Inspector Morse

10 primary works • 11 total works

Last Bus to Woodstock

by Colin Dexter

Published 1 January 1975

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."
--The New York Times Book Review

"YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW MORSE UNTIL YOU'VE READ
HIM. . . . Viewers who have enjoyed British actor John Thaw as Morse in the PBS Mystery! Anthology...Read more

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."
--The New York Times Book Review

"YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW MORSE UNTIL YOU'VE READ
HIM. . . . Viewers who have enjoyed British actor John Thaw as Morse in the PBS Mystery! Anthology series should welcome the deeper character development in Dexter's novels."
--Chicago Sun-Times

Beautiful Sylvia Kaye and another young woman had been seen hitching a ride not long before Sylvia's bludgeoned body is found outside a pub in Woodstock, near Oxford. Morse is sure the other hitchhiker can tell him much of what he needs to know. But his confidence is shaken by the cool inscrutability of the girl he's certain was Sylvia's companion on that ill-fated September evening. Shrewd as Morse is, he's also distracted by the complex scenarios that the murder set in motion among Sylvia's girlfriends and their Oxford playmates. To grasp the painful truth, and act upon it, requires from Morse the last atom of his professional discipline.

"Few novelists write books as intelligent and deliciously frightening as those by Colin Dexter. . . . What Mr. Dexter does so well, so brilliantly, is weave a thick, cerebral story chock-full of literary references and clever red herrings."
--The Washington Times

"A MASTERFUL CRIME WRITER WHOM FEW OTHERS MATCH."
--Publishers Weekly

Last Seen Wearing

by Colin Dexter

Published April 1976

After leaving home to return to school, teenager Valerie Taylor had vanished and the trail had gone cold. Two years after her disappearance somebody decides to supply new evidence for the case. Other Inspector Morse books include Last Bus to Woodstock.

Service of All the Dead

by Colin Dexter

Published 18 October 1979

"[MORSE IS] THE MOST PRICKLY, CONCEITED, AND GENUINELY BRILLIANT DETECTIVE SINCE HERCULE POIROT."
--The New York Times Book Review
This time Inspector Morse brings the imposition on himself. He could have been vacationing in Greece instead of investigating a murder that the police have long since written off. But...Read more

"[MORSE IS] THE MOST PRICKLY, CONCEITED, AND GENUINELY BRILLIANT DETECTIVE SINCE HERCULE POIROT."
--The New York Times Book Review
This time Inspector Morse brings the imposition on himself. He could have been vacationing in Greece instead of investigating a murder that the police have long since written off. But he finds the crime--the brutal killing of a suburban churchwarden--fascinating. In fact, he uncovers not one murder but two, for the fatal fall of St. Frideswides vicar from the church tower Morse reckons to be murder as well. And as he digs into the lives and unsanctified lusts of the late vicar's erring flock, the list of the dead grows longer. Not even the oddly appealing woman he finds scrubbing the church floor can compensate Morse for the trouble he's let himself in for. So he has another pint, follows his hunches, and sets out to untangle the deadly business of homicide. . . .
"A BRILLIANTLY PLOTTED DETECTIVE STORY."
--Evening Standard (London)
"WILY. . . ELEGANT."
--Observer (London)

The Dead of Jericho

by Colin Dexter

Published 1 January 1981

Morse switched on the gramophone to 'play', and sought to switch his mind away from all the terrestrial troubles. Sometimes, this way, he almost managed to forget. But not tonight ...Anne Scott's address was scribbled on a crumpled note in the pocket of Morse's smartest suit. He turned the...Read more

Morse switched on the gramophone to 'play', and sought to switch his mind away from all the terrestrial troubles. Sometimes, this way, he almost managed to forget. But not tonight ...Anne Scott's address was scribbled on a crumpled note in the pocket of Morse's smartest suit. He turned the corner of Canal Street, Jericho, on the afternoon of Wednesday, 3rd October. He hadn't planned a second visit. But he was back later the same day -- as the officer in charge of a suicide investigation ...

The Riddle of the Third Mile

by Colin Dexter

Published 1 January 1983

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot".
--The New York Times Book Review
Inspector Morse isn't sure what to make of the truncated body found dumped in the Oxford Canal, but he suspects it may be all that's left of an elderly Oxford...Read more

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot".
--The New York Times Book Review
Inspector Morse isn't sure what to make of the truncated body found dumped in the Oxford Canal, but he suspects it may be all that's left of an elderly Oxford don last seen boarding the London train several days before. Whatever the truth, the inspector knows it won't be simple--it never is. As he retraces Professor Browne-Smith's route through a London netherworld of topless bars and fancy bordellos, his forebodings are fulfilled. The evidence mounts; so do the bodies. So Morse downs another pint, unleashes his pit bull instincts, and solves a mystery that defies all logic.
"[Dexter] is a magician with character, story construction, and the English language. . . . Colin Dexter and Morse are treasures of the genre".
--Mystery News
"It is a delight to watch this brilliant, quirky man deduce".
--Minneapolis Star & Tribune

The Secret of Annexe 3

by Colin Dexter

Published 30 October 1986

Much too early on New Year's Day, a grumpy Inspector Morse is summoned to investigate a murder at the Haworth Hotel. The victim is still wearing the Rastafarian costume that won him first prize at the hotel's New Year's Eve party; his female companion and the other guests in...Read more

Much too early on New Year's Day, a grumpy Inspector Morse is summoned to investigate a murder at the Haworth Hotel. The victim is still wearing the Rastafarian costume that won him first prize at the hotel's New Year's Eve party; his female companion and the other guests in the annexe have vanished. It's a mystery that's a stretch even for Morse. But with pit-bull fervor he grabs the truth by the throat and shakes loose the bizarre secrets of a cold-blooded crime of passion. . . .

Jewel That Was Ours

by Colin Dexter

Published 9 July 1991

For Oxford, the arrival of twenty-seven American tourists is nothing out of the ordinary...until one of their number is found dead in Room 310 at the Randolph hotel. Then, two days later, a naked and battered corpse is dragged from the River Cherwell. A coincidence? Morse is determined to...Read more

For Oxford, the arrival of twenty-seven American tourists is nothing out of the ordinary...until one of their number is found dead in Room 310 at the Randolph hotel. Then, two days later, a naked and battered corpse is dragged from the River Cherwell. A coincidence? Morse is determined to prove the link...

The Way Through the Woods

by Colin Dexter

Published 9 October 1992

A cranky Inspector Morse is called back early from a forced vacation in Lyme Regis to take over the recently reopened case of a missing Swedish girl.

The Daughters of Cain

by Colin Dexter

Published 9 April 1988

The eleventh Inspector Morse novel begins when a body is discovered in a set of rooms off a prestigious staircase in the most famous Oxford college of them all. Colin Dexter has won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award twice for The Way Through the Woods and The...Read more

The eleventh Inspector Morse novel begins when a body is discovered in a set of rooms off a prestigious staircase in the most famous Oxford college of them all. Colin Dexter has won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award twice for The Way Through the Woods and The Wench is Dead.

The Remorseful Day

by Colin Dexter

Published 10 September 1999

' 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...Read more

' 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 ...

Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories

by Colin Dexter

Published 5 November 1993

Morse had solved so many mysteries in his life. Was he now, he wondered, beginning to glimpse the solution to the greatest mystery of them all . . . ?

How can the discovery of a short story by a beautiful Oxford graduate lead Chief Inspector Morse to her...

Read more

Morse had solved so many mysteries in his life. Was he now, he wondered, beginning to glimpse the solution to the greatest mystery of them all . . . ?

How can the discovery of a short story by a beautiful Oxford graduate lead Chief Inspector Morse to her murderer? What awaits Morse and Lewis in Room 231 of the Randolph Hotel? Why does a theft at Christmas lead the detective to look upon the festive season with uncharacteristic goodwill? And what happens when Morse himself falls victim to a brilliantly executed crime?

Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories is a dazzling collection of short stories from Inspector Morse's creator, Colin Dexter. It includes six ingenious cases for the world's most popular fictional detective – plus five other tantalizingly original tales to delight all lovers of classic crime fiction.