Service of All the Dead

On staycation, Morse comes across the solved case of the murder of a churchwarden followed a few days later by the suicide of the Vicar of St. Frideswide's, assumed to be the murderer, but he feels something isn't right.

The trouble is that although I like Oxford setting and the fiendishly clever puzzles in these books, I've come to realise that despite the occasional flashes of erudition I don't actually like Morse himself very much. Yes, this is the 1970s but the spectacle of a middle-aged man who acts like a teenager who has just discovered the top shelf at the newsagent's is just too depressing.

This is definitely the best Inspector Morse thus far, and it has an alarmingly high body count. Seriously, this should put Oxford in the top ten cities with the highest number of murders per capita, along with Miami, Midsomer, and Cabot Cove. This book alone has high murder, low murder, outdoor murder, underground murder, holy murder, heathen murder, planned murder, spontaneous murder, murder in the style of Hitchcock, murder homage to Agatha Christie, -- it's just full of dead bodies. The plot is well-crafted, and Morse and Lewis are well-drawn -- subtly without the garishly bold strokes of the early novels. Looking forward to the next case.

Interesting, enjoyable, perhaps needlessly-complicated mystery. Morse and Lewis are a good pair and I can see why this series has been so enduring on TV. I liked the final ambiguity of whether the vicar's fall from the tower was truly a suicide or a murder. This novel was about as homophobic as I would expect a novel of the 1970's to be, but the casual racism and sexism were way over the top for that period, and all of that cast a pall over the book.

The ever-tenacious and intractable Inspector Morse could be on vacation in Greece. In fact, he should be sailing happily around the Greek islands right now - taking his meticulously-planned and highly-anticipated moment of ease, sunning himself beside the rolling waves of the Aegean Sea. Instead, he is investigating a murder that the police have long since written off. Although, he really only has himself to blame this time.

But he finds the crime - the brutal killing of a suburban churchwarden - remarkably fascinating and extraordinarily difficult to solve. In fact, he believes that he's discovered not just one murder but two; for Inspector Morse suspects that the fatal fall of St. Frideswide's vicar from the church's bell tower is show more actually murder as well. And as he digs deeply into the private lives and the myriad unsanctified lusts of the late vicar's erring flock, the list of the dead only grows longer.

Not even the oddly appealing woman he finds scrubbing the floor of the church can properly compensate Inspector Morse for the imposition he has brought upon himself. Most especially not for the high risk of probable danger he's bound to get himself into. So he has another pint, follows his hunches, and settles in to untangle the deadly business of homicide...

I must say that I really enjoyed reading this book. I think that I may have several of Colin Dexter's books on my bookshelf, although this is the first one that I've read. In my opinion, this story was quintessentially English - the writing seemed to be slightly grandiose to me; maybe even a tad pompous. Although, I would say that my feelings are due in large part to Colin Dexter's writing style; Inspector Morse is probably meant to come across as supercilious and slightly overbearing.

I found the mystery itself to be rather convoluted as well, but still very intriguing for me to read. Overall, I found Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter to be quite good and very enjoyable - I would give it a B+! show less

The best Morse that I have read to date. This is a fast paced story where the solution to the mystery comes to one early in the book, only for it to be dismissed with many red herrings before the end.
In the hands of a less skilful writer, this story would fall flatter than any pancake, but Dexter knows exactly how to keep the plot racing along at such a break-neck pace that the reader simply does not have time to consider the unlikelihood of such a set of occurrences happening. for a magical couple of hours, one is transported to a land where the solution is assured and all will be well in the world once it is attained. Excellent entertainment.

Still undecided on the Morse series four books in. The writing is good, particularly the dialogue, but Dexter continues his smug extended explanation of the mystery at the end and it's just a very long "Here's all the things which were vaguely hinted at, but which you couldn't have worked out" session which kills the momentum dead for the last 10% of the book. The casual racism in this one (a short encounter with someone described as a "Chinaman" who literally says "Me verree sorree") is a painful reminder of the story's 1979 vintage although apart from that it feels thoroughly modern.

Insp. Morse novel set in England
twists + turns really don't know until end — then still — glasses in pocked — underlined in red!

This time Inspector Morse brings the imposition on himself. He could have been vacationing in Greece instead of investigating a murder that the police have long since written off. But he finds the crime--the brutal killing of a suburban churchwarden--fascinating. In fact, he uncovers not one murder but two, for the fatal fall of St. Frideswides vicar from the church tower Morse reckons to be murder as well. And as he digs into the lives and unsanctified lusts of the late vicar's erring flock, the list of the dead grows longer. Not even the oddly appealing woman he finds scrubbing the church floor can show more compensate Morse for the trouble he's let himself in for. So he has another pint, follows his hunches, and sets out to untangle the deadly business of homicide. . . . show less