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Inspector Morse #9
The Jewel That Was Ours
"Superbly clue-laden...A complex and satisfying puzzle."
THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE
The case seems so simple, Inspector Morse deemed 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 drinking--in the hotel's bar, certain the solution is close at hand--until conflicting stories, suspicious doings, and a real murder convince him otherwise....
"It is a delight to watch this brilliant, quirky man [Morse] deduce."
MINNEAPOLIS STAR & TRIBUNE
THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE
The case seems so simple, Inspector Morse deemed 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 drinking--in the hotel's bar, certain the solution is close at hand--until conflicting stories, suspicious doings, and a real murder convince him otherwise....
"It is a delight to watch this brilliant, quirky man [Morse] deduce."
MINNEAPOLIS STAR & TRIBUNE
241 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 1991
572 people are currently reading
1468 people want to read
About the author
Colin Dexter
180 books713 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 - 30 of 325 reviews
June 8, 2025
A unique episode in the "Inspector Morse" canon The Jewel That Was Ours started out as an episode for television written by Julian Mitchell, entitled "The Wolvercote Tongue." "Inspector Morse" was a very popular TV series starring John Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as Lewis, who by the time of this episode were both well established in their character roles. "The Wolvercote Tongue" went to air in season 2 on 25th December 1987, and was only developed into a novel, his ninth in the "Inspector Morse" series, by Colin Dexter in 1991.
Writers, especially of detective fiction, often say that when a well-loved character is portrayed on television, the visual image of the actor, their familiar mannerisms and way the character is depicted then "feed into" subsequent books which they might write. But it must be a rare case where not only the actors' versions are well-established enough in the public's mind to influence the author, but an actual plot too! It is not clear who had the idea initially, but it says a lot for the skill of Julian Mitchell, who wrote and adapted several episodes in the TV series, that he should have captured the feel of the novels so well that Colin Dexter paid him the compliment of developing the idea in this way. The endings of the two stories, though, are quite different.
It has to be said that the first third of the novel falls a little flat, especially coming straight on the heels of the excellent "The Wench is Dead" which had won a gold dagger award. It starts with three hosts who are preparing to welcome an exclusive tour group of Americans to the elegant Randolph Hotel in Oxford. Sheila Williams is a liaison and event organiser for the university. She has been having an affair with another of the organisers, Dr. Theodore Kemp, who is the curator of the Ashmolean Museum. We enter the story at the point where it looks as if Kemp has broken this off. The third host is the tour's leader, John Ashendon. Among the tourists in the exclusive party are Eddie Stratton and his wife, Laura, Phil Aldrich, Janet Roscoe, a vociferous and opinionated woman, Howard and Shirley Brown, Sam and Vera Kronquist and Nancy Wiseman.
The first part of the novel revolves around the death of Laura Stratton, who is found dead in her room at the Randolph Hotel, shortly after the group has arrived. Her handbag, in which she has been keeping the Wolvercote Tongue, has been stolen. The "Wolvercote Tongue" forms part of a jewelled Saxon belt buckle, and Laura had been intending to donate it to the Ashmolean museum during the tour, thereby fulfilling her late husband's wishes. Her first husband had been fairly wealthy, a "middle-bracket philanthropist" who had willed much of his precious collection to museums. The high point of the group's tour of Oxford was to be Laura Stratton's presentation of the Wolvercote Tongue, which obviously now had to be cancelled. In the meantime Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis investigate the theft as rifts, rivalries and resentments reveal themselves between the organisers.
In part two of the book,
The banter between Morse and the pathologist Max is a joy to read. The reader gets a sense that both men are committed professionals in their own field, and equally disparaging of the foolish ambition of the younger pathologist who had originally been assigned to the case. They are comfortable in their curmudgeonly companionship, pretending to disparage the other's work at every opportunity, and competing for excellence, although they function in different spheres. In fact, of course, they secretly have a high mutual regard for each other, and since we are also aware of this, the sections involving both Max and Morse prove very entertaining.
This is also true of the dynamics of how Morse and Lewis relate to each other. Dexter shows their dependence on one another on many occasions. Morse makes the deductions that lead to the real solution of the case, but Lewis, through his dogged persistence, gets some important evidence. They work as a very effective team as they conduct interviews with all the key figures, track down leads, and follow the investigation. We see how much Morse relies on Lewis. As Morse says,
"We've seldom had so many clues, have we? But I can't help feeling we've missed out all the really vital ones..."
Yet again we witness how inspired and brilliant Morse is, through Lewis's admiration, when he,
"wondered about what was going on in Morse's mind at that moment; the reading of the clues, those clues to which no one else could see the answers; those glimpses of motive that no one else could ever have suspected; those answers to the sort of questions that no one else had even begun to ask...."
but we can also see Morse's flaws. Yet again, Morse soon finds himself very much attracted to one of the people he is investigating - the slightly boozy and blowsy Sheila Williams. In this case it is a little different, as his feelings are reciprocated. At first, he resists her very blatant invitation, but clearly feels a conflict between his feelings for her and his sense of duty to investigate her as a murder suspect. This is a very human side to Morse's character, which is becoming increasingly evident in the novels. We also observe Morse's surge of jealousy and disappointment in the final scene of the novel, when he sees Sheila openly flirting with another man. Yet women are still continually attracted to him. One minor female character observes with approval, "the man spoke more like a don than a detective." It has to be said however, that this does conflict somewhat with the coarse style of flirting Morse indulges in with Sheila Williams in the taxi, which would be more in keeping with a different kind of personality.
We are repeatedly told that Lewis gets a kick out of working alongside Morse, admiring his intellectual prowess despite all his personality flaws,
"That was one of the big things he admired most about the man, that ability to leap ahead of the field almost from the starting-stalls. albeit occasionally finding himself on completely the wrong race-course... Morse appeared to believe... that Lewis could sometimes spot something in the stretches ahead that Morse himself had missed... It was ridiculous of course..."
It is almost par for the course now that Morse follows a line of reasoning that leads him to the wrong conclusion. He is so convinced that he has identified the killer that will not listen to the suspect's protestations of innocence - to the great surprise of the new WPC who is taking notes. It is Lewis who phones him with the conclusive evidence that Morse's theory is wrong, and Lewis who is given credit by Morse at the end, when Morse has all his suspects gathered together to tell them (and his readers) the explanation.
For collectors of Morse trivia, the author says Morse is 55 years old in this novel, and it is clear at one point that he has been heavily involved in betting on the horses when he was younger, and since he is now vehemently opposed to the activity, the reader supposes it did not end well. We also learn that Lewis did a fair amount of boxing in his younger days, and was quite good at it.
Every character on the tour seems to be not only hiding something, but to have a secret ulterior motive for being on the tour, rather than mere literary interest! This part of the story demands rather too much credulity on the part of the reader.
Morse and Lewis slowly unravel the tissue of lies, deceptions and faked alibis and finally uncover a complex plot
As the novel progresses we do find that some of the characters become more fleshed out and believable. One relationship was not as it seemed, and at least one character was acting a part, and was not the "perpetually belly-aching little lady from California" she appeared to be.
The creative explanation of this jigsaw puzzle in the final third of the book is the most fascinating part of the story. The original title of "The Wolvercote Tongue" had seemed the more distinctive of the two, but by the end of the book it is clear that "The Jewel That Was Ours" is far better. There is the first, obvious reference, to the Wolvercote Tongue. Then there is another, very poignant one. And right at the end of the book, a third meaning, a secret known to only one character, which is sneakily slipped in by the author. Colin Dexter often seems to like to do this, either an ambiguity to tease the reader, or a final little twist, or here as a kind of triple entendre. It is one of the stylistic touches of this series, such as the apt literary quotation which each chapter is headed by. The chapters are then grouped into three or four "parts" comprising the entire novel.
So by the end of the book, this novel has redeemed itself, offering us a satisfying intellectual puzzle to solve. As is often the case in Inspector Morse novels, trivial conversations, misheard words and seemingly insignificant facts turn out to be very important. Characters turn out to be more interesting than they had at first appeared, a few more tidbits are revealed in the back story and always intriguing is the continuing developing interaction between Morse and Lewis. The best compliment is probably to say that as the story progresses it does take on a life of its own, and the reader forgets that it has been rewritten from a television episode, because it has metamorphosed into something else, something different and satisfying on its own terms.
Writers, especially of detective fiction, often say that when a well-loved character is portrayed on television, the visual image of the actor, their familiar mannerisms and way the character is depicted then "feed into" subsequent books which they might write. But it must be a rare case where not only the actors' versions are well-established enough in the public's mind to influence the author, but an actual plot too! It is not clear who had the idea initially, but it says a lot for the skill of Julian Mitchell, who wrote and adapted several episodes in the TV series, that he should have captured the feel of the novels so well that Colin Dexter paid him the compliment of developing the idea in this way. The endings of the two stories, though, are quite different.
It has to be said that the first third of the novel falls a little flat, especially coming straight on the heels of the excellent "The Wench is Dead" which had won a gold dagger award. It starts with three hosts who are preparing to welcome an exclusive tour group of Americans to the elegant Randolph Hotel in Oxford. Sheila Williams is a liaison and event organiser for the university. She has been having an affair with another of the organisers, Dr. Theodore Kemp, who is the curator of the Ashmolean Museum. We enter the story at the point where it looks as if Kemp has broken this off. The third host is the tour's leader, John Ashendon. Among the tourists in the exclusive party are Eddie Stratton and his wife, Laura, Phil Aldrich, Janet Roscoe, a vociferous and opinionated woman, Howard and Shirley Brown, Sam and Vera Kronquist and Nancy Wiseman.
The first part of the novel revolves around the death of Laura Stratton, who is found dead in her room at the Randolph Hotel, shortly after the group has arrived. Her handbag, in which she has been keeping the Wolvercote Tongue, has been stolen. The "Wolvercote Tongue" forms part of a jewelled Saxon belt buckle, and Laura had been intending to donate it to the Ashmolean museum during the tour, thereby fulfilling her late husband's wishes. Her first husband had been fairly wealthy, a "middle-bracket philanthropist" who had willed much of his precious collection to museums. The high point of the group's tour of Oxford was to be Laura Stratton's presentation of the Wolvercote Tongue, which obviously now had to be cancelled. In the meantime Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis investigate the theft as rifts, rivalries and resentments reveal themselves between the organisers.
In part two of the book,
The banter between Morse and the pathologist Max is a joy to read. The reader gets a sense that both men are committed professionals in their own field, and equally disparaging of the foolish ambition of the younger pathologist who had originally been assigned to the case. They are comfortable in their curmudgeonly companionship, pretending to disparage the other's work at every opportunity, and competing for excellence, although they function in different spheres. In fact, of course, they secretly have a high mutual regard for each other, and since we are also aware of this, the sections involving both Max and Morse prove very entertaining.
This is also true of the dynamics of how Morse and Lewis relate to each other. Dexter shows their dependence on one another on many occasions. Morse makes the deductions that lead to the real solution of the case, but Lewis, through his dogged persistence, gets some important evidence. They work as a very effective team as they conduct interviews with all the key figures, track down leads, and follow the investigation. We see how much Morse relies on Lewis. As Morse says,
"We've seldom had so many clues, have we? But I can't help feeling we've missed out all the really vital ones..."
Yet again we witness how inspired and brilliant Morse is, through Lewis's admiration, when he,
"wondered about what was going on in Morse's mind at that moment; the reading of the clues, those clues to which no one else could see the answers; those glimpses of motive that no one else could ever have suspected; those answers to the sort of questions that no one else had even begun to ask...."
but we can also see Morse's flaws. Yet again, Morse soon finds himself very much attracted to one of the people he is investigating - the slightly boozy and blowsy Sheila Williams. In this case it is a little different, as his feelings are reciprocated. At first, he resists her very blatant invitation, but clearly feels a conflict between his feelings for her and his sense of duty to investigate her as a murder suspect. This is a very human side to Morse's character, which is becoming increasingly evident in the novels. We also observe Morse's surge of jealousy and disappointment in the final scene of the novel, when he sees Sheila openly flirting with another man. Yet women are still continually attracted to him. One minor female character observes with approval, "the man spoke more like a don than a detective." It has to be said however, that this does conflict somewhat with the coarse style of flirting Morse indulges in with Sheila Williams in the taxi, which would be more in keeping with a different kind of personality.
We are repeatedly told that Lewis gets a kick out of working alongside Morse, admiring his intellectual prowess despite all his personality flaws,
"That was one of the big things he admired most about the man, that ability to leap ahead of the field almost from the starting-stalls. albeit occasionally finding himself on completely the wrong race-course... Morse appeared to believe... that Lewis could sometimes spot something in the stretches ahead that Morse himself had missed... It was ridiculous of course..."
It is almost par for the course now that Morse follows a line of reasoning that leads him to the wrong conclusion. He is so convinced that he has identified the killer that will not listen to the suspect's protestations of innocence - to the great surprise of the new WPC who is taking notes. It is Lewis who phones him with the conclusive evidence that Morse's theory is wrong, and Lewis who is given credit by Morse at the end, when Morse has all his suspects gathered together to tell them (and his readers) the explanation.
For collectors of Morse trivia, the author says Morse is 55 years old in this novel, and it is clear at one point that he has been heavily involved in betting on the horses when he was younger, and since he is now vehemently opposed to the activity, the reader supposes it did not end well. We also learn that Lewis did a fair amount of boxing in his younger days, and was quite good at it.
Every character on the tour seems to be not only hiding something, but to have a secret ulterior motive for being on the tour, rather than mere literary interest! This part of the story demands rather too much credulity on the part of the reader.
Morse and Lewis slowly unravel the tissue of lies, deceptions and faked alibis and finally uncover a complex plot
As the novel progresses we do find that some of the characters become more fleshed out and believable. One relationship was not as it seemed, and at least one character was acting a part, and was not the "perpetually belly-aching little lady from California" she appeared to be.
The creative explanation of this jigsaw puzzle in the final third of the book is the most fascinating part of the story. The original title of "The Wolvercote Tongue" had seemed the more distinctive of the two, but by the end of the book it is clear that "The Jewel That Was Ours" is far better. There is the first, obvious reference, to the Wolvercote Tongue. Then there is another, very poignant one. And right at the end of the book, a third meaning, a secret known to only one character, which is sneakily slipped in by the author. Colin Dexter often seems to like to do this, either an ambiguity to tease the reader, or a final little twist, or here as a kind of triple entendre. It is one of the stylistic touches of this series, such as the apt literary quotation which each chapter is headed by. The chapters are then grouped into three or four "parts" comprising the entire novel.
So by the end of the book, this novel has redeemed itself, offering us a satisfying intellectual puzzle to solve. As is often the case in Inspector Morse novels, trivial conversations, misheard words and seemingly insignificant facts turn out to be very important. Characters turn out to be more interesting than they had at first appeared, a few more tidbits are revealed in the back story and always intriguing is the continuing developing interaction between Morse and Lewis. The best compliment is probably to say that as the story progresses it does take on a life of its own, and the reader forgets that it has been rewritten from a television episode, because it has metamorphosed into something else, something different and satisfying on its own terms.
August 31, 2016
When a group of wealthy Americans appears in Oxford on a guided tour, one of the women in the tour is on a special mission. A rare and historically valuable jewel had come into the possession of her late husband. It was his wish that that the jewel be donated to a museum in Oxford and, in the company of her new husband, the woman has carried the jewel to Great Britain to deliver it herself. However, the night before she is to donate the gift, she dies of an apparent heart attack and her purse containing the jewel is stolen.
This would hardly seem to merit the attention of Chief Inspector Morse; after all, there is no homicide involved and he's not about to waste his time investigating a simple theft. But after determining that the lady did, indeed, die of natural causes, Morse can't help but think that something very odd is going on here.
When another person associated with the tour is found dead, it clearly is a homicide and Morse and his faithful sergeant, Lewis, are on the job. As is always the case when Morse confronts a killing, the puzzle is very complex and it's going to take a very keen mind to sort this one out. But, of course, as readers of this series know full well, Morse has exactly that sort of mind, and, as always, it's fun to watch him sort through the issues and the characters involved until he's satisfied that things have properly fallen into place.
This is another of those intricate English mysteries that could never occur in real life. But it's entertaining to suspend disbelief and watch Morse work his magic once again. This is a book that will appeal to lots of those who love traditional British mysteries.
This would hardly seem to merit the attention of Chief Inspector Morse; after all, there is no homicide involved and he's not about to waste his time investigating a simple theft. But after determining that the lady did, indeed, die of natural causes, Morse can't help but think that something very odd is going on here.
When another person associated with the tour is found dead, it clearly is a homicide and Morse and his faithful sergeant, Lewis, are on the job. As is always the case when Morse confronts a killing, the puzzle is very complex and it's going to take a very keen mind to sort this one out. But, of course, as readers of this series know full well, Morse has exactly that sort of mind, and, as always, it's fun to watch him sort through the issues and the characters involved until he's satisfied that things have properly fallen into place.
This is another of those intricate English mysteries that could never occur in real life. But it's entertaining to suspend disbelief and watch Morse work his magic once again. This is a book that will appeal to lots of those who love traditional British mysteries.
May 25, 2020
Inspector Morse mystery No. 9 ...and the finest so far, in my humble opinion! This is an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery paced to perfection. A package tour of mostly elderly Americans is disrupted by thievery and possible murders (plural)… and Morse! 8 out of 12
September 7, 2022
2.5 stars rounded up
This one went from a boring and flat first 100 pages, to an excellent and highly engaging middle, to an utterly preposterous "I've called you all here tonight to reveal...A MURDERER!!" super cliched ending.
Urg.
Apparently, the idea for this novel was first a script for the Morse TV series, written by another author, which Dexter liked so much he made his own version. The TV origin is probably why such touristy things like "The Oxford Story" are given so much stage time and the beginning 100 pages feels rather "made for TV".
(For anybody who hasn't visited, The Oxford Story is a small time Disney-esque ride/attraction about the history of Oxford -- with a gigantic gift shop between you and the exit.)
"The Jewel That Was Ours" is highly uneven in quality/idea and the clues are kept from the reader so you can't figure it out on your own. The best you can do with this one is harbour some vague guesses.
Not terribly satisfying and deffo not one of the better Morses.
This one went from a boring and flat first 100 pages, to an excellent and highly engaging middle, to an utterly preposterous "I've called you all here tonight to reveal...A MURDERER!!" super cliched ending.
Urg.
Apparently, the idea for this novel was first a script for the Morse TV series, written by another author, which Dexter liked so much he made his own version. The TV origin is probably why such touristy things like "The Oxford Story" are given so much stage time and the beginning 100 pages feels rather "made for TV".
(For anybody who hasn't visited, The Oxford Story is a small time Disney-esque ride/attraction about the history of Oxford -- with a gigantic gift shop between you and the exit.)
"The Jewel That Was Ours" is highly uneven in quality/idea and the clues are kept from the reader so you can't figure it out on your own. The best you can do with this one is harbour some vague guesses.
Not terribly satisfying and deffo not one of the better Morses.
May 18, 2015
Read by................... Michael Pennington
Total Runtime.......... 7 hours 8 mins
Bodleian Library, OxfordDescription: He looked overweight around the midriff, though nowhere else, and she wondered whether perhaps he drank too much. He looked weary, as if he had been up most of the night conducting his investigations ...For Oxford, the arrival of twenty-seven American tourists is nothing out of the ordinary ...until one of their number is found dead in Room 310 at the Randolph Hotel. It looks like a sudden - and tragic - accident. Only Chief Inspector Morse appears not to overlook the simultaneous theft of a jewel-encrusted antique from the victim's handbag ...Then, two days later, a naked and battered corpse is dragged from the River Cherwell. A coincidence? Maybe. But this time Morse is determined to prove the link ...
Mr Projectionist is trying hard to entice me into a TV series and I am adamant that that is not on the cards...
Adam Ant, I tell ya! The Wolvercote Tongue bears a remarkable resemblence to Alfred's Jewel, currently in the Ashmolean, Oxford.
Hmm, this insert into the oeuvre seems slightly distorted - forced even. Baseline 3*
4* Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse, #1)
3* Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse, #2)
3* The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse, #3)
3* Service of All the Dead (Inspector Morse, #4)
3* The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse, #5)
4* The Riddle of the Third Mile (Inspector Morse, #6)
3* The Secret of Annexe 3 (Inspector Morse #7)
3* The Wench Is Dead (Inspector Morse, #8)
3* The Jewel That Was Ours (Inspector Morse, #9)
3* Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories
November 23, 2020
The ninth Morse story is an easy read, and a lovely morality tale at boot.
When a group of American tourists visit Oxford one of them dies and an archeological item this lady wanted to donate to the museum disappears. It seems that the death is natural but the jewel that has been taken away is of course less natural. When a the man whose career was depending on the return of the jewel is found naked in the river one can hardly speak of natural dead, he is murdered.
Morse does drink and think his way through the case to a logical solution, Hitchcock did deliver a movie on a similar motive. But still a well choreographed story that does bring pleasure for the reader.
This is easily one of the more accessible Morse books and a fairly quick read.
When a group of American tourists visit Oxford one of them dies and an archeological item this lady wanted to donate to the museum disappears. It seems that the death is natural but the jewel that has been taken away is of course less natural. When a the man whose career was depending on the return of the jewel is found naked in the river one can hardly speak of natural dead, he is murdered.
Morse does drink and think his way through the case to a logical solution, Hitchcock did deliver a movie on a similar motive. But still a well choreographed story that does bring pleasure for the reader.
This is easily one of the more accessible Morse books and a fairly quick read.
December 19, 2024
Een groep Amerikaanse toeristen bezoekt Oxford. Eén van hen heeft een juweel bij zich, dat geschonken zou worden aan het Ashmolean Museum. Maar na een eerste vermoeiende trip, wordt de vrouw, die gaan rusten was, dood aangetroffen in haar hotelkamer, en haar handtas met het juweel erin is gestolen.
Twee dagen later wordt er een moord gepleegd, op degene die het juweel in ontvangst zou nemen. Morse is ervan overtuigd dat er een link is tussen beide gevallen, en is vastbesloten het raadsel op te lossen.
Vlot leesbaar moordmysterie, om van te genieten.
Twee dagen later wordt er een moord gepleegd, op degene die het juweel in ontvangst zou nemen. Morse is ervan overtuigd dat er een link is tussen beide gevallen, en is vastbesloten het raadsel op te lossen.
Vlot leesbaar moordmysterie, om van te genieten.
November 27, 2018
Inspector Morse has an unusual obsession with pornography and humiliating women sexually. If he is to be believed, every man in Oxford is a sex addict, secretly fantasising of illicit affairs and sexual fetishes; and there are blue movie theatres in every street corner. This is my third Morse book, and already I can see the pattern. There is always a beautiful woman or two with a liking for sex and affairs with married men (in Dexter or rather Morse's world such women are nymphomaniacs, but such men are macho), there is a lot of alcohol, and there many, many pretentious words, and pretentious sentences. For example, one of the murder victims is a married man who thrives on illicit affairs. And yet the women he has affairs with are described as oversexed. And I cannot for the life of me understand why Oxford seems to be crawling with women all dying to bed the dislikeable, miserly Morse. The hypocrisy and the misogyny is appalling. And the badly plotted story. There really were too many coincidences. Kemp's body just too coincidentally being found near Brown's programme. Stratton just coincidentally having been a corpse beautician. And Brown and Aldrich having coincidentally been acquainted with each other when they were stationed in England during the Second World War. But lecherous Morse thinking about sleeping with or actually sleeping with every woman in the book, yuck. The ick factor there is just unbearable.
September 21, 2024
“Una delle caratteristiche più straordinarie del suo intelletto era che ogni volta che c’era un intoppo, ogni volta che una delle sue amate ipotesi subiva un grave colpo, invece di abbattersi era come stimolato a produrne una seconda che subito pareva essere ancor più attraente dalla prima.”
Ormai il procedimento di Morse lo conosciamo: stimolato alla risoluzione del caso in cui di volta in volta si imbatte azzarda congetture che sembrano incastrarsi perfettamente nell’ordine dei fatti, fino a quando la realtà stessa non provvederà a smantellarle.
Esattamente come quando si trova davanti ai celebri cruciverba del Listener: “se restava una definizione incompleta … lui doveva spremersi le meningi al punto di scoppiare finché non l’aveva risolta.”
Dunque anche questa volta , con nostro massimo godimento, assistiamo alle acrobatiche circonvoluzioni dello scorbutico ispettore, coadiuvato dalla pacata ragionevolezza del fidato sergente Lewis, per arrivare a capo di un nuovo caso: un furto di gioiello con morte improvvisa annessa e connessa.
Una comitiva di allegri americani arriva a Oxford, non solo per visitare le bellezze della città universitaria, ma anche per donare al museo locale il Puntale di Wolvercote, prezioso gioiello destinato a completare una ricca collezione. Ma le cose non vanno secondo le felici previsioni, of course, e l’intervento dell’ineffabile coppia Morse/Lewis diventa necessaria.
Labirintico come sempre, Dexter conduce il gioco senza perdere un colpo, con la consueta ironia e stile brillante: un binomio che conquista, avvince…e tramortisce.
Beh. Con la nona avventura e la fine della bella stagione saluto Endeavour Morse e lo ringrazio di avermi tenuto una tenace e affabile compagnia fino a oggi.
E arrivederci all’estate prossima.
Ormai il procedimento di Morse lo conosciamo: stimolato alla risoluzione del caso in cui di volta in volta si imbatte azzarda congetture che sembrano incastrarsi perfettamente nell’ordine dei fatti, fino a quando la realtà stessa non provvederà a smantellarle.
Esattamente come quando si trova davanti ai celebri cruciverba del Listener: “se restava una definizione incompleta … lui doveva spremersi le meningi al punto di scoppiare finché non l’aveva risolta.”
Dunque anche questa volta , con nostro massimo godimento, assistiamo alle acrobatiche circonvoluzioni dello scorbutico ispettore, coadiuvato dalla pacata ragionevolezza del fidato sergente Lewis, per arrivare a capo di un nuovo caso: un furto di gioiello con morte improvvisa annessa e connessa.
Una comitiva di allegri americani arriva a Oxford, non solo per visitare le bellezze della città universitaria, ma anche per donare al museo locale il Puntale di Wolvercote, prezioso gioiello destinato a completare una ricca collezione. Ma le cose non vanno secondo le felici previsioni, of course, e l’intervento dell’ineffabile coppia Morse/Lewis diventa necessaria.
Labirintico come sempre, Dexter conduce il gioco senza perdere un colpo, con la consueta ironia e stile brillante: un binomio che conquista, avvince…e tramortisce.
Beh. Con la nona avventura e la fine della bella stagione saluto Endeavour Morse e lo ringrazio di avermi tenuto una tenace e affabile compagnia fino a oggi.
E arrivederci all’estate prossima.
December 15, 2017
Clues, hypotheses, even establishing just which crime has been committed overwhelm the hapless reader in this Inspector Morse mystery. The structure is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie whodunit, but with infinitely more complications and of course the atmospheric tone of the historic university town of Oxford. Dexter's detective is the curmudgeonly Inspector Morse whose pockets are somehow always empty when the bar tab comes around, to be paid by his long-suffering assistant, Sgt. Lewis. Morris' idiosyncrasies include a far too keen appetite for Glenfiddich single malt scotch, a passionate appreciation of classical music, and an apparently flawless command of the Classics, an oddly reassuring quirk that endears this character to the author's followers.
At the heart of this particular mystery is one of the Ashmolean Museum's most revered treasures, the Alfred Jewel. It is a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship and bears the inscription: AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN ('Alfred ordered me to be made'). A fictional counterpart, the Wolvercote Tongue, is to be reunited with the Alfred piece in a highly publicized ceremony. Laura Stratton, widow of an American collector will make the presentation. Laura and her husband Eddie are part of a well-heeled exclusive group of Americans shepherded by John Ashenden on the “Historic Cities of England” tour which will pass through Oxford. No sooner than their arrival, however, Laura is found dead in her hotel suite, and the Tongue, which she kept at all times in her purse, is missing.
Murder? That hypothesis is dashed by the medical examiner — two of them, in fact. Laura died of a massive heart attack. Was the heart attack connected to the theft? But why would anyone steal the Tongue? It is so recognizable it would be impossible to fence. Did a theft even occur? But surely Dr. Theodore Kemp, whose professional future was linked to this important new Ashmolean acquisition would have seen and inspected the item multiple times during the course of his research. And really, why is everyone, even those with verifiable alibis, lying to Inspector Morse?
With a notebook at my side and a re-reading of the first two sections of the book, I was still stumped. My advice? Just sit back and enjoy the tour. Dexter provides a convenient map of Oxford's streets and colleges. Tracing the numerous excursions of the characters over the two day period of their stay will heighten the sense of being there. Cedric Downes, one of the academic docents and a colleague of Dr. Kemp's, will point out that Magdalen St. is pronounced “Maudlin Street,” while Magdalen Road is pronounced just as it is written. As for the famous “English Breakfast,” (one of the high points of my bed and breakfast stays when I was young), “Few English families living in England have much direct contact with the English Breakfast. It is therefore fortunate that such an endangered institution is perpetuated by the kitchen staff in guest houses, B & Bs, transport cafés, and other no-starred and variously starred hotels. This breakfast comprises (at its best): a milkily-opaqued fried egg; two rashers of non-brittle, rindless bacon; a tomato grilled to a point where the core is no longer a hard white nodule to be operated upon by the knife; a sturdy sausage, deeply and evenly browned; and a slice of fried bread, golden-brown, and only just crisp, with sufficient fat not excessively to dismay any meddlesome dietician.” (p.67)
Of course the characters, whittled down to about a dozen significant players, are described with a similar ironic reserve. Dexter lavishes particular ire on Kemp. A lisp heightens his impression of affectation. The man is self-preening, lazy and a serial womanizer with more regard for his rain-soaked shoes than the damage he may have caused to the woman he has just visited.
This was a satisfying mystery with a connecting trail of crimes. It's the third Inspector Morse book I have read.
NOTES:
Interview with Colin Dexter: https://strandmag.com/the-magazine/in...
At the heart of this particular mystery is one of the Ashmolean Museum's most revered treasures, the Alfred Jewel. It is a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship and bears the inscription: AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN ('Alfred ordered me to be made'). A fictional counterpart, the Wolvercote Tongue, is to be reunited with the Alfred piece in a highly publicized ceremony. Laura Stratton, widow of an American collector will make the presentation. Laura and her husband Eddie are part of a well-heeled exclusive group of Americans shepherded by John Ashenden on the “Historic Cities of England” tour which will pass through Oxford. No sooner than their arrival, however, Laura is found dead in her hotel suite, and the Tongue, which she kept at all times in her purse, is missing.
Murder? That hypothesis is dashed by the medical examiner — two of them, in fact. Laura died of a massive heart attack. Was the heart attack connected to the theft? But why would anyone steal the Tongue? It is so recognizable it would be impossible to fence. Did a theft even occur? But surely Dr. Theodore Kemp, whose professional future was linked to this important new Ashmolean acquisition would have seen and inspected the item multiple times during the course of his research. And really, why is everyone, even those with verifiable alibis, lying to Inspector Morse?
With a notebook at my side and a re-reading of the first two sections of the book, I was still stumped. My advice? Just sit back and enjoy the tour. Dexter provides a convenient map of Oxford's streets and colleges. Tracing the numerous excursions of the characters over the two day period of their stay will heighten the sense of being there. Cedric Downes, one of the academic docents and a colleague of Dr. Kemp's, will point out that Magdalen St. is pronounced “Maudlin Street,” while Magdalen Road is pronounced just as it is written. As for the famous “English Breakfast,” (one of the high points of my bed and breakfast stays when I was young), “Few English families living in England have much direct contact with the English Breakfast. It is therefore fortunate that such an endangered institution is perpetuated by the kitchen staff in guest houses, B & Bs, transport cafés, and other no-starred and variously starred hotels. This breakfast comprises (at its best): a milkily-opaqued fried egg; two rashers of non-brittle, rindless bacon; a tomato grilled to a point where the core is no longer a hard white nodule to be operated upon by the knife; a sturdy sausage, deeply and evenly browned; and a slice of fried bread, golden-brown, and only just crisp, with sufficient fat not excessively to dismay any meddlesome dietician.” (p.67)
Of course the characters, whittled down to about a dozen significant players, are described with a similar ironic reserve. Dexter lavishes particular ire on Kemp. A lisp heightens his impression of affectation. The man is self-preening, lazy and a serial womanizer with more regard for his rain-soaked shoes than the damage he may have caused to the woman he has just visited.
This was a satisfying mystery with a connecting trail of crimes. It's the third Inspector Morse book I have read.
NOTES:
Interview with Colin Dexter: https://strandmag.com/the-magazine/in...
April 11, 2021
It was good read.
Read
January 8, 2009One annoying element of Dexter's writing is his tendency to render the speech of anyone he considers must "talk a bit funny" (basically, anyone working-class or foreign) in a needlessly-phonetic, mocking way. Okay, "Arksford" is mildly entertaining, but do we need to be told that someone says "vay-cation" or pronounces Shirley as "Shurley"? Naturally, if you are English and don't live on a council estate, you never drop or slur any letters - but watch out, as soon as you go on the dole, you will never again speak an "-ing" word properly.
Another annoying element I only really picked up on because I just read another book by him, The Daughters of Cain, is his tendency to re-use elements. Ones I noticed included the description of a woman's "breast, stomach, thighs" as "over-ripe", and the reuse of a couple of the epigrams that head each chapter, including a quote from "The Rubaiyat" that also appeared in The Daughters of Cain, another quote I am almost certain also appeared there (but I can't check, since it's gone back to the library), and the reuse of the "the wench is dead" quotation from, surprisingly enough, his book The Wench Is Dead. I had always been mildly impressed by his inclusion of a more-or-less apposite reference for the chapters, but am less so now I have realised that he recycles them. Okay, it's a fairly minor quibble, but it jars a bit.
The plot is decent enough although its convolutions get a little tiresome at points and it suffers from the perennial problem of mystery books - if there's still a hefty chunk of pages to go, you know that whoever they have just arrested and are sure dunnit is going to be the wrong person, because otherwise there's nothing interesting enough about them being guilty to fill 50-odd pages.
And do you think there are far too many references to Morse never paying for drinks..?
Another annoying element I only really picked up on because I just read another book by him, The Daughters of Cain, is his tendency to re-use elements. Ones I noticed included the description of a woman's "breast, stomach, thighs" as "over-ripe", and the reuse of a couple of the epigrams that head each chapter, including a quote from "The Rubaiyat" that also appeared in The Daughters of Cain, another quote I am almost certain also appeared there (but I can't check, since it's gone back to the library), and the reuse of the "the wench is dead" quotation from, surprisingly enough, his book The Wench Is Dead. I had always been mildly impressed by his inclusion of a more-or-less apposite reference for the chapters, but am less so now I have realised that he recycles them. Okay, it's a fairly minor quibble, but it jars a bit.
The plot is decent enough although its convolutions get a little tiresome at points and it suffers from the perennial problem of mystery books - if there's still a hefty chunk of pages to go, you know that whoever they have just arrested and are sure dunnit is going to be the wrong person, because otherwise there's nothing interesting enough about them being guilty to fill 50-odd pages.
And do you think there are far too many references to Morse never paying for drinks..?
March 13, 2014
This entry in the Inspector Morse series was very good, with some misdirection but otherwise a fairly straightforward plot and solution (unlike some of the earlier books in the series!). This mystery was also more focused on the plot, with considerably less diversions into Morse's interests in the opposite sex or in drink. My biggest complaint: the solution wasn't possible for the reader to figure out completely (although it was possible in broad outline).
December 6, 2020
Perhaps this book isn’t quite as good as The Wench is Dead, but it’s still one of the better books of the series, IMO. The story centers around a tour group of American retirees. One of the married couples, Eddie and Laura Stratton, are carrying an 9th century artifact called the Wolvercote Tongue, which matches the Wolvercote Buckle housed in the Ashmolean Museum. Laura’s first husband had been a collector and upon his death, left instructions for the Tongue to be donated to the Ashmolean.
Upon the group’s arrival at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, Laura, who suffers from arthritis, goes to her room for a hot bath. Eddie goes for a walk with another tourist; others from the group go their separate ways, as do the 3 tour guides. When Eddie returns from his walk, he finds Laura’s handbag missing — which held the priceless treasure — and Laura dead on the floor from an apparent heart attack.
Morse comes into the case and although there appears to be no correlation between the theft and the death, he cannot seem to separate them in his mind. After the death of one of the guides, which is very clearly murder, Morse is sure he is on the right track.
Often, Lewis’s main roles seems to be to buy the beer and act as a sounding board for Morse’s various theories. However, Lewis makes some very significant discoveries on his own in this one.
Upon the group’s arrival at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, Laura, who suffers from arthritis, goes to her room for a hot bath. Eddie goes for a walk with another tourist; others from the group go their separate ways, as do the 3 tour guides. When Eddie returns from his walk, he finds Laura’s handbag missing — which held the priceless treasure — and Laura dead on the floor from an apparent heart attack.
Morse comes into the case and although there appears to be no correlation between the theft and the death, he cannot seem to separate them in his mind. After the death of one of the guides, which is very clearly murder, Morse is sure he is on the right track.
Often, Lewis’s main roles seems to be to buy the beer and act as a sounding board for Morse’s various theories. However, Lewis makes some very significant discoveries on his own in this one.
September 13, 2017
The ninth in the Inspector Morse Mysteries, where he has to solve the mystery of the theft of a historically-valued jewel, and two dead bodies. Good one,and quite complicated to solve.
The Inspector Morse books have kept on becoming better since its first book. Although I have given this a three-star, it is still a strong one.
Very much readable, but certainly not as great as the previous book in the series. :)
The Inspector Morse books have kept on becoming better since its first book. Although I have given this a three-star, it is still a strong one.
Very much readable, but certainly not as great as the previous book in the series. :)
March 9, 2025
I definitely prefer the book version to the Morse tv episode which has a completely different murderer. An American tour party visiting the historic towns of England arrives in Oxford. They are staying at the Randolphe Hotel when one of the tour party dies of a heart attack and has a valuable jewel stolen she was going to donate to the Ashmolean Museum.
Then there is an actual murder of an expert who also is a philanderer. Morse originally thinks the murderer is a fellow expert as Temp the victim was sleeping with his wife. In fact this is the version in the tv episode.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The actual motive is two of the party are after revenge as Temp killed their only daughter in a car crash and the punishment was three years of his license suspended. The murderers are the complaining woman Janet and her friend Phil who is actually her husband. The stolen jewel is for the insurance by her husband who helps the couple in disposing of the body of Temp in the river. I felt the book version much more nuanced and satisfactory as an ending.
Then there is an actual murder of an expert who also is a philanderer. Morse originally thinks the murderer is a fellow expert as Temp the victim was sleeping with his wife. In fact this is the version in the tv episode.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The actual motive is two of the party are after revenge as Temp killed their only daughter in a car crash and the punishment was three years of his license suspended. The murderers are the complaining woman Janet and her friend Phil who is actually her husband. The stolen jewel is for the insurance by her husband who helps the couple in disposing of the body of Temp in the river. I felt the book version much more nuanced and satisfactory as an ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2022
“Oh, for Christ’s sake! Not a literary copper!”
Oh, YES!
Oh, YES!
September 1, 2023
Interesting read all the Morse stories are so different from the tv adaptations some are better and some are average I will be interested to know how the series ends
March 29, 2014
After the slight disappointment of The Wench Is Dead, this was something of a return to form for Morse. Still drinking far too much and also managing to get his hands on a woman (with the use of possibly the worst chat up line ever - about knickers being taken down and given in evidence). This mystery was full of red-herrings.
A group of American Tourists travelling around England arrive in Oxford, one of the them is due to present a precious jewel to a local museum, but before she can do it the jewel is stolen and the woman is dead. The next day the man due to receive the jewel on behalf of the museum is also dead. So was it murder? Will the missing jewel ever be found.
This is a crime that only someone like Morse could get to grips with. It was so very, very clever and so very, very sad. Once you understood the background to Dr Kemp, a thoroughly unlikeable man who had crippled his wife and killed another woman in a car accident I can't say that I was that sorry he was dead.
It reminded me a little bit of strangers on a train - with one side agreeing to perform the theft if the other helps do away with a very unpleasant man. Then you have the Agatha Christie ending, with Morse explaining everything to the group of captive tourists - one of whom was the murderer.
Clever, very clever.
A group of American Tourists travelling around England arrive in Oxford, one of the them is due to present a precious jewel to a local museum, but before she can do it the jewel is stolen and the woman is dead. The next day the man due to receive the jewel on behalf of the museum is also dead. So was it murder? Will the missing jewel ever be found.
This is a crime that only someone like Morse could get to grips with. It was so very, very clever and so very, very sad. Once you understood the background to Dr Kemp, a thoroughly unlikeable man who had crippled his wife and killed another woman in a car accident I can't say that I was that sorry he was dead.
It reminded me a little bit of strangers on a train - with one side agreeing to perform the theft if the other helps do away with a very unpleasant man. Then you have the Agatha Christie ending, with Morse explaining everything to the group of captive tourists - one of whom was the murderer.
Clever, very clever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2014
In general I found this novel reasonably enjoyable, though reading it again after some years, I would probably give it about five out of ten.
On the plus side it is another sojourn into the world of Morse and Lewis, although their relationship is becoming infiltrated by clichés that originated in the TV series.
There’s a rather pompous narrator who knows the thoughts of the characters, but only reveals them selectively – a flaw that strains the credibility of the solving of the case.
There are many characters, events, times and places – it would require detailed note-taking or a photographic memory for the reader to unravel the crime. In any event, a complex back-story links the suspects, and I don’t think this could be guessed at.
There is an improbable denouement where Morse lectures the assembled suspects – a believable event in Poirot’s era, but not in modern times.
Finally, Morse (or is it the narrator?) comes across as a bit of a letch!
On the plus side it is another sojourn into the world of Morse and Lewis, although their relationship is becoming infiltrated by clichés that originated in the TV series.
There’s a rather pompous narrator who knows the thoughts of the characters, but only reveals them selectively – a flaw that strains the credibility of the solving of the case.
There are many characters, events, times and places – it would require detailed note-taking or a photographic memory for the reader to unravel the crime. In any event, a complex back-story links the suspects, and I don’t think this could be guessed at.
There is an improbable denouement where Morse lectures the assembled suspects – a believable event in Poirot’s era, but not in modern times.
Finally, Morse (or is it the narrator?) comes across as a bit of a letch!
May 12, 2013
Another is the Inspector Morse series and equally as complex as others in the ouevre. An American tourist dies of an apparent heart attack in a local hotel and Morse is less than pleased to be called out on this seemingly innocent death. But this is a Morse mystery, so you know that there is much more going on that meets the eye. As usual Morse gets off track immediately once he figures out that something is amiss and we try to follow his logic as he moves toward the answer. Colin Dexter's book are such fun to read and can be rather educational when Morse gets on a roll regarding literature, music, et al. I watched the television series before I read the books, so I can see John Thaw as a more attractive Morse than Dexter describes him in print. One of the great modern British mystery series.
July 12, 2022
Indicazioni editoriali
Nella camera 310 del Randolph, un lussuoso albergo storico di Oxford, un’anziana turista californiana viene rinvenuta morta, e la borsetta in cui custodiva un inestimabile gioiello antico destinato al museo Ashmolean è sparita. Ma il parere dei patologi è unanime: si è trattato di un semplice infarto. In più, a quanto pare, la porta della camera era stata lasciata aperta, sicché il furto non sembra troppo difficile da spiegare. Neppure la fervida immaginazione di Morse può trasformare la tragica banalità degli eventi in un’indagine stuzzicante. Quando l’ispettore capo, già annoiato, decide di rifilare gli interrogatori di prassi al povero Lewis e di tornarsene alla sinfonia n. 7 di Bruckner, un altro corpo affiora dalle acque del Cherwell, e questa volta le cause naturali non c’entrano proprio...
Nella camera 310 del Randolph, un lussuoso albergo storico di Oxford, un’anziana turista californiana viene rinvenuta morta, e la borsetta in cui custodiva un inestimabile gioiello antico destinato al museo Ashmolean è sparita. Ma il parere dei patologi è unanime: si è trattato di un semplice infarto. In più, a quanto pare, la porta della camera era stata lasciata aperta, sicché il furto non sembra troppo difficile da spiegare. Neppure la fervida immaginazione di Morse può trasformare la tragica banalità degli eventi in un’indagine stuzzicante. Quando l’ispettore capo, già annoiato, decide di rifilare gli interrogatori di prassi al povero Lewis e di tornarsene alla sinfonia n. 7 di Bruckner, un altro corpo affiora dalle acque del Cherwell, e questa volta le cause naturali non c’entrano proprio...
January 3, 2022
Morse and Lewis are among some of my favorite British police people. They play off each other so we’ll. Morse is brilliant - as is Lewis in his own more low-key way. This tale had murder, deceit and theft at its very core. With a bunch of trysts (some real and some not) thrown in for goof measure. I love how clean these mysteries are - no sec scenes described in gory details, very few bloody descriptions and a lack of swearing. They make a nice change from the usual “sick shit” I read and seem even more wholesome than cozy mysteries.
September 27, 2022
During the days of my probation, I had somehow become infatuated with Colin Dexter's creation and his investigations. Why? I don't know. Perhaps Morse was, in my opinion, perfectly placed to provide us with a view of Oxford that's known, yet unknown. The mysteries were strangely complex, with living humans turning out to be far more interesting than the deceased. And most importantly, there always would be a deep sense of pathos and compassion, that put a different hue to the red and black of the plot.
This particular novel wouldn’t be amongst the top stuff. But still, it’s very good indeed.
Recommended.
This particular novel wouldn’t be amongst the top stuff. But still, it’s very good indeed.
Recommended.
July 6, 2019
Having recently seen the tv adaptation of this story I was not as focused on the story as I could have been. However, the book is different from the TV adaptation and is far far better. Morse and Lewis try and find a connection between the theft of a rare and precious historical artefact: the Wolvercote Tongue and the deaths of Laura Stratton; the owner of the Tongue and Dr Kemp, the historian who was to revive it. However as usual no one and nothing is what they seem and more than one person in the American tourist party is lying about their whereabouts and their history. A novel with the usual intrigue and a rather moving ending.
July 26, 2016
I read "Last Bus to Woodstock" a long time ago and between that and reading this I watched the whole "Morse" series, much of it twice over. While I read I could see and hear John Thaw and Kevin Whateley most clearly. I enjoyed that series and I enjoyed this book until I got toward the end. I must admit that as the solution began to roll out I did want to do something violent to Colin Dexter for drawing it out so long and confusedly. The characters were well drawn, but I wonder at his portrayal of the California accent, which he shows as having a lot more R sound than I think there is: Barth for Bath, for example and Arksford for Oxford. Still, I'm no linguist and could easily be proven wrong. Reading the letters Dexter puts into the book in handwriting, different styles of handwriting, too, was good. I caught most of the errors but realise I don't spell gradient correctly. I enjoyed the word play in which Dexter indulges occasionally, in which the prefixes of a word match the action. I can't remember a real one but an example of the type would be inspire, respire, and expire with a person inspiring another to respire but causing another to expire.
As I say, things were rolling along quite nicely until Morse is given a speech to explain roughly what happened but then has to have conversations with others in order to finally give us the answer.
As I say, things were rolling along quite nicely until Morse is given a speech to explain roughly what happened but then has to have conversations with others in order to finally give us the answer.
Read
October 10, 2019A death. A burglary. A finite suspect pool.
I am ambivalent about Colin Dexter and his Inspector Morse.
Have read a few in the series and will probably read a few more.
Even if only for the few moments when both Dexter and Morse are at their collective best.
I am ambivalent about Colin Dexter and his Inspector Morse.
Have read a few in the series and will probably read a few more.
Even if only for the few moments when both Dexter and Morse are at their collective best.
December 24, 2017
This is my latest read from the library, book 9 in the Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter. This is textbook Morse, as he sits and drinks his way to a conclusion for the case. There are lots of false starts, red herrings, and conflicting stories from all the possible suspects. The jewel of the title is a famous artifact that was bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum by its owner. The woman carrying the jewel dies and her purse containing it disappears. Morse and Lewis work through a list of suspects displaying varying motives, alibis, and lies.
This was a good mystery with quite a bit to puzzle through, but I would say this was not my favorite Morse in the series. There is a different feel, as in author’s voice, to this book than the other Morse novels I have read so far. I think this has to do with the development of this particular book. Apparently, the TV episode for this particular story came first and then the novel was written. This is different from the other books in the series in which the novels were written first.
This was a good mystery with quite a bit to puzzle through, but I would say this was not my favorite Morse in the series. There is a different feel, as in author’s voice, to this book than the other Morse novels I have read so far. I think this has to do with the development of this particular book. Apparently, the TV episode for this particular story came first and then the novel was written. This is different from the other books in the series in which the novels were written first.
August 6, 2017
THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS (Inspector Morse #9) 1981, by Colin Dexter is yet another in an all too small collection of superlative mysteries. Set in Oxford, England, this outing has a bus full of American tourists, a death, the theft of a priceless artifact, and no possibility of a rational solution. Until Morse arrives that is. And in his fashion he manages to not only pull the thread of the mystery free, but does so in his own elegant fashion.
While we can still visit Morse through the books and the television shows (Morse and Endeavour), I certainly miss the anticipation of a new thriller on the shelves.
Alas.
While we can still visit Morse through the books and the television shows (Morse and Endeavour), I certainly miss the anticipation of a new thriller on the shelves.
Alas.
April 9, 2017
Another wonderful mystery by Colin Dexter involving Inspector Morse, Lewis, Oxford and a string of suspects. This one with a more readable offshoots that might, or might not have something to do with the central mystery.
I like the usually setup for the mystery and how Morse, Lewis and all try to work out clues. As usual, great characters. The series of crimes that occurs also enhances the story as Dexter intermingles the situations involving all and the crimes and what is the truth. Lots and lots of guessing can be done by the reader, though the ending is likely to escape you.
One complaint would be Dexter's depiction of Americans, which he didn't have a good handle of involving the dialogue.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 8 out of ten points.
I like the usually setup for the mystery and how Morse, Lewis and all try to work out clues. As usual, great characters. The series of crimes that occurs also enhances the story as Dexter intermingles the situations involving all and the crimes and what is the truth. Lots and lots of guessing can be done by the reader, though the ending is likely to escape you.
One complaint would be Dexter's depiction of Americans, which he didn't have a good handle of involving the dialogue.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 8 out of ten points.
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