Customer Reviews

The Way Through the Woods

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The history of the mystery is replete with examples of detectives who tread a fine line between the amusingly eccentric and the downright boorish (Sherlock Holmes being the archetype; Poirot, Nero Wolfe, and others following in his footsteps). Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse fits squarely and delightfully in this tradition. If you've never seen the TV series on PBS and A&E, or better yet read one of the books, you're really missing out on something special.

Morse, whose first name wasn't revealed for years, is an Oxford-educated, beer-drinking, Opera-loving, vintage Jaguar-driving, Crossword puzzle maven and also one of the biggest curmudgeons in all of literature. He does not suffer fools gladly, other than his much put upon but continually bemused partner Lewis. His superiors are forced to tolerate his idiosyncrasies and his bibliousness because he also has a uniquely intuitive mind and a knack for solving the most puzzling crimes. In an interesting symbiosis, John Thaw's television portrayal of Morse bled over into the novels and took some of the harsher edges off of the character and Kevin Whatley's Lewis helped to make the character less of a dolt and more of a naïf in the books too.

In this Gold Dagger winning installment in the series, Morse is on an unwelcome holiday when he gets drawn into the case of a year old disappearance of a Swedish girl who is assumed to have been murdered and ditched in the local woods. The largely moribund investigation is reinvigorated when The Times receives a cryptic letter with tantalizing but ambiguous literary clues to the dead girl's whereabouts. As the story unfolds Morse finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation that includes everything from pornography to ornithology. As always, the book offers both a satisfying mystery and the great pleasure of watching Morse and Lewis interact with one another and with suspects, superiors and the various ladies who inevitably tweak Morse's heartstrings.

After a highly successful run of 13 novels, Dexter killed Morse off earlier this year in The Remorseful Day. On the one hand, it's nice to see an author finish a series while he still has his fastball, but Morse and Lewis will be missed. Try one of the books and keep an eye peeled for the show, both are outstanding.

GRADE: A+

A young, beautiful Swedish tourist is reported as missing when she should have been at the home of her relative in Wales. A year later, there is still no trace of her and no report of anyone finding her body, even though the woods where she was last seen, were thoroughly combed by the Thames Valley police. Chief Inspector Morse is only semi enjoying a holiday at the seaside resort of Lyme Regis where he reads a tantalising account in the Times, about the missing tourist, now christened the Swedish Maiden by the press. An anonymous writer has put forward a collection of verses which purport to offer clues to the girl's whereabouts. The subject becomes a matter of huge interest to the general public, with different people all contributing their theories. Morse and Sergeant Lewis plough their way stolidly through the maze of supposed clues to a final solution, with lots of red herrings along the way and even a touch of romance for Morse to brighten his days.

This book has its flaws, but for those who like the English tradition of mystery novels, it's perfect. Inspector Morse is an enigma that grows on us like a new puppy, and he is the perfect vehicle for a labyrinth of clues and intimations leading to a conclusion only an architect of human psychology could create. The writing is crisp and generous with the main characters, although the people who comprise the mysterious events are necessarily given somewhat shorter coverage. All the clues are on the page far before the solution is given. While sometimes it seems as if soap opera narration of the lives of the police takes center stage, it contributes to an understanding of their progress and its hangups, and helps add momentum to a relatively realistic discussion of the plodding process of uncovering clues. Where this book falls down is its uneven dramatic events and its sometimes obvious shifts of narrative to hide vital data, causing a sudden "gotcha" at the end, that's part of the riddle and the joy of seeing this one conclude. I would recommend this to anyone who likes the mind games of British detective authors.

I bought the Kindle version of this book and I think a page or two may be missing at the end. I guess I'll have to buy the paperback version to find out for sure unless one of you can help out. The Kindle version ends with an epilogue which concludes with the newspaper editor saying, "Er no. I don't think we do." This sentence came at the exact bottom of the kindle page, and I clicked to go to the next page, but nothing moved. apparently, there is no next page.

I quite enjoyed the serialized television Inspector Morse, so I thought I'd give the books a read. I had not read Colin Dexter's books before, and when I begin reading a new (new to me) author, I like to begin with the author's first book and read the books in order from there. I clicked on the Amazon link for Colin Dexter books in order, and The Way Through The Woods came up first. It turns out this is not the first book in the series. Remorseful Day comes up second in the list and I think in fact it is the last in the series.

I found The Way Through The Woods a bit slow reading at first but eventually it picked up and I felt I was back comfortably with the Chief Inspector Morse and Dectective Lewis of the tv series and it was quite enjoyable. The main mystery was that of the missing Sweedish Maid who was assumed to have been murdered. I'm not particularly good at guessing the outcomes of these mysteries, but I guessed this one correctly for the most part, and I continued to enjoy reading the book.

When that main mystery was concluded, an extra character or two was murdered and Morse had to find out who dunnit. At this point I lost much of my interest in reading the book but I continued on up to what I assumed was the final word just in case something in the remainder of the tale might re-Kindle my interest. Nothing did. I shall now endeavor to determine the correct order of Colin Dexter's books and begin at the begin.

Has there ever been a more perfect marriage between character and actor? As ever, discussing any of the Morse books is impossible without discussing the actor who portrays him. The two are linked (in my mind, at least) forever. In this title, Morse is his quintessential self and calls to mind Jonathan Thaw. As usual, the mystery is good, Morse's ego is exquisite, and the writing is engaging. Here is one series where watching the videos does not detract from the source material. In fact, knowing John Thaw's Morse serves to heighten enjoyment of reading the books.

For those of you who are only familiar with Colin Dexter's character of Chief Inspector Morse through the A&E mysteries series, I say unto you READ THE BOOKS. Colin Dexter has created a series of mystery novels that will appeal to even the most cynical of mystery fans.

Although he did not start writing until after his carreer as a University Professor, he has made up for lost time with a vengence. The character of Morse is superbly drawn. A razor sharp mind that has all the human failings common to all of us. The twists in his novels are truly diabolical and show an insight into the human condition that is both disturbing and familiar.

I realize that this is a review more for the body of work that constitutes the formidable Inspector Morse, but I feel so strongly about his work and, seeing no other reviews here, felt the need to point out a very important fact: If you buy a Colin Dexter novel, you will not be disappointed.

A very well crafted book. Superb plotting as one would expect from this author. This book continues the Morse mystique (he is still able to attract women half his age) but gives Lewis a little more assertiveness. Quite unputdownable.

Fans of PBS Masterpiece Mystery's "Inspector Lewis" may be interested to know that this is the book where the Dr. Laura Hobson character is first introduced. This was a good read that kept me guessing.

As all the books in this series, this one is extremely well-written. The plot is tight and the mystery will keep you guessing until the end. Dexter's writing and his Morse series are top drawer.In this book we have the mysterious disappearance of a Swedish student. (Quite a beautiful Swedish student to all accounts). Morse is on holiday, but finds that he can't just relax and take time off. His agile brain needs something to work on and the appearance of some strange verses in the Times appear to fit the bill. The verses are a riddle about the Swedish student that disappeared in Oxford about a year ago. These books are so intricately written that it is difficult to write a review without giving away some of the surprises, so I will say no more about it. I will recommend though, that you read this series from the beginning. As good as the television series was, these books should be read in order for us to appreciate fine writing in the detection genre.

Better than anything else I ever read! A must for all crimenovel addicts. And I know because I read crimenovels every day.