Review: The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter

The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the first Colin Dexter book I took up, indeed only after we had obtained a paperback of it. This is per se the sixth book in the Inspector Morse series, but I am glad I started off with this first. Because, this is a mighty likeable book. Also, the first episode of the Inspector Morse TV series is based on the Dead of Jericho, so another plus point.

In the book, Morse cunningly, albeit with hick-ups here and there, solves the Murder of Miss Anne Scott, previous employee at Richards Publishing shifted now to giving private Greek lessons owning to her previous exposer to it, and that of her nosy sixty-something neighbour Mr. George Jackson, who pries over others affairs and wanted to make a buck or two out of it. Events take place mostly in the Oxford sub-urb of Jericho, which is a real place on the map.

I liked the complexity of the plot and the level of familiarity the author shows about the vocabulary of the English language. The sure to be relied upon Morse's assistant, Sergeant Lewis, doesn't has much say in this one though, as compared to some other books in the series, for instance, the immediate next one. Anyway, on the whole, I found the book to be a lovely, engaging and often mischievously lascivious mystery, with an intriguing detective and an equally interesting victim. Go for it! By the way, the trick of the tale lies with the Richard Brothers, Charles and Conard. I hope you can figure it out before the author normally want you to. 😉