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 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 ...

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 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

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 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)