The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn [Hardcover]

Colin Dexter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1977

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."
--The New York Times Book Review

Nicholas Quinn is deaf, so he considers himself lucky to be appointed to the Foreign Examinations Board at Oxford, which designs tests for students of English around the world. But when someone slips cyanide into Nicholas's  sherry, Inspector Morse has a multiple-choice murder. Any one of a tight little group of academics could have killed Quinn. Before Morse is done, all their dirty little secrets will be exposed. And a murderer will be cramming for his finals. . . .

"[Dexter] is a magician with character, story construction, and the English language. . . . Colin Dexter and Morse are treasures of the genre."
--Mystery News

"It is a delight to watch this brilliant, quirky man [Morse] deduce."
--Minneapolis Star & Tribune

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."
--The New York Times Book Review

Nicholas Quinn is deaf, so he considers himself lucky to be appointed to the Foreign Examinations Board at Oxford, which designs tests for students of English around the world. But when someone slips cyanide into Nicholas's sherry, Inspector Morse has a multiple-choice murder. Any one of a tight little group of academics could have killed Quinn. Before Morse is done, all their dirty little secrets will be exposed. And a murderer will be cramming for his finals. . . .

"[Dexter] is a magician with character, story construction, and the English language. . . . Colin Dexter and Morse are treasures of the genre."
--Mystery News

"It is a delight to watch this brilliant, quirky man [Morse] deduce."
--Minneapolis Star & Tribune --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Colin Dexter lives in Oxford, England. He has twice won Britain's Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of the year--for The Wench Is Dead and The Way Through the Woods. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan (May 5, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333216261
• ISBN-13: 978-0333216262
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,370,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "My weakness is guesswork. I leap to conclusions, often wrong.", September 20, 2006

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Written in 1977, this is the third of the thirteen-novel Inspector Morse series. Here Morse is not so well-developed as he becomes in later novels, when the reader of the series has more background to draw from, but he is still a fascinating character--a single man, a huge fan of crossword puzzles, a beer-lover, and a committed student of classical music, who is also crotchety, impatient with his less educated assistant (Sgt. Lewis), and unwilling to give up on a case until all the pieces fit perfectly.

Here Morse and Sgt. Lewis are called to Oxford to investigate the murder of Nicholas Quinn, a profoundly deaf man who worked on the university's Examinations Board, developing the tests to determine future entrants to the university. Security breaches have occurred and copies of the test may have been sold in the Middle East. No one knows whether Nicholas Quinn was involved, and if not, who was. Most importantly, who killed him, and why?

As Morse investigates the case, the private lives of the various dons and their secretary are revealed, and when Monica, the secretary, is attacked and injured, she arouses Morse's finer feelings (a "rescuing" trait of Morse which continues to develop in later novels with other "damsels in distress"). With none of the players exactly who they seem to be and questions arising as to when, exactly, Nicholas Quinn died, Morse pursues numerous dead ends and actually arrests several innocent people.

Written fully ten years before some of the best of the series, this novel is fun to read as a Morse curiosity, but it is still a well-developed mystery. Morse's character is obviously still evolving--he makes a lot of mistakes which need to be corrected-- and his relationship with Sgt. Lewis is still "in process." The famed red Jaguar has not yet appeared--Morse drives a Lancia here--and his diabetes and his love of scotch whisky are still unknown to the reader. Morse is a man of integrity, however, and he is committed to finding the killer--his character and methods to be fully developed by the author in future novels. n Mary Whipple

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another intriguing Inspector Morse mystery!, October 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Another one of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse mysteries. The main character, Inspector Morse, and his sidekick, Sergeant Lewis, tackle another murder mystery. This time of a deaf man, recently hired to work for the Foreign Examinations Board in Oxford. Everyone seems to be a suspect, but as usual Lewis' non-challant remarks and Morse's sharp mind, solve the mystery - a complex who-dunnit. I believe that this book is one of the earlier Inspector Morse mysteries, since some characteristics of Morse are not in-line with that is known so far. For example, Morse is a well educated man, with interest in classical music, Latin, history and The Times crossword puzzles. However, in one scene, Morse does not know what Darjeeling is. There are also other discrepancies: Morse drives a Lancia in this book, which I find very inappropriate, him being a snobby Enlighman. Morse's usual vintage maroon Jaguar is more in-line. Other than those little discrepancies, the book was yet another good exercise for the mind and an enjoyable read. The Oxford setting still always takes me back to those college days, when I used to roam around Oxford myself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps You Guessing Until the Very Last!, September 12, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a truly wonderful book. It's a classic example of a "who-done-it" with the British twist! It is also a brilliant example of how Morse's wonderful mind works. In it we see Morse in all his glory - brilliant, quirky, and vulnerable! I clearly remember seeing this one done on film, but even as good as that one was, it cannot match the complexity of this book. In the story, Morse is afer the killer of an employee of one of Britain's national examination companies. We see the world of the ivory tower in a completely new light, and Morse is almost out-matched by a brilliant killer. Wonderful stuff and a true mystery classic!