Dexter, Colin

(British, 1930– )

Colin Dexter taught classics before turning to writing. He is also a former crossword champion. His Inspector Morse novels have been adapted for television to great acclaim. Set in Oxford they involve Morse and his sergeant, Lewis, in homicide investigations. The clever, careful plots are laden with puzzles and clues which the reader can try to solve. A great appeal of the books is in the relationship between the two central characters; Morse is a bad-tempered, well-educated beer-drinker who enjoys the challenge of the puzzle and loves classical music while Lewis is a naïve but committed copper, much more in tune with contemporary culture. In The Way Through the Woods (1992) a Swedish tourist is missing and a poem with clues to her whereabouts is sent to the police and published in The Times. Soon after a body is found in Wytham Woods near Oxford and Morse gets to work.

Reginald Hill, Frances Fyfield, John Harvey. See CRIME  CS