Probably not his best

I forgot how long ago this book was written until I listened to it. I've enjoyed Inspector Morse on TV so thought I'd try the book. I love Samuel West so I knew he'd be good but I didn't find the story particularly enthralling. That said, I'm sure I'll listen to more of the same. And, as crime writing goes, Colin Dexter can certainly hold his own.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellence of the reading.

I lost the plot! I think it became improbable rather than merely complex and after a while I’d stopped caring rather.

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1 person found this helpful

A difficult case

A very interesting story. I followed it ok until the last few chapters then I got lost. Enjoy

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1 person found this helpful

A touch of the Gothic

Rather more gore than I like, but intriguing, more than a little improbable. I’m always surprised Morse escapes disciplinary procedures, as he’s more outrageous than Rebus, who’s always in trouble with the high heid yins! But autres pays, autres mœurs! The Edinburgh polis presumably have stricter rules.
One good thing about Dexter is that he varies format and style (within the givens of “murder(s) >investigation>false trails>Morse gets there in the end, but Lewis does all the donkey work!”
Dexter didn’t write so many novels that he began to recycle old plots and themes, cf Christie, and the social milieu is varied, cf Sayers.
(I expect Morse would have taken me to task over punctuation in that last sentence!)
I don’t really believe in Morse’s failure to graduate because of an unhappy student love affair. It seems too much of a rationalisation, an excuse visible through that amazing instrument, the retrospectoscope, which isn’t always well focused.
Samuel West’s narration is excellent, as usual, no comic music hall accents- which drive those who speak with the genuine version to stamp on their phones in despair. It takes a really good actor to manage Welsh, Scots, London, Lancashire,etc.,convincingly and unemphatically.
He performs well, without turning the whole thing into an amateur dramatics melodrama, which some lesser narrators are wont to do. (Italian language audiobooks worst offenders.)

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8 people found this helpful

the riddle of the thitd mile

excellent! as alway, and very well narrated. look forward to listening to other morse books

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Narrated perfectly

Amazing narration. This is one of the reasons I’m working my way thru them all. Writing is inspired too

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3 people found this helpful

Morse

Excellent, listened all night. The story was refreshingly different although the reader didnot get Morse

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1 person found this helpful

Need to stay alert

Very complicated story . Many twists and turns and had to go back several times to check what I had missed. Narration by Samuel West as always excellent and probably worth a listen as much for this as the story. Think seeing this may be better than listening but still enjoyable.

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2 people found this helpful

Great writing style - absorbing

Brilliant narrator - just right for the story - excellent voices especially Morse and Lewis - nuanced and convincing

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It's a draw between the story and the narrator.

I would love Samuel West to narrate a lot more books, He is a joy to listen to, and he is being used far too little.

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