Colin Dexter

The international-bestselling author answers readers' questions and discusses the origins of the Oxford inspector with a penchant for classical music. In 1975, “Inspector Morse” debuted, working to solve the case of a murdered hitchhiker in Colin Dexter's “Last Bus to Woodstock”. The book led to a multimillion-bestselling mystery series and a television show that spawned a spinoff and a prequel. But how did the beloved DCI from Oxford come...

An Inspector Morse Mystery. The case seems so simple that Inspector Morse deems it beneath his notice. A wealthy, elderly American tourist has a heart attack in her room at Oxford's luxurious Randolph Hotel. Missing from the scene is the lady's handbag, which contained the Wolvercote Tongue, a priceless jewel that her late husband had bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum just across the street. Morse proceeds to spend a great deal of time thinking-and...

The Riddle of the Third Mile is the sixth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series. The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all . . . By the 16th of July the Master of Lonsdale was concerned, but not yet worried. Dr Browne-Smith...

Last Seen Wearing is the second Inspector Morse novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series. Morse was beset by a nagging feeling. Most of his fanciful notions about the Taylor girl had evaporated and he had begun to suspect that further investigation into Valerie's disappearance would involve little more than sober and tedious routine... After leaving home to return to school, teenager Valerie Taylor had completely vanished, and the trail...

Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger Award, The Dead of Jericho is the fifth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set Inspector Morse series. 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,...

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn is the third novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series. Morse had never ceased to wonder why, with the staggering advances in medical science, all pronouncements concerning times of death seemed so disconcertingly vague. The newly appointed member of the Oxford Examinations Syndicate was deaf, provincial and gifted. Now he is dead . . . And his murder, in his north Oxford home, proves to be the start...

A wonderful selection of fictional detectives, all together in one superb collection of unabridged short stories. Find Sherlock Holmes with his long suffering colleague, Dr. Watson, in The Dying Detective, Father Brown as a witness in court in The Man in the Passage and everyone's favourite Inspector Morse in The Burglar. Appreciate Dame Muriel Spark's foray into the genre in Chimes and meet Nigel Strangeways, C. Day Lewis' (here writing as Nicholas...

Home from a two-year assignment in the British Virgin Islands, Inspector Robert Lewis, protégé of the legendary Inspector Morse, returns to Oxford, England in the series pilot, where he is teamed with a brilliant new partner, Detective Sergeant James Hathaway. Lewis barely makes it out of the airport before falling into his first murder investigation. But even if he solves the case, will his new boss still move him from the front lines to a training...