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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinary detective novel, July 30, 2000
I was a bit wary about starting this novel--I didn't care for THE WENCH IS DEAD or THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS (found them horribly dull, actually)--but I decided to give it a try. It was well worth the effort; of all the Dexter mysteries I've read, THE DAUGHTERS OF CAIN is easily the best. A former Oxford professor, Dr. Felix McClure, is found stabbed to death in his flat, and as usual, Inspector Morse and his faithful Watson, Sergeant Lewis, are assigned the case. The two discover a suspicious connection between McClure and a ne'er-do-well named Ted Brooks, who himself vanishes suddenly. As you'd expect from the title, the cast of suspects is almost exclusively female, and Dexter does a fantastic job of probing the passions--both love and hatred--that drive women to murder. Interestingly enough, the most perplexing question is not so much whodunit as howdunit, and the solution that Dexter provides is very tricky, and very clever. You'd be hard-pressed, though, to find a writer plays more fairly with clues; all the information necessary to deduce the solution is there, albeit hidden in plain sight. But this novel entertains on many levels, plot being the least of them. With Morse at his grumpy, endearingly brilliant best, and Lewis acting once again as the perfect comic foil, the journey is as much fun as the destination. The story is well-paced, and all the characters are so thoroughly engaging that even the less action-packed segments (which basically means the whole book--this is a British mystery, after all) are fascinating. Finally, no other writer in the English language writes quite like Colin Dexter, whose impeccably idiosyncratic prose is a joy to read. The dialogue is frequently hilarious, the social observations are sharp but subtle, and the use of language (words like "dolichocephalic" pop up more than once) is marvelously quirky. In all, a delightfully sophisticated, immensely satisfying piece of writing.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dexter's Morse Delights as Oxford Sleuth Solves Mystery, March 4, 1997
By A Customer
Having long been a fan of Colin Dexter's rogue Inspector Morse, Daughters of Cain provided hours of enjoyment matching wits and witicisms with the irrascible Oxford sleuth. Morse is up against a baffling murder inherited from a colleague who left the bloodied trail cold and unsolved. Morse along with his faithful, long suffering Sergeant Lewis must pick up the tangled threads and make some sense out of the sensless. An Oxford Professor has been brutally stabbed to death and the trail leads to the brutal college handiman who may or may not have been dealing drugs. When the prime suspect vanishes, Morse is left to sort out an overabundance of suspects including the brutal handiman's wife, abused step-daughter prostitute and an Oxford School Teacher. Dexter's chapter openings of quotes and aphorisms add to the enjoyment as the reader tries to find the thread which leads to the next clue which wraps up the conclusion is a very fullfilling climax. Morse satisfies while giving some well needed exercise to the cerebellum.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The first novel i ever read, July 20, 2002
This book was the first proper novel that i ever read. Several years ago now. And it has brought me so far...It instilled in me my passion for the mystery/detective/thriller genre, and reading itself. It brought me to treasure, above many other things, the importance of a novel's characters, and to consider least of all the actual quality of the prose. This book is undoubtedly written brilliantly, but i enjoyed it so much that i didnt notice. And that told me an important lesson: It does not matter how well a book is written, as long as you enjoy it. (For even if this was written badly, i would still have enjoyed it.) Morse himself is a puzzle wrapped in so many enigmas and conundrums that his character at times resembles and onion. Even by the final novel, we have not really found out what makes him tick. He remains a puzzle to the last. Lewis is a very likeable man, an impressive Watson to Morse's Holmes. He is a simple man, but at times can be just as puzzling as Morse. The plot with this one is simple but incredibly effective. It tells the tale of harmed women, and the revenges that they take. There is one woman in particular who stands out, and that is the teacher, Julia. She is an incredibly strong character, and a rather moving one in how devoted she is to her friend, and her motives for it. This is a very strong novel, with a truly fitting title. It is an exemplary book of detection, with very strong characters and a very powerful plot. Until he retired, it is truly so that Dexter was probably the best living male crime writer we in Britain had. We lament his departure.
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