Inspector Morse

Inspector Endeavor Morse is a fictional character, who features in a series of thirteen detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. His first name was kept a secret until one of the very last books.

The titles are:

• Last Bus to Woodstock, 1975
• Last Seen Wearing, 1976
• Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, 1977
• Service of All the Dead, 1979
• The Dead of Jerico, 1981
• The Riddle of the Third Mile, 1983
• The Secret of Annexe 3, 1986
• The Wench is Dead, 1989
• The Jewel That Was Ours, 1991
• The Way Through the Woods, 1992
• The Daughters of Cain, 1994
• Death is Now My Neighbour, 1996
• The Remorseful Day: The Final Inspector Morse Novel, 2000

Dexter killed Morse in his last book, and has thus far shown no sign of ressurecting him -- unlike Arthur Conan Doyle, who killed his main character only to have to bring him back to life.

The Inspector Morse novels have been made into a very successful TV series by the British TV channel Carlton. The Inspector himself is played by John Thaw and the faithful Sergeant Lewis by Kevin Whately. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in each of the episodes. See the official web site of the TV series at http://www.inspectormorse.co.uk/.

It is primarily the personality of the main character that makes the Inspector Morse novels so successful. With his beautiful Jaguar car, thirst for beer, snobbery, and penchant for Wagner, he is a likeable person despite his sullen temperament.

Dexter is a fan of cryptic crosswords, and in every novel the surname of the killer is taken from the list of winners of (The Times) crossword competition.