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Inspector Morse #1-13
Inspector Morse: The Complete Collection
Colin Dexter Boxset Special Sales
Boxed Set (paperback)
First published July 5, 2002
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196 people want to read
About the author
Colin Dexter
181 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
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 6, 2020
Listened to in audio format.
I watched the Inspector Morse series on TV and was excited to see the stories adapted for radio.
I enjoyed the stories but my least favourite was The Wench is dead which was an investigation set in the past.
I feel the late John Shrapnel and Robert Glennister were miscast for the roles of Morse and Lewis. I was a shame that Kevin Whatley could not have returned as Lewis.
I recommend these excellent stories.
I watched the Inspector Morse series on TV and was excited to see the stories adapted for radio.
I enjoyed the stories but my least favourite was The Wench is dead which was an investigation set in the past.
I feel the late John Shrapnel and Robert Glennister were miscast for the roles of Morse and Lewis. I was a shame that Kevin Whatley could not have returned as Lewis.
I recommend these excellent stories.
April 27, 2018
These were pretty nice adaptations, especially of THE WENCH IS DEAD which is my favorite book in the series. Loved listening John Shrapnel in the Morse role.
December 30, 2020
Ehhhhhh
I know Morse by reputation of course, so I was looking forward to getting stuck into some good old BBC crime dramatization.
Production wise these episodes are fantastic, but I found the content both dull and.. a little cringey.
I'll try and explain. So Inspector Morse as a character appeared in the 70's and then on tv in the late 80's. He's a sherlock analogue, very gruff and with a lovable humanizing copper called Lewis to keep him company. The mysteries in this adaption are: Last Seen Wearing, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, and The Wench is Dead.
In the first of these Morse takes over a case from a dead colleague investigating the disappearance of a 15 year old school girl. What's weird is that every character in the story, including Morse, sexualises her. She's a flirt, a tart, asking for it. She manages to seduce men twice her age believing her to be 18. It was a bit gross that these thoughts were also echoed in the mind of Morse, even worse that we were privy to his dreams of her seducing him, as his subconscious works through details of the case. For all that the conclusion had me scratching my head as it really wasn't that satisfying.
In the next mystery, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, our deceased is a deaf man. And for the life of me you'd think he was criminal with a terminal disease the way they talked about him. Seriously, the narrative was that he was 'so brave to soldier on', 'brave to have a job', 'inspirational to go into society'. And that it was no wonder he had no friends, that his house was barren, that his colleagues despised him - because he was deaf and wore a hearing aid, huh??? This is one of the earlier stories, first published in 1977 so is this attitude a symptom of the times? Did people truly treat the deaf and hard of hearing crowd this badly 40 years ago? Look at the blurb for goodness sake:
He's deaf, SO he considers himself lucky to have a JOB??? I'm not finding any hits in the Morse critique to contextualise the gross ableism in the story so I have to assume it was culturally acceptable at the time (and maybe still is in the crowd that read these books?). The mystery itself was fairly transparent from the get-go.
The last story, gratefully, was the best of the bunch. In The Wench is Dead, Morse's alcoholism lands him in hospital with a perforated stomach lining due to an ulcer as well as ailing liver and kidneys. Don't worry though folks, he still manages to get through a bottle of Bells whilst in the ward, silly old doctor telling him if he keeps this up he won't see 60. ahaha, good material this substance abuse stuff.
Anyway, whilst bedridden Morse reads an account of a Victorian murder trial and notices holes in the way the trial was conducted, eventually roping in Lewis and his ward-mate's daughter-librarian to find the true perpetrators of the crimes. And he's grossly flirting with the librarian and nurses the whole time. Lots of "that's what you women like is it?" or "Should have gotten more females on this case". Like women are a different species or social class or something, which I guess to Morse, they are? He's not even misogynistic, he's just.. leering.
I read some reviews that he's the 'least bad' of these gritty male detectives. I mean, if that's so I'm probably just not going to read a whole lot of them. Ableism, sexism, it's so boring.
And the stories honestly didn't blow me away, I had a far better time with Midsomer Murders and Murder She Wrote than anything here. I won't be picking up Morse again. 2 stars because that third story was pretty entertaining.
I know Morse by reputation of course, so I was looking forward to getting stuck into some good old BBC crime dramatization.
Production wise these episodes are fantastic, but I found the content both dull and.. a little cringey.
I'll try and explain. So Inspector Morse as a character appeared in the 70's and then on tv in the late 80's. He's a sherlock analogue, very gruff and with a lovable humanizing copper called Lewis to keep him company. The mysteries in this adaption are: Last Seen Wearing, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, and The Wench is Dead.
In the first of these Morse takes over a case from a dead colleague investigating the disappearance of a 15 year old school girl. What's weird is that every character in the story, including Morse, sexualises her. She's a flirt, a tart, asking for it. She manages to seduce men twice her age believing her to be 18. It was a bit gross that these thoughts were also echoed in the mind of Morse, even worse that we were privy to his dreams of her seducing him, as his subconscious works through details of the case. For all that the conclusion had me scratching my head as it really wasn't that satisfying.
In the next mystery, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, our deceased is a deaf man. And for the life of me you'd think he was criminal with a terminal disease the way they talked about him. Seriously, the narrative was that he was 'so brave to soldier on', 'brave to have a job', 'inspirational to go into society'. And that it was no wonder he had no friends, that his house was barren, that his colleagues despised him - because he was deaf and wore a hearing aid, huh??? This is one of the earlier stories, first published in 1977 so is this attitude a symptom of the times? Did people truly treat the deaf and hard of hearing crowd this badly 40 years ago? Look at the blurb for goodness sake:
Nicholas Quinn is deaf, so he considers himself lucky to be appointed to the Foreign Examinations Board at Oxford, which designs tests for students of English around the world.
He's deaf, SO he considers himself lucky to have a JOB??? I'm not finding any hits in the Morse critique to contextualise the gross ableism in the story so I have to assume it was culturally acceptable at the time (and maybe still is in the crowd that read these books?). The mystery itself was fairly transparent from the get-go.
The last story, gratefully, was the best of the bunch. In The Wench is Dead, Morse's alcoholism lands him in hospital with a perforated stomach lining due to an ulcer as well as ailing liver and kidneys. Don't worry though folks, he still manages to get through a bottle of Bells whilst in the ward, silly old doctor telling him if he keeps this up he won't see 60. ahaha, good material this substance abuse stuff.
Anyway, whilst bedridden Morse reads an account of a Victorian murder trial and notices holes in the way the trial was conducted, eventually roping in Lewis and his ward-mate's daughter-librarian to find the true perpetrators of the crimes. And he's grossly flirting with the librarian and nurses the whole time. Lots of "that's what you women like is it?" or "Should have gotten more females on this case". Like women are a different species or social class or something, which I guess to Morse, they are? He's not even misogynistic, he's just.. leering.
I read some reviews that he's the 'least bad' of these gritty male detectives. I mean, if that's so I'm probably just not going to read a whole lot of them. Ableism, sexism, it's so boring.
And the stories honestly didn't blow me away, I had a far better time with Midsomer Murders and Murder She Wrote than anything here. I won't be picking up Morse again. 2 stars because that third story was pretty entertaining.
January 24, 2018
Consolidating:
01. Last Bus to Woodstock: 3.75
02. Last Seen Wearing: 3.75
03. The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn: 4.00
04. Service of All the Dead: 4.00
05. The Dead of Jericho: 4.00
06. The Riddle of the Third Mile: 4.00
07. The Secret of Annexe 3: 4.00
08. The Wench is Dead: 4.50
09. The Jewel that was Ours: 4.00
10. The Way Through the Woods: 4.00
11. The Daughters of Cain: 4.00
12. Death is Now My Neighbour: 4.00
13. The Remorseful Day: 4.00
------------------------------------------- 4.00
01. Last Bus to Woodstock: 3.75
02. Last Seen Wearing: 3.75
03. The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn: 4.00
04. Service of All the Dead: 4.00
05. The Dead of Jericho: 4.00
06. The Riddle of the Third Mile: 4.00
07. The Secret of Annexe 3: 4.00
08. The Wench is Dead: 4.50
09. The Jewel that was Ours: 4.00
10. The Way Through the Woods: 4.00
11. The Daughters of Cain: 4.00
12. Death is Now My Neighbour: 4.00
13. The Remorseful Day: 4.00
------------------------------------------- 4.00
March 18, 2019
Three books for the price of one. Oh, boy!
"Last Seen Wearing" is a cold-case, sleight-of-hand story with a generous amount of misogyny thrown in. Not one of my faves.
"The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn" is well done, if a little difficult to understand at times, to emphasize the 'deaf' angle. An interesting approach.
"The Wench Is Dead" starts off too graphically disgusting for my taste, but it is such a clever way to tell a story from the past in the more current timeframe of the Morse stories, it's easy to forgive. Morse lands in the hospital and reads of the disappearance of a woman under suspicious circumstances. A clever resolution, too. It makes me wonder if it is based on a true crime of old.
In all, I'm glad that I saw the tv adaptations, too.
There's a lovely little short story at the end, read by Colin Dexter himself, as a small dessert after all that.
"Last Seen Wearing" is a cold-case, sleight-of-hand story with a generous amount of misogyny thrown in. Not one of my faves.
"The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn" is well done, if a little difficult to understand at times, to emphasize the 'deaf' angle. An interesting approach.
"The Wench Is Dead" starts off too graphically disgusting for my taste, but it is such a clever way to tell a story from the past in the more current timeframe of the Morse stories, it's easy to forgive. Morse lands in the hospital and reads of the disappearance of a woman under suspicious circumstances. A clever resolution, too. It makes me wonder if it is based on a true crime of old.
In all, I'm glad that I saw the tv adaptations, too.
There's a lovely little short story at the end, read by Colin Dexter himself, as a small dessert after all that.
April 12, 2018
I read through these over a course of 3 years, I think. They are so well thought out, and easy to read. I also found the little titbits of detailed information on Classics, Greek mythology, and even bits of Christianity good for gathering new knowledge. Particularly for a foreigner who is living in Morse’s country. We do the drive from London on the M40 a lot as my husband’s folks live up that way. And each time we go through that section where you see the red kites, I always think of Morse, and Lewis rushing past.
I mourned Morse. Not because I finished the books, but I mourned the loss of his intelligence, and I mourned his loneliness, though it was his choice.
I mourned Morse. Not because I finished the books, but I mourned the loss of his intelligence, and I mourned his loneliness, though it was his choice.
February 7, 2024
So disappointing compared with the TV adaptations (1.5 stars)
These books are really quite disappointing compared with the TV adaptations featuring John Thaw as Inspector Morse. As is typical with crime stories, many of the TV episodes feature immorality and broken relationships as background for sordid crimes like murder, but the characters of Morse and Lewis add a lot of charm, and there are some good episodes.
After watching and enjoying some of these, I figured I'd check out the books by Colin Dexter these were based on. My recommendation: stay far away from the books. Morse is a very unlikeable and rude character, and it's hard to sympathize with him at all. He's pretty potty mouthed at times, and you can expect from him things like blasphemy, sexual innuendo, and foul language (F word). Even many secular readers were repulsed by him, especially his sexism. He's also a heavy drinker. Hardly a good example, and no amount of clever mystery writing can make it worthwhile wading into this kind of territory.
Even the dramatized radio adaptations I listened to had this kind of material, although not quite to the extent of the books. Avoid, and stick to the TV adaptations, although even there discretion is needed.
These books are really quite disappointing compared with the TV adaptations featuring John Thaw as Inspector Morse. As is typical with crime stories, many of the TV episodes feature immorality and broken relationships as background for sordid crimes like murder, but the characters of Morse and Lewis add a lot of charm, and there are some good episodes.
After watching and enjoying some of these, I figured I'd check out the books by Colin Dexter these were based on. My recommendation: stay far away from the books. Morse is a very unlikeable and rude character, and it's hard to sympathize with him at all. He's pretty potty mouthed at times, and you can expect from him things like blasphemy, sexual innuendo, and foul language (F word). Even many secular readers were repulsed by him, especially his sexism. He's also a heavy drinker. Hardly a good example, and no amount of clever mystery writing can make it worthwhile wading into this kind of territory.
Even the dramatized radio adaptations I listened to had this kind of material, although not quite to the extent of the books. Avoid, and stick to the TV adaptations, although even there discretion is needed.
September 21, 2023
Years and years ago, Read the whole collection. 1 through 13, while suffering from a 8th year English abomination of a class.
Quite interesting (at the time), although sadly, One would assume now would be an entirely different ball game as it would be as appealing as lipstick to a fish.
However, given the chance to reread it again, I’d gladly accept, as there is never „too much“ to read regarding books.
Oh, and funnily enough, as I somehow had another set I procured from the depths of endless storage, I gave my teacher of 8th year English said set as a token of my appreciation for allowing me to read and not give a hoot about his class as everyone else could not have cared less.
Hats off to you, I H.
Quite interesting (at the time), although sadly, One would assume now would be an entirely different ball game as it would be as appealing as lipstick to a fish.
However, given the chance to reread it again, I’d gladly accept, as there is never „too much“ to read regarding books.
Oh, and funnily enough, as I somehow had another set I procured from the depths of endless storage, I gave my teacher of 8th year English said set as a token of my appreciation for allowing me to read and not give a hoot about his class as everyone else could not have cared less.
Hats off to you, I H.
September 14, 2019
If Endeavour Morse were a real man I would have wooed him into marriage! Have been a little obsessed with him since I was a teen, read all the books after watching the series. Such a classic and of course it lives on with Lewis and Endeavour. The Remorseful Day makes me cry EVERY time I read it even though I know it's coming. I went to Oxford for the first time 2 years ago and felt like I'd grown up there, it was so familiar to me. John Thaw was a great man and Colin Dexter a genius.
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March 13, 2022 My box set of the books https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1...
Reviews-
Last Bus to Woodstock (book 1) Read October 6th 2021 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last Seen Wearing Read February 28th 2022
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Reviews-
Last Bus to Woodstock (book 1) Read October 6th 2021 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last Seen Wearing Read February 28th 2022
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
October 5, 2019
I love Inspector Morse, not much more I can say!
July 9, 2018
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.
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.
July 15, 2017
Every so often I find I need some 'light relief' from the unmitigated 'earnestness' of 'worthy' books. That's when I turn to crime fiction among other genres. Colin Dexter's Morse is a strange example of the genre inasmuch as the character is more three dimensional than many I've read and yet the twists and turns of the plot are annoyingly illogical. This is one area where the televised version greatly improved on the books.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews