Morse’s greatest mystery and other stories by Colin Dexter*

Reading dates: 15 April – 24 May 2026

Inspector Morse novels in order:

1. Last Bus to Woodstock ****
2. Last Seen Wearing***
3. The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn***
4. Service of All the Dead **
5. The Dead of Jericho ***
6. The Riddle of the Third Mile **
7. The Secret of Annexe 3**
8. The Wench is Dead***
9. The Jewel That Was Ours****
10. The Way Through the Woods*****
11. The Daughters of Cain**
12. Death Is Now My Neighbour****
13. The Remorseful Day****

A bit of an insipid short story book where Inspector Morse only appears a in a couple of the tales. Ironically, the best is not ‘Morse’s Greatest Mystery’ the Sherlock Holmes one, as it happens to be quite Conan Doyle-esque.I wish I had said goodbye to Morse in a more grandiose way. I adore the characters and also Oxford but in this book he (and specially Lewis) becomes a cliché. Not much else to say.

AS GOOD AS GOLD

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Hebrews, ch. 11, v. 1)
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AS GOOD AS GOLD

“Honour rooted in Dishonour stood,
And Faith, unfaithful, kept him falsely true.”
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AS GOOD AS GOLD

High definition is the state of being well filled with data. A photograph is, visually, ‘high definition.’
(Marshal McLuhan, Understanding Media)
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THE INSIDE STORY

Reflections on Inspiration and Creativity, by Diogenes Small (Macmillan, £14.99).
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THE INSIDE STORY

Yet always it is those fictional addenda which will effect the true alchemy.
(Diogenes Small, Reflections on Inspiration and Creativity)
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THE INSIDE STORY

I hate all cats but especially this cat, which occasionally looked at me in a mysterious knowing aristocratic potentially ferocious manner
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MONTY’S REVOLVER

Women sometimes forgive those who force an opportunity, never those who miss it.
(Talleyrand)
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