Death Is Now My Neighbor (Inspector Morse)
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
Inspector Morse, the slightly cantankerous Oxford detective of BBC (& PBS) fame returns in Colin Dexter's intellectual thriller Death is Now My Neighbor. When the Master of Lonsdale College retires, two senior dons are left competing for the single spot that will be the penultimate position of their academic careers. A seemingly unrelated murder takes Morse and his partner Lewis from the strip clubs of Soho on a case that leads unexpectedly back to the manicured grounds of the Oxford college. This puzzling, stimulating, and thoroughly enjoyable British mystery, is chock full of antiquarian clues and literate allusions, making it a rewarding, stimulating read.
Why would a sniper shoot suburban physiotherapist Rachel James as she sips her morning coffee? Inspector Morse's hunt for answers kicks off with a tabloid journalist, winds through the strip clubs of Soho, then returns to Oxford, where two senior dons and their wives battle for a plum promotion. Then, on the personal front, Inspector Morse receives intimations of his own mortality.
And while Morse muses on life, he reveals his first name at last. . . .
Last Bus to Woodstock
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"[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
The Riddle of the Third Mile (Inspector Morse Mysteries) (Inspector Morse Mysteries)
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"[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 Remorseful Day
by Colin Dexter
from Fawcett
Over 13 novels and a popular television series later, Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse has taken his place alongside Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Lord Peter Wimsey, Philip Marlowe, and a handful of other famous sleuths. Like most of them, Morse possesses an uncanny intelligence, especially in matters of crime and crosswords, but Dexter has always made sure that his detective remains fully a man--flawed and uncertain despite an outward bravado. In this final, difficult story, Morse's humanity unfolds much as his cases do: with the slow revelation of secrets and surprises that frequently catch the reader off guard.
The novel begins with events now a year old. Yvonne Hamilton had been found in her home murdered--handcuffed and naked. The Thames Valley Police had supposed robbery, but their suspects had dissolved and all the leads had dried up. A year later, while Morse is on furlough, two anonymous calls to Chief Superintendent Strange open the possibility of a new line of inquiry. Strange wants his best man on the case. Morse, however, shows a surprising reluctance to embroil himself in what seems to be a classic Morsean puzzle. When he finally does reopen the investigation, his unorthodox approach worries even his longtime sidekick, Sergeant Lewis--who begins to suspect that his boss has a personal connection to the victim. What could Morse be up to? And--as many readers will be asking throughout--what could possibly bring his career to a close?
Like the work of few other mystery writers, Dexter's Morse series has consistently blended the dignity of high art with the grimness of crime and punishment. While it's a cliché to say that he transcends the genre, he has certainly expanded its range to novels that entertain while they instruct--even when that instruction is grammatical. The Remorseful Day is indeed a remorseful farewell, a delicately handled conclusion to a series that will now remain artfully complete, not lingering beyond its time. --Patrick O'Kelley
For a year, the murder of Mrs. Yvonne Harrison at her home in Oxfordshire had baffled the Thames Valley CID. The manner of her death--her naked handcuffed body left lying in bed--matched her reputation as a women of adventuresome sexual tastes. The case seemed perfect for Inspector Morse. So why has he refused to become involved--even after anonymous hints of new evidence, even after a fresh murder? Sgt. Lewis's loyalty to his infuriating boss slowly turns to deep distress as his own investigations suggest that Mrs. Harrison was no stranger to Morse. Far from it. Never has Morse performed more brilliantly than in this final adventure, whose masterly twists and turns through the shadowy byways of passion grip us to the death. . . .
The Way Through the Woods (Inspector Morse)
by Colin Dexter
from Fawcett
"Cunning...Your imagination will be frenetically flapping its wings until the very last chapter."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
Morse is enjoying a rare if unsatisfying holiday in Dorset when the first letter appears in THE TIMES. A year before, a stunning Swedish student disappeared from Oxfordshire, leaving behind a rucksack with her identification. As the lady was dishy, young, and traveling alone, the Thames Valley Police suspected foul play. But without a body, and with precious few clues, the investigation ground to a halt. Now it seems that someone who can hold back no longer is composing clue-laden poetry that begins an enthusiastic correspondence among England's news-reading public. Not one to be left behind, Morse writes a letter of his own--and follows a twisting path through the Wytham Woods that leads to a most shocking murder.
Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse Mysteries)
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"[MORSE IS] THE MOST PRICKLY, CONCEITED, AND GENUINELY BRILLIANT DETECTIVE SINCE HERCULE POIROT."
--The New York Times Book Review
He meets her at a suburban party. They share a flirtation over their red wine . . . and he doesn't see her again. It's the old familiar story for Morse. Then one day he just happens to be in Jericho, where Anne Scott lives. Nobody's home--and Morse should know since her door is unlocked and he takes a quick look inside. Only later does Morse learn that the lady was at home, just not alive. The jury's verdict at the inquest is death by suicide. But that doesn't sit right with Morse, and he embarks on his own investigation into the tangled private life of a lovely woman, all the while feeling his own remorse of what might have been. . . .
"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
"A masterful crime writer whom few others match."
--Publishers Weekly
Last Seen Wearing
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"Morse is a thoroughly convincing detective, and a very humane one, too."
--The New York Times Book Review
Valerie Taylor has been missing since she was a sexy seventeen, more than two years ago. Inspector Morse is sure she's dead. But if she is, who forged the letter to her parents saying "I am alright so don't worry"? Never has a woman provided Morse with such a challenge, for each time the pieces of the jigsaw start falling into place, someone scatters them again. So Valerie remains as tantalizingly elusive as ever. Morse prefers a body--a body dead from unnatural causes. And very soon he gets
one. . . .
"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
"Fascinating . . . Very satisfying."
--Book Sellers
Secret of Annexe 3 (Inspector Morse Mysteries)
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
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. . . .
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse Mysteries)
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."
--The New York Times Book Review
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. But when someone slips cyanide into Nicholas's  sherry, Inspector Morse has a multiple-choice murder. Any one of a tight little group of academics could have killed Quinn. Before Morse is done, all their dirty little secrets will be exposed. And a murderer will be cramming for his finals. . . .
"[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 [Morse] deduce."
--Minneapolis Star & Tribune
Service of All the Dead
by Colin Dexter
from Ivy Books
"[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)
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