‘A giant among fictional detectives’ – The Times

The Dead of Jericho is the fifth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set Inspector Morse series.

Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger Award.

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. As 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 her suicide investigation.

Following another local death, Morse is not convinced of Anna’s suspected suicide and begins the search for answers . . .

The Dead of Jericho is followed by the sixth book in the detective series, The Riddle of the Third Mile.

Prizes

Winner of CWA Silver Dagger 1981 (UK)

Traditional crime writing at its best; the kind of book without which no armchair is complete * Sunday Times *
No one constructs a whodunit with more fiendish skill than Colin Dexter -- The Guardian
Dexter has created a giant among fictional detectives -- The Times
A character who will undoubtedly retain his place as one of the most popular and enduring of fictional detectives -- P. D. James * Sunday Telegraph *
The writing is highly intelligent, the atmosphere melancholy, the effect haunting * Daily Telegraph *
The triumph is the character of Morse * Times Literary Supplement *
Colin Dexter’s superior crime-craft is enough to make lesser practitioners sick with envy * Oxford Times *
[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot * New York Times Book Review *

Colin Dexter graduated from Cambridge University in 1953 and moved to Oxford in 1966, where he lived until his death in 2017. His first novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, was published in 1975. There are now thirteen novels in the series, of which The Remorseful Day is, sadly, the last. He won many awards for his novels, including the CWA Silver Dagger twice, and the CWA Gold Dagger for The Wench is Dead and The Way Through the Woods. In 1997 he was presented with the CWA Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature, and in 2000 was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The Inspector Morse novels have been adapted for the small screen with huge success by Carlton/Central Television, starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately. Spin-offs from Dexter’s much-loved novels also include the popular series, Lewis, featuring Morse’s former sergeant, Robbie Lewis, and Endeavour, a prequel starring the young Endeavour Morse.