Customer Reviews

Last Bus to Woodstock

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have known of Inspector Morse (the hero(?)) of this book, for years through TV, so I had a set ideas of what he, and his cases, were like before I read this book. I should not have been so narrow minded. The plot appears quite simple, and at the start, boring. A young, somewhat "tarty" girl gets nastily murdered outside an Oxford pub. She was seen before the murder with a female companion hitch hiking. The obvious suspect (the owner of the car which picks the girls up) comes forward...and all hell breaks loose. The story is quite difficult to follow and slow, but the character of Morse, the Inspector in charge, and his relationship with his new "sidekick" Sergent Lewis, make the book good, and quite compelling. The "shock" ending is not so great a shock, but more a sad one. What makes the story better than average is Dexter's description of Morse's character and the way his mind works, his little quirks and habits. For a first book in a series it is slow, but still compelling enough to make me want to read more. I would not recommend this book if you are one for skipping ahead, or you get bored easily. The slow build up is something that adds to the whole book, if not the basic plot.

The first in the series of Inspector Morse mysteries, this 1975 story of murder centers on the death of Sylvia Kaye, a young woman who has been found dead in the car park of a local pub by the young man she was supposed to meet. The biggest clues to her death are a letter in code addressed to a woman Sylvia worked for at an insurance agency and a hand-delivered envelope large enough to have contained a significant amount of money. Running parallel with this investigation of Sylvia, her friends, and her free-wheeling lifestyle, is the story of Oxford dons, one of whom is hoping to become the new department chair, a position his wife is very anxious for him to attain.

Morse and Sgt. Lewis show only hints of the personalities that will develop later as the series continues. The beer-drinking Morse is a student of literature, and he enjoys discussing the poetry of Herbert Spenser and John Wilmot with Angie Hartman, a young Oxford student. Depicted as something of a young hot-shot, Morse relies on Sgt. Lewis, who, surprisingly, is described as older than Morse in this book and somewhat more adept at police procedure, another difference from later novels and from the TV series.

As Morse investigates the insurance agency where Sylvia worked, the young man she was supposed to meet, and life at Oxford, the plot lines, most of them involving "illicit" sex, begin to converge. Max, the pathologist in the series, makes his first brief appearance here, and several quirky characters give life to the mystery as Morse investigates a fairly standard but well-plotted whodunit. Fans of the series will be intrigued to see the characters as Colin Dexter first conceived of them and will delight in making comparisons between this first novel and his later ones. n Mary Whipple

I confess to an unfair advantage .... I was living near Oxford when Colin Dexter first introduced his character, Morse. Dexter was not well known at the time but 'Last Bus ...' was a big success locally. I remember walking or driving the same streets that came to life in his book and I was immediately captivated by the way he brought out the atmosphere of the city and the guilty 'looking over the shoulder' mannerism of the characters. Yes, this was the first of the Morse books and a superb launchpad for those to follow. The way he introduced the setting, the characters to his new readershhip ... Of course, the rest is history. Curiously, I still think this is the best of his books.

Terence Hardiman must have been a perfect choice as story reader - he appeared as one of the characters in the TV production - and would have made a good 'Morse'. Gems of literary devices are many, but I particularly liked the bit about the batsman checking the scorebook. A bit like when another character in a different TV series, coincidentally also played by Hardiman, opens an envelope to read the one word denouement, 'Voltaire.' Have I given it away? I think not, but if you can deduce the guilty party from this, you could do Morse's job better than he can. Enjoy.

Inspector Morse is known to millions through the excellent BBC/PBS television series. While I am a huge fan of the TV episodes, due in no small part to the work of John Thaw as he portays our hero, I find the level of detail offered by the books even more captivating.

This book tells the story of the first case that Morse and his sidekick Sergent Lewis are assigned to. A young woman last seen hitchhiking with a friend is found battered to death in a pub yard later the same night. Morse and Lewis are human and make many mistakes as they fight through lies and deceit to finally uncover the truth. The twist at the end is a real shock, cleverly worked leaving a feeling of sadness with the reader.

But the quality of the Morse series by Colin Dexter is not the interesting stories or clever twists that are a requirement of a good mystery. The real attraction is the character of Morse, a hugely complex man, alcoholic, lovable, egotistic, vunerable, cultured, bad tempered, lonely, this is no infallible super hero. Morse also uses his intelligence not his athletic brawn to sift through the clues, something not seen often in murder mystery these days (probably because if the detective has to think so does the author).

There are only a few quality mystery writers out there still writing, Mr Dexter is one of the best exponents of his craft and well worth your attention.

Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse now reigns quite alone among the post-Christie detectives. This may annoy any number of readers who prefer other modern writers' detectives, but none of their authors enjoyed the remarkable recreation John Thaw brought to the televised series. There was an almost declasse Cary Grant attraction to his character in the films: it was impossible not to be just a little dazzled by such heady charm. Indeed, along with Alec Guinness as Smiley and David Suchet as Poirot, Thaw's performance was a touchstone, and quite moved Dexter's detective right to the top of public awareness. Will Inspector Morse remain there? I suspect he might. The public adores mysteries, but the memorable characters set the best ones apart from the pack. And Morse appears a most memorable creation.
This novel, the very first in the series, quickly showcases Inspector Morse's idiosycrasies in so charming a way that when he's not around the book falters. I noticed a similar reaction of my own when first reading Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles - with Holmes so out of the way the plot frequently dragged. Fortunately Morse is far more involved here, and up front, and the story moves along.
In many ways Morse seems a predecesor of television's House - they both are very eccentric and brusque, anti-establishment, and creative - both enjoy solving very stumping problems; both play against straight-arrow subalterns; and both tend to make a lot of ego misjudgements before resolving a mystery. With House it's usually - though not always - a medical issue, while with Morse naturally it's solving a murder. Both too are crippled emotionally and resort to pain-killing drugs - House his vicodin, Morse enormous quantities of bitters. The analogy could easily be extended in many other directions.
The Last Bus to Woodstock won a well-deserved mystery award in England. Local color - Oxford - rings true, if not all the characterizations, which vary in quality from quite good to paper-thin. Strong sexual content doubtless helped publish in the first place - such are the requirements of editors. For a first in the series it's quite good. Future books elaborate many of the charms of the Inspector.
Along with Jasper Fford's way out stuff, Dexter's series must be considered one of the major works of popular detective fiction coming out of England.

Colin Dexter was born in 1930 and, over the course of his writing career, has won CWA Gold Dagger and Silver Dagger awards. "Last Bus to Woostock" was his debut novel, was first published in 1975 and introduced the world to the famous Inspector Morse.

However, the book's victim is introduced before the hero. Sylvia Kaye and a friend are travelling into Ocford city centre for a night out - unfortunately, believing they had missed the last bus, the pair had hitched into town. Several hours later, Sylvia's body is found in the car park at the back of the Black Prince, with the murder weapon - a heavy tyre spanner - conveniently lying beside her. The case sees Morse paired up with Sergeant Lewis for the first time. The pair seem to have little in common : where Lewis is married and reads the Daily Mirror, Morse is single, lives alone and enjoys the cryptic crosswords in the Times. Morse is fussy about spelling and grammar, enjoys classical music and is partial to a few drinks. The crime scene, being a pub, would appear to be a case of the Inspector mixing work and pleasure - and, although he isn't supposed to drink on the job, he happily bends that rule once in a while. (He also seems to take great pleasure in refusing to allow Lewis do the same). When the investigation gets up and running, Morse is very curious about two people in particular : Sylvia's friend - who, strangely, remains anonymous and doesn't come forward - and whoever it was picked the pair up.

"Last Bus to Woodstock" is quite possibly the politest murder-mystery book I have ever read - for example, Morse's arrival at the scene of the crime is announced with the exclamation "How he hated sex murders !". There didn't really seem to be much method to the investigation - it's built on assumptions and leaps of faith - while I found it a little odd there was no apparent lab work. (The murder weapon, which was found at the scene, was roundly ignored !). I realise the book was written in the 1970s, but surely some fingerprinting and forensics work would have been available - even in Oxford? Overall, the book is a little slow and plodding, and by the time the book reached its climax - where Morse revealed all - I really didn't care all that much. Based on Morse's popularity, I can only assume the series improves drastically as it goes along.

An average mystery, likely because this is the author's first effort in the series. Certain parts seemed draggy. Some clues were not shown to the reader and narrated only at the point of revelation. This minimised the reader's "Why didn't I think of that before?!" impact. I'm still game for another book by Mr. Dexter.

I have faithfully watched the Inspector Morse series on television and have really enjoyed each episode, and I never felt the urge to read the series that the TV show was based on because the TV series is very well done indeed. Well, I'm glad that I decided to read the series finally. Yes, the TV series is quite consistent with the story which in itself is unusual, but the books (this one anyway) are masterpieces! Dexter knows how to build a plot and how to have the reader chasing countless red herrings. And Morse is a wonderful character! John Thaw plays the part very well, but the Morse in the books is even more irascible and testy than Thaw's portrayal. He is brilliant, but somehow vulnerable. A true enigma of a man. I can hardly wait to read the other books in this series now. I'm sure it will put all the shows that I've seen in a new light as Last Bus to Woodstock did.

You won't regret this read. Just when you think you know how it is going to end, you are fooled.Good plot. Good characters. Great dialogue. I now have to find time to read the remaining works of this author - my only regret!

This novel gets off to a suspenseful start. It is beautifully, thoughtfully and cleverly written--no question. However, you need to pay attention or you might get lost along the way. Characters are at times reintroduced with no reminder as to who they are. You might get the Bakers and Palmers in the story confused, or just have forgotten who they are. The denouement was quite intricate and threatened to give me a headache, I was trying so hard to follow the thread and make sure I had picked up on everything. And, finally, the propensity of young girls to fall for middle-aged men in this book is amusing (a wishful-thinking trait endemic to many male written mysteries). These are the only reasons I did not give LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK five stars; it is just this side of brilliant, and Colin Dexter's depiction of Sergeant Lewis, in particular, is truly masterful.