Лучшие произведения Колина Декстера

Зверское преступление потрясло Оксфорд. В тихом университетском городке изнасилована и убита молодая девушка. Интеллектуал и эрудит, любитель оперной музыки и старинной поэзии, обаятельный и опытный инспектор Морс начинает распутывать непростое дело, в ходе которого выясняет, что жертва вела далеко не безупречную жизнь... Разгадка сложной криминалистической задачи - лишь на последней странице романа.

Шведка Карин Эрикссон, путешествовавшая по Англии, пропала неподалеку от Оксфорда. Год спустя в полицию приходит письмо со стихами английского поэта XIX века “Найди меня” и записка “Почему меня никто не ищет?” с подписью туристки. Расшифровка анаграммы в стихах не оставляет у опытного инспектора сомнений: путь к разгадке исчезновения Карин лежит сквозь Оксфордский лес…

Валери Тэйлор уже два года как числится пропавшей без вести. Инспектор Морс уверен, что она давно мертва. Но если так, то кто же послал ее родителям письмо со словами «У меня всё в порядке, не волнуйтесь»? Морс не любит такие загадки, он предпочитает иметь на руках труп, умерший не своей смертью... И очень скоро он его получит.

Инспектор Морс мог бы провести отпуск в Греции вместо того, чтобы расследовать дело, признанное его коллегами безнадежным. Но уж больно его заинтересовало убийство помощника викария – тем более, что он видит здесь двойное убийство, ибо смерть самого викария, считающаяся самоубийством, может таковым вовсе не быть. И чем глубже Морс погружается в тайны благочестивых прихожан, тем больше растет список жертв...

Ранним утром первого дня нового года инспектора Морса вызвали в отель «Хауорд» для расследования убийства. Тело убитого все еще было одето в костюм карибца, принесшего ему победу на маскарадном конкурсе; его спутница и другие гости успели разбежаться. Эта загадка непроста даже для Морса, но подобно питбулю он крепко ухватит правду за горло и будет трясти, пока не вытрясет все подробности кровавого преступления.

Тело Джоанны Франкс было найдено в Оксфордском канале в среду двадцать второго июня 1859 года. Тело инспектора Морса – ещё, впрочем, вполне живое – было доставлено для лечения язвы в больницу «Джон Редклиф» субботним утром 1989 года. Следователя и преступление разделяет более чем вековой отрезок времени, но Морсу смертельно скучно лежать целыми днями на койке, поэтому он берется за дело.

The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all . . .By the 16th of July the Master of Lonsdale was concerned, but not yet worried.Dr Browne-Smith had passed through the porter's lodge at approximately 8.15 a.m. on the morning of Friday, 11th July. And nobody had heard from him since.Plenty of time to disappear, thought Morse. And plenty of time, too, for someone to commit murder . ..

Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger Award, The Dead of Jericho is the fifth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set Inspector Morse series.
Morse switched on the gramophone to 'play', and sought to switch his mind away from all the terrestrial troubles. Sometimes, this way, he almost managed to forget. But not tonight...
Anne Scott's address was scribbled on a crumpled note in the pocket of Morse's smartest suit.
He turned the corner of Canal Street, Jericho, on the afternoon of Wednesday, 3rd October.
He hadn't planned a second visit. But he was back later the same day - as the officer in charge of a suicide investigation...

The Remorseful Day is the thirteenth and last novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
'Where does this all leave us, sir?'
'Things are moving fast.'
'We're getting near the end, you mean?'
'We were always near the end.'
The murder of Yvonne Harrison had left Thames Valley CID baffled. A year after the dreadful crime they are still no nearer to making an arrest. But one man has yet to tackle the case - and it is just the sort of puzzle at which Chief Inspector Morse excels.
So why is he adamant that he will not lead the re-investigation, despite the entreaties of Chief Superintendent Strange and dark hints of some new evidence? And why, if he refuses to take on the case officially, does he seem to be carrying out his own private enquiries?
For Sergeant Lewis this is yet another example of the unsettling behaviour his chief has been displaying of late . . .

The Jewel That Was Ours is the ninth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
He looked overweight around the midriff, though nowhere else, and she wondered whether perhaps he drank too much. He looked weary, as if he had been up most of the night conducting his investigations…
For Oxford, the arrival of twenty-seven American tourists is nothing out of the ordinary . . . until one of their number is found dead in Room 310 at the Randolph Hotel.
It looks like a sudden - and tragic - accident. Only Chief Inspector Morse appears not to overlook the simultaneous theft of a jewel-encrusted antique from the victim's handbag…
Then, two days later, a naked and battered corpse is dragged from the River Cherwell. A coincidence? Maybe. But this time Morse is determined to prove the link…

Last Bus to Woodstock is the novel that began Colin Dexter's phenomenally successful Inspector Morse series.
'Do you think I'm wasting your time, Lewis?'
Lewis was nobody's fool and was a man of some honesty and integrity.
'Yes, sir.'
An engaging smile crept across Morse's mouth. He thought they could get on well together…
The death of Sylvia Kaye figured dramatically in Thursday afternoon's edition of the Oxford Mail. By Friday evening Inspector Morse had informed the nation that the police were looking for a dangerous man - facing charges of wilful murder, sexual assault and rape.
But as the obvious leads fade into twilight and darkness, Morse becomes more and more convinced that passion holds the key…

Service of All the Dead is the fourth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
The sweet countenance of Reason greeted Morse serenely when he woke, and told him that it would be no bad idea to have a quiet look at the problem itself before galloping off to a solution.
Chief Inspector Morse was alone among the congregation in suspecting continued unrest in the quiet parish of St Frideswide's.
Most people could still remember the churchwarden's murder. A few could still recall the murderer's suicide. Now even the police had closed the case.
Until a chance meeting among the tombstones reveals startling new evidence of a conspiracy to deceive…

The Daughters of Cain is the eleventh novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
Bizarre and bewildering - that's what so many murder investigations in the past had proved to be… In this respect, at least, Lewis was correct in his thinking. What he could not have known was what unprecedented anguish the present case would cause to Morse's soul.
Chief Superintendent Strange's opinion was that too little progress had been made since the discovery of a corpse in a North Oxford flat. The victim had been killed by a single stab wound to the stomach. Yet the police had no weapon, no suspect, no motive.
Within days of taking over the case Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis uncover startling new information about the life and death of Dr Felix McClure. When another body is discovered Morse suddenly finds himself with rather too many suspects. For once, he can see no solution. But then he receives a letter containing a declaration of love…

The Riddle of the Third Mile is the sixth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all…
By the 16th of July the Master of Lonsdale was concerned, but not yet worried.
Dr Browne-Smith had passed through the porter's lodge at approximately 8.15 a.m. on the morning of Friday, 11th July. And nobody had heard from him since.
Plenty of time to disappear, thought Morse. And plenty of time, too, for someone to commit murder…

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn is the third novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.
Morse had never ceased to wonder why, with the staggering advances in medical science, all pronouncements concerning times of death seemed so disconcertingly vague.
The newly appointed member of the Oxford Examinations Syndicate was deaf, provincial and gifted. Now he is dead…
And his murder, in his north Oxford home, proves to be the start of a formidably labyrinthine case for Chief Inspector Morse, as he tries to track down the killer through the insular and bitchy world of the Oxford Colleges…