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Inspector Morse #2, 6, 7
The Second Inspector Morse Omnibus: The Secret Of Annexe 3 / The Riddle Of Third Mile / Last Seen Wearing
Contains three full-length novels: "The Secret of Annexe 3" which concerns a murder at the New Year celebrations at the Haworth Hotel; "The Riddle of the Third Mile" which is about the disappearance of Dr Browne-Smith; and "Last Seen Wearing" in which new evidence opens a case over two years old.
576 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 1991
2 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Colin Dexter
182 books714 followersNorman Colin Dexter was an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels.
He started writing mysteries in 1972 during a family holiday: "We were in a little guest house halfway between Caernarfon and Pwllheli. It was a Saturday and it was raining - it's not unknown for it to rain in North Wales. The children were moaning ... I was sitting at the kitchen table with nothing else to do, and I wrote the first few paragraphs of a potential detective novel." Last Bus to Woodstock was published in 1975 and introduced the world to the character of Inspector Morse, the irascible detective whose penchants for cryptic crosswords, English literature, cask ale and Wagner reflect Dexter's own enthusiasms. Dexter's plots are notable for his use of false leads and other red herrings.
The success of the 33 episodes of the TV series Inspector Morse, produced between 1987 and 2001, brought further acclaim for Dexter. In the manner of Alfred Hitchcock, he also makes a cameo appearance in almost all episodes. More recently, his character from the Morse series, the stalwart Sgt (now Inspector) Lewis features in 12 episodes of the new ITV series Lewis. As with Morse, Dexter makes a cameo appearance in several episodes. Dexter suggested the English poet A. E. Housman as his "great life" on the BBC Radio 4 programme of that name in May 2008. Dexter and Housman were both classicists who found a popular audience for another genre of writing.
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 1980, he was elected a member of the by-invitation-only Detection Club.
In 2000, Dexter was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Inspector Morse
Awards:
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 1979: Service of all the Dead
◊ 1981: The Dead of Jericho
Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger
◊ 1989: The Wench is Dead
◊ 1992: The Way Through the Woods
He started writing mysteries in 1972 during a family holiday: "We were in a little guest house halfway between Caernarfon and Pwllheli. It was a Saturday and it was raining - it's not unknown for it to rain in North Wales. The children were moaning ... I was sitting at the kitchen table with nothing else to do, and I wrote the first few paragraphs of a potential detective novel." Last Bus to Woodstock was published in 1975 and introduced the world to the character of Inspector Morse, the irascible detective whose penchants for cryptic crosswords, English literature, cask ale and Wagner reflect Dexter's own enthusiasms. Dexter's plots are notable for his use of false leads and other red herrings.
The success of the 33 episodes of the TV series Inspector Morse, produced between 1987 and 2001, brought further acclaim for Dexter. In the manner of Alfred Hitchcock, he also makes a cameo appearance in almost all episodes. More recently, his character from the Morse series, the stalwart Sgt (now Inspector) Lewis features in 12 episodes of the new ITV series Lewis. As with Morse, Dexter makes a cameo appearance in several episodes. Dexter suggested the English poet A. E. Housman as his "great life" on the BBC Radio 4 programme of that name in May 2008. Dexter and Housman were both classicists who found a popular audience for another genre of writing.
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 1980, he was elected a member of the by-invitation-only Detection Club.
In 2000, Dexter was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Inspector Morse
Awards:
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 1979: Service of all the Dead
◊ 1981: The Dead of Jericho
Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger
◊ 1989: The Wench is Dead
◊ 1992: The Way Through the Woods
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 6, 2022
What a disgusting character, this inspector Morse.
Off-putting writing style too. But just make sure you expect some pornography, prostitutes and adultery, and “attractive” women falling for the rude, condescending and repulsive man in his 50s (or 40s in the earlier book), and you won’t be disappointed.
Also prepare for the inspector‘s convoluted, far-fetched and absolutely fabricated hypotheses (way too many thereof) to possibly solve the respective crimes by guessing… - basically: lower your bar on any whodunit plot before reading this book.
_
The secret of Annexe 3: 2 stars
I appreciate that this book was first published in 1986, but the sexism and other isms in here were hard to bear. I was hopeful that an interesting storyline and conclusion of the case would make up for it, but oh boy was I wrong. So far fetched, fabricated and stupid...
On top of that the writing style is extremely annoying with unnecessarily long sentences (with so many things in parentheses!), and big words for no other reason but to complicate the flow of reading.
Here's a sample from chapter 1: "Yet a few of the neighbours, especially the womenfolk, had struck up some sort of distanced acquaintance with him as they pushed prams or shopping trolleys past his neatly kept front lawn; and two of these women (on learning that things were fixed for a Saturday) had decided to be present at the statutory obsequies."
This is not just a rare occurrence every few pages to add some flourish - every second sentence is such a monster. Go figure!
_
The riddle of the third mile: 2 stars
After reading the first book, I pretty much knew what to expect but it hardly make this one better.
This story. Gross and pathetic and the final conclusion even worse (guessable at that point) than all the weird theories before.
My verdict: don’t bother.
_
Last seen wearing: 2.3 stars
This book was first published in 1978, and it’s somewhat easier to read than the other two books in this omnibus that Colin Dexter wrote in the following 5-8 years. You’d think an author would get better over time - guess not…
That said, the story is horribly confusing with an unsatisfactory ending that I can - literally - not even play back anymore just one hour after finishing. I’ve already forgotten which of the many guesses of how the crime might’ve happened was the one he went with in the end. His portrayal of women is already derogatory and demeaning in this earlier book.
Off-putting writing style too. But just make sure you expect some pornography, prostitutes and adultery, and “attractive” women falling for the rude, condescending and repulsive man in his 50s (or 40s in the earlier book), and you won’t be disappointed.
Also prepare for the inspector‘s convoluted, far-fetched and absolutely fabricated hypotheses (way too many thereof) to possibly solve the respective crimes by guessing… - basically: lower your bar on any whodunit plot before reading this book.
_
The secret of Annexe 3: 2 stars
I appreciate that this book was first published in 1986, but the sexism and other isms in here were hard to bear. I was hopeful that an interesting storyline and conclusion of the case would make up for it, but oh boy was I wrong. So far fetched, fabricated and stupid...
On top of that the writing style is extremely annoying with unnecessarily long sentences (with so many things in parentheses!), and big words for no other reason but to complicate the flow of reading.
Here's a sample from chapter 1: "Yet a few of the neighbours, especially the womenfolk, had struck up some sort of distanced acquaintance with him as they pushed prams or shopping trolleys past his neatly kept front lawn; and two of these women (on learning that things were fixed for a Saturday) had decided to be present at the statutory obsequies."
This is not just a rare occurrence every few pages to add some flourish - every second sentence is such a monster. Go figure!
_
The riddle of the third mile: 2 stars
After reading the first book, I pretty much knew what to expect but it hardly make this one better.
This story. Gross and pathetic and the final conclusion even worse (guessable at that point) than all the weird theories before.
My verdict: don’t bother.
_
Last seen wearing: 2.3 stars
This book was first published in 1978, and it’s somewhat easier to read than the other two books in this omnibus that Colin Dexter wrote in the following 5-8 years. You’d think an author would get better over time - guess not…
That said, the story is horribly confusing with an unsatisfactory ending that I can - literally - not even play back anymore just one hour after finishing. I’ve already forgotten which of the many guesses of how the crime might’ve happened was the one he went with in the end. His portrayal of women is already derogatory and demeaning in this earlier book.
October 13, 2022
Last Seen Wearing: literary Morse is a sight more lecherous than the character we’ve come to know (and love?) from the tv adaptation which frankly does him little credit. He’s also shown to be completely apathetic towards this case - with no body - and in his desire to draw a speedy conclusion to it all he comes up with a number of creative hypotheses which are subsequently and systematically ruled out. Unfortunately I would have preferred any of these false leads to have been the conclusion rather than the lame one we ended up with.
July 18, 2025
Very entertaining. Also my first reading of the characters brought to life to me initially through the delightful BBC series I watched when they first came out. What struck me is how Dexter delights in poking fun at Chief Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis through the narrator, his love of words - through a love of the cryptic crossword Morse so dearly enjoys - and his seemingly prurient delight in delving into the British professional sex trade (Soho's, mainly, in these three stories) and those crimes of passion stemming from the failings of man's (and woman's) need for sexual gratification, no matter the source. My question: Why are these books curated like this? That is, in reverse chronological order? And which I read in reverse, because I wanted to start from the top, as it were, in Dexter's oeuvre. My presumptive answer: Probably because the movement is from shortest to longest, and lightest to darkest of storylines. Last Seen Wearing is the most complex narrative of the bunch, the most ornate of mysteries, and the next two, in their order of publication, are less complex as mysteries and most focused on the interactions between Morse and Lewis and the world around them. So with time the novels develop a freer style, less encumbered by any apparent worry with procedure and concern for the evolution of clues. Rather, it is a clear delight in the people inhabiting the Oxonian world, impish and teasing, including the omnipresent education system as ready backdrop.
October 25, 2024
Three Morse stories and whenever I read Dexter's stories I can't help but picture John Thaw and Kevin Whateley but I'm not sure the way these two actors played their roles has much resemblance to the way the characters were written? And i think I prefer the TV versions...
Still the books are beautifully written and the stories are really good and I can never work out how things will transpire. Though I have to say the "Third mile" was a little too contrived for me.
Still the books are beautifully written and the stories are really good and I can never work out how things will transpire. Though I have to say the "Third mile" was a little too contrived for me.
July 10, 2025
morse is an unsavoury character in these books unlike the John thaw character much loved on tv ,- the writing style contains far too many parentheses which restrict smooth reading. .
I'm new to Colin Dexter. the jury is out as to whether I will continue with him
I'm new to Colin Dexter. the jury is out as to whether I will continue with him
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November 29, 20243.5⭐
This was a re-read, and the rating has gone lower in my estimation due to the unbridled sexism... and the profound midlife crisis that Inspector Morse seems to be constantly having!
This was a re-read, and the rating has gone lower in my estimation due to the unbridled sexism... and the profound midlife crisis that Inspector Morse seems to be constantly having!
February 25, 2023
This is the seventh Morse novel by Colin Dexter. It was not made into a Morse episode on TV. A murder in the annexe of an Oxford hotel (the Haworth Hotel) on New Year's Eve is investigated by Morse and Lewis in the usual fashion. A great read (I was awaiting Doug's return from the OR - getting his gallbladder out).
March 7, 2016
The Secret Of Annexe 3 (Book 7): 4-stars
The Riddle Of The Third Mile (Book 6): 3-stars
Last Seen Wearing (Book 2): 4-stars
The Riddle Of The Third Mile (Book 6): 3-stars
Last Seen Wearing (Book 2): 4-stars
March 3, 2015
The solutions to Annexe 3 and Last Seen I found rather thin but Third Mile works wonderfully.
July 21, 2017
Have read Secret of Annexe 3 at the beginning of March
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews