison when he was in hospital last and he fell for her, and she for him.
Her murder comes when he is involved in another case and he initially won't take on the case and is fully aware of a conflict of interest. But he continues to take an interest in it, and when a second murder happens he agrees to become involved.

Lewis finds Morse's attitude hard to fathom and he worries about how involved Morse actually was with Yvonne Harrison, particularly after he discovers part of a letter that Morse sent to her.

This was also virtually the last of Colin Dexter's novels although he remained involved in the television series Lewis and Endeavour. Like the earlier novels in the series, it gave Dexter the chance to display his erudite knowledge and literary skills. These are not just police procedurals but display complicated interweaving of plot threads and character development.

Colin Dexter died in 2017. He won many awards for his novels and in 1997 was presented with a well deserved CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature. I think he raised crime fiction writing to a real literary level.

My rating: 4.9

I've also 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 

Review: DEATH IS NOW MY NEIGHBOUR, Colin Dexter - audio book

• format: audio book from Audible
• Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 12
• Originally published 1996
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 12-14-17
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio

Synopsis (Audible)

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 17th-century love poem... And a photograph of a mystery grey-haired man...

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...

My Take

Yet another in this wonderful series, superbly narrated by Samuel West.

Morse and Chief Superintendent Strange are coming up to retirement, and Morse is beginning to pay the penalty for his drinking in particular, so in this novel he has a medical emergency and the diagnosis of diabetes. But underneath it all, he is still the old Morse, and he and Lewis have a very credible relationship.

If I haven't convinced you yet of how good this series is, how well plotted these novels are, how well Samuel West narrates them, then I guess I never will. But it is not too late to start if you are looking for good quality crime fiction audio.

And for me, just one book to go in the series, but I won't be tackling it for another month or so.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE - #7 audio book
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- #8, audio book
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - #4 audio book
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - #2 audio book
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - #6 audio book
4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - #9, audio book
4.8, THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS #10, audio book  
4.7, THE DAUGHTERS OF CAIN - #11, audio book

Review: THE DAUGHTERS OF CAIN, Colin Dexter - audio book

• format audio: Audible
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 11
• Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 12-14-17
• Originally published 1994
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio 

Synopsis (Audible)

Bizarre and bewildering - that's what so many murder investigations in the past had proved to be.... In this respect, at least, Lewis was correct in his thinking. What he could not have known was what unprecedented anguish the present case would cause to Morse's soul.

Chief Superintendent Strange's opinion was that too little progress had been made since the discovery of a corpse in a North Oxford flat. The victim had been killed by a single stab wound to the stomach. Yet the police had no weapon, no suspect, no motive.

Within days of taking over the case Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis uncover startling new information about the life and death of Dr Felix McClure. When another body is discovered, Morse suddenly finds himself with rather too many suspects. For once, he can see no solution. But then he receives a letter containing a declaration of love....

My Take

Another excellent audio version with narration by Samuel West.
My respect for the writing of Colin Dexter grows. Morse is often convinced that his latest theory fits all the facts and then he finds that it doesn't. Lewis keeps asking questions, and then the aspect he doesn't understand of Morse's theory provides the springboard for a more acceptable explanation. Often Morse can't even explain what has given rise to his latest idea, but eventually, of course he is right.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- audio book
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - audio book
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - audio book
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - audio book
4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - audio book
4.8, THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS #10, audio book 

Review: THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS, Colin Dexter - audio book

• audio book available from Audible
• Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 10
• first published 1992
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook, released 2017 in English by Macmillan Digital Audio

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Quietly, rather movingly, Strange was making his plea: 'Christ knows why, Lewis, but Morse will always put himself out for you.' As he put the phone down, Lewis knew that Strange had been right...in the case of the Swedish Maiden, the pair of them were in business again....

They called her the Swedish Maiden - the beautiful young tourist who disappeared on a hot summer's day somewhere in North Oxford. Twelve months later the case remained unsolved - pending further developments.

On holiday in Lyme Regis, Chief Inspector Morse is startled to read a tantalising article in The Times about the missing woman. An article which lures him back to Wytham Woods near Oxford...and straight into the most extraordinary murder investigation of his career.

My take

This series, so skilfully narrated by Samuel West, just gets better and better.

The novels really are "academic" crime fiction. The plots are never straight forward, and the actual plots do differ a little from the television series. And, as I've said before, Morse is a little different in a number of ways from the character that John Thaw created for television.

Morse is presented warts and all, at times adamantly sure he is correct when he is absolutely wrong. He is a womaniser, definitely a bachelor, not particularly healthy.

I remembered the basic plot of this book but that didn't reduce my enjoyment of it.

If you want a reading project for 2020 then you could do worse than reading the Morse series from beginning to end, either in print, or as an audio. I have added the complete list for you at the bottom of this post. My recommendation is to read them in order.

BTW this is the one where Max the pathologist is replaced by Laura Hobson after Max dies from a  massive heart attack.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book #7
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- audio book #8
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - audio book #4
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - audio book #2
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - audio book #6
4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - audio book #9

Series

Inspector Morse
   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)
   11. The Daughters of Cain (1994)
   12. Death Is Now My Neighbour (1996)
   13. The Remorseful Day (1999)

Review: THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS, Colin Dexter - audio book

• format: audio book from Audible
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 9
• Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 12-14-17
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio 
• Book originally published 1991

Synopsis (Audible)

He looked overweight around the midriff, though nowhere else, and she wondered whether perhaps he drank too much. He looked weary, as if he had been up most of the night conducting his investigations....

For Oxford, the arrival of 27 American tourists is nothing out of the ordinary...until one of their number is found dead in Room 310 at the Randolph Hotel.

It looks like a sudden - and tragic - accident. Only Chief Inspector Morse appears not to overlook the simultaneous theft of a jewel-encrusted antique from the victim's handbag....

Then, two days later, a naked and battered corpse is dragged from the River Cherwell. A coincidence? Maybe. But this time Morse is determined to prove the link....

My take

Morse doesn't always get it right. Sometimes he gets to the point of actually charging a suspect before he realises that he's got it wrong. In fact Lewis thinks that Morse creates scenarios before he looks at the facts. But somehow he gets some elements right and then he plucks something else out of left field, and somehow it all fits.

We listen carefully, just as Lewis does, and eventually Morse persuades us.

We have really been enjoying this set of audio books narrated superbly by Samuel West.

My rating: 4.6

I've also "read"
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- audio book
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - audio book
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - audio book
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - audio book  

Review: THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE, Colin Dexter - audio book

• format: audio from Audible
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 6
• Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 10-05-17
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio 

Synopsis (Audible)

The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all....

By the 16th of July, the Master of Lonsdale was concerned but not yet worried.

Dr Browne-Smith had passed through the porter's lodge at approximately 8:15 a.m. on the morning of Friday, 11th July. And nobody had heard from him since.

Plenty of time to disappear, thought Morse. And plenty of time, too, for someone to commit murder..

My Take

This is another cunningly constructed mystery, plenty of red herrings, so many that we lose sight of others who have disappeared, in our focus on one person. Eventually Morse gets help from a surprising quarter, which throws a very different light on his investigation.

These books are superbly read by Samuel West, and there's a literary quality to them that is rarely found in crime fiction.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- audio book
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - audio book
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - audio book

Review: LAST SEEN WEARING, Colin Dexter - audio book

• audio book from audible.com
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 2
• Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 10-05-17
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio
• originally published 1976

Synopsis (audible)

Morse was beset by a nagging feeling. Most of his fanciful notions about the Taylor girl had evaporated, and he had begun to suspect that further investigation into Valerie's disappearance would involve little more than sober and tedious routine....

The statements before Inspector Morse appeared to confirm the bald, simple truth.

After leaving home to return to school, teenager Valerie Taylor had completely vanished, and the trail had gone cold.

Until two years, three months and two days after Valerie's disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence for the case....

My Take

I read most of the Morse novels over 30 years ago and then followed them up by watching the Morse TV series. I really hadn't realised, until I listened to this particular book, the extent of differences between the original books and what was done for television.


I got a little confused towards the end (or did I momentarily drop off to sleep?) with the result that I had to listen to the last hour again to be sure that I knew the way it all finished up.

LAST SEEN WEARING is #2 in the series and is full of red herrings and false threads. Morse leaps from one idea to another, often operating on a few dodgy facts, and drawing some shaky conclusions from them. He becomes very despondent after one theory after another bites the dust, but in the end he does get it right. It is a very wasteful way of doing detective work, and there is not much logic to it. All of this does make reading the novel a very academic exercise, and I guess that's what sets Colin Dexter apart from the rest.


But don't go away thinking that this Morse is the one you've seen John Thaw play.
He is a much coarser person, but I think by the time we get to later in the series some of these cruder bits have been toned down.

If you want to follow up on the differences between Morse's character in the books and in the TV series, you might like check here.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book -#7
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD, Colin Dexter - audio book - #8
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD, Colin Dexter - audio book  - #4

The books in publication order
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)
11. The Daughters of Cain (1994)
12. Death Is Now My Neighbour (1996)
13. The Remorseful Day (1999)

Review: SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD, Colin Dexter - audio book

• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 4
• Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release date: 10-05-17
• originally published 1979
• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio

Synopsis (Audible)

Chief Inspector Morse, a middle-aged bachelor with a fondness for crossword puzzles, Mozart, and attractive women, investigates a series of suspicious and sinister events at Oxfords Church of St. Frideswide.

The sweet countenance of Reason greeted Morse serenely when he woke and told him that it would be no bad idea to have a quiet look at the problem itself before galloping off to a solution.

Chief Inspector Morse was alone among the congregation in suspecting continued unrest in the quiet parish of St Frideswide's.

Most people could still remember the churchwarden's murder. A few could still recall the murderer's suicide. Now even the police had closed the case.

Until a chance meeting among the tombstones reveals startling new evidence of a conspiracy to deceive...

My Take

Six dead bodies makes this story feel very complicated. How many of them are murders and how many are connected to each other? Morse himself is responsible for the death of the final person.

This is almost a cold case, or at least an unsolved mystery. The first murder took place in the vestry during a service when the church warden was stabbed by an intruder as he was counting the collection. The second followed soon after when the vicar threw himself off the bell tower. The most recent was nursing sister found dead in a hotel room.  It took some time to work out her identity.

It takes Morse's peculiar brain to work out how all the deaths are connected to each other.

The novel is divided into four books. Each book takes its name from a book of the Old Testament and follows a different style of writing. Notably, the third is in the form of a statement taken from a witness and the fourth (mostly) takes the form of court proceedings.

It is a very convoluted set of events, and I don't feel that the structure of the novel helped create a particularly successful audio production, although the narration is excellent once again.

The final events show us just how human Morse is.

My rating: 4.3

I have also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD, Colin Dexter - audio book

Review: THE WENCH IS DEAD, Colin Dexter - audio

• this edition approx 6 hours
• Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio; Unabridged edition edition
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1509885102
• ISBN-13: 978-1509885107
• Narrator: Samuel West
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

That night he dreamed in Technicolor. He saw the ochre-skinned, scantily clad siren in her black, arrowed stockings. And in Morse's muddled computer of a mind, that siren took the name of one Joanna Franks....

The body of Joanna Franks was found at Duke's Cut on the Oxford Canal at about 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 22nd June 1859.

At around 10.15 a.m. on a Saturday morning in 1989 the body of Chief Inspector Morse - though very much alive - was removed to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. Treatment for a perforated ulcer was later pronounced successful.

As Morse begins his recovery he comes across an account of the investigation and the trial that followed Joanna Franks' death...and becomes convinced that the two men hanged for her murder were innocent....

My Take

I'm so glad I've discovered this set of unabridged productions of the Morse books. At between 6 and 7 hours they are lovely renditions of Dexter's novels.

Lying in hospital recovering from a perforated ulcer Morse is given a small book written by a recently died patient investigating the very cold case of a woman who was found drowned in the Oxford Canal over 100 years earlier. As he reads he feels there was something wrong with the verdict which convicted 3 canal boatmen of the murder, but he can't put his finger on it. Luckily the man in the neighbouring bed is visited by his daughter who works in the Bodliean, just the sort of research assistant he needs.

Highly recommnended.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book 

Review: THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE, Colin Dexter - audio book

• By: Colin Dexter
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Series: Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 7
• Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
• audio book: Macmillan Digital Audio
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Audible)

Morse sought to hide his disappointment. So many people in the Haworth Hotel that fateful evening had been wearing some sort of disguise - a change of dress, a change of makeup, a change of partner, a change of attitude, a change of life almost; and the man who had died had been the most consummate artist of them all....

Chief Inspector Morse seldom allowed himself to be caught up in New Year celebrations. So the murder inquiry in the festive hotel had a certain appeal.

It was a crime worthy of the season.

The corpse was still in fancy dress. And hardly a single guest at the Haworth had registered under a genuine name....

My Take

I've actually read most or all of the Morse books years ago (prior to this blog commencing), as well as seeing most of the TV versions with John Thaw and Kevin Whately.
However the audio version gives you a chance to contemplate Colin Dexter's skill as a writer, and in particular how clever he is as a plotter and how literary his expression is.

Samuel West does a lovely job of narration, and I'm looking forward to my next.

My rating: 4.5

I've already read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection

Review: Inspector Morse: BBC Radio Drama Collection - audio book

Narrated by: John Shrapnel, Robert Glenister

Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins

Radio/TV Program

Release date: 03-01-18

Language: English

Publisher: BBC Digital Audio 

source: Audible.com 

Synopsis (Audible)

Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations starring John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis, plus a bonus reading by Colin Dexter of one of his short stories.

In Last Seen Wearing, Inspector Morse is reluctant to take over an old missing person case from a dead colleague. But two years, three months and two days after teenager Valerie Taylor's disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence....

In The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, Inspector Morse tackles the murder of an exam invigilator. The newly appointed member of the Oxford foreign exam syndicate was deaf, and he wasn't from the insular world of the Oxford colleges. Now he is dead.

After he's rushed into hospital, Inspector Morse becomes intrigued by an old crime in The Wench Is Dead. Could the wrong men have been hanged for the murder of Joanna Franks?

Plus Colin Dexter reads his own short story, 'The Double Crossing', in which it is a good first day for a certain detective named Lewis.
Gripping, suspenseful and entertaining, these BBC dramatisations were adapted by Guy Meredith from the original Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter.

My take

Just the thing for shortish journeys - each play takes about 80 minutes. Getting used to John Shrapnel playing Morse instead of John Thaw takes a bit of time as does Robert Glenister playing Lewis.

I initially found the sound a bit patchy but it worked ok once I realised I had to have volume right up so I caught what was happening with minor scenes and some of the minor characters.

The quality of Dexter's writing and characterisations  comes through well, even those these are obviously abridged versions of the original novels.

I had in fact read most of the Dexter novels before beginning this blog.

Recommended.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read the following by Colin Dexter

Forgotten Book: LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK, Colin Dexter

Another contribution to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books theme.

Colin Dexter(1930 - ) is best known for his Inspector Morse series published over a period of 25 years, and made memorable for us on television by John Thaw. He is another crime fiction writer who contributed immeasurably to the crime fiction genre.

Blurb of THE LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK courtesy of Fantastic Fiction.
The death of Sylvia Kaye featured dramatically in 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.

As one book followed another the Morse character developed: an educated man who loved classical music, cryptic crosswords, a bachelor not averse to the company of women but shy of commitment, a homicide detective who hated the sight of blood.

Like Ellis Peters, who had the pleasure of meeting Derek Jacobi who brought Cadfael to life, Colin Dexter had the pleasure of meeting "Morse".
In fact if you watch the TV series carefully you will find Dexter, who often acted as adviser, also managed to get a little spot, in true Hitchcock style, in the film.

The Morse series
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 (1989)
10. The Way Through the Woods (1992)
11. The Daughters of Cain (1994)
12. Death Is Now My Neighbour (1996)
13. The Remorseful Day (1999)

Look also for a set of short stories: Morse's Greatest Mystery (1993)

Other blogs
Books to the Ceiling

Here's little taste of Morse from YouTube

Dexter has been the recipient of several Crime Writers' Association awards: two Silver Daggers for Service of All the Dead in 1979 and The Dead of Jericho in 1981; two Gold Daggers for The Wench is Dead in 1989 and The Way Through the Woods in 1992; and a Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in 1997. In 1996 Dexter received a Macavity Award for his short story Evans Tries an O-Level.

In 2000 Dexter was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.