Morse’s Greatest Mystery and Other Stories

By: Colin Dexter

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Colin Dexter’s Chief Inspector Morse - the cranky, heavy-drinking, and exasperatingly brilliant sleuth of the Thames Valley Police - has become one of the most beloved detectives in fiction. Now, with this collection of 11 short stories, we can savor choice examples of his dry wit, devious cunning, and psychological insight at its best.

Colin Dexter tantalizes us with six Inspector Morse adventures, ranging from bite-size morsels of intrigue to longer stories for listeners to sink their teeth into. Then, for added variety, Dexter shows his range with five mysteries featuring new characters and some familiar ones: one story features that other great English detective, Sherlock Holmes, in a tale that rivals those of Conan Doyle himself. “Morse’s Greatest Mystery” and the other stories in this collection are a banquet for the mystery lover - rich, varied, and satisfying.

Stories included are:

• "As Good as Gold"
• "Morse’s Greatest Mystery"
• "Evans Tries an O-Level"
• "Dead as a Dodo"
• "At the Lulu-Bar Motel"
• "Neighbourhood Watch"
• "A Case of Mis-identity"
• "The Inside Story"
• "Monty’s Revolver"
• "The Carpet-Bagger"
• "Last Call"

©1993 Colin Dexter (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Delightful.” ( Wall Street Journal)

“Brilliant…Inspector Morse is back, and more than welcome.” ( Houston Chronicle)

“Fear not. In Dexter’s dexterous hands, the short-form Morse is every bit as wily and irascible as he is in the popular Morse novels and the long-running PBS Mystery! series.” ( Raleigh News & Observer)

I can’t get past the narrators voice.

I’m having trouble enjoying this book due to the narrators unusual pauses, odd inflections, and severe nasal intonation. I have no doubt this narrator is an excellent one, but it is simply a voice I cannot abide.

Mystery fans will love it

This collection of stories is always interesting, though I liked some more than others. The narrator does a great job changing his voice for the characters. Funnier that the TV show the BBC presented.

Love Morse

I’ve recently started listening to the Morse series and I’ve fallen in love with the fallible character. Each case is interesting and the outcomes exciting.

Great !

I really like these s
tories ! They keep you in suspend ! I like to try to figure out who the villaidn or killer is ? I think I should have been a detective !

Really enjoyed the book

Enjoyed the book and story. I hVd watched the series in television and was wanting to read the stories

that narrator

I've read the stories before but thought I'd listen to the audio version. It might just be me, but I couldn't get through it with that narrator

Inspector Morse (and other) stories

The late Frederick Davidson is the perfect narrator for Colin Dexter’s Morse works. I enjoyed most of them although Dexter is sometimes so subtle that I was unclear about the outcome.

If You’ll Just Drop Me Off at the Nearest Pub…

You could call that Inspector Morse’s tagline. It seems as if his devoted, long-suffering sergeant is always dropping his boss off at the local, then going on to interview suspects and collect clues—when he’s not being finagled into buying the rounds himself. Tight with money, tighter in his deductions, something of a legend in his own bailiwick, Morse may not know all, but he (usually) knows more than those around him. And, though culturally literate, he carries his learning lightly—even his love of Wagner.

The stories are just as entertaining as the main character most of them host, ranging widely from petty larceny to ticklish questions of investigative ethics. Though no fan of sequels to the classics, I thoroughly enjoyed the Holmes/Watson remake. Like a turducken, another well-wrought story contains a chilling, well-wrought shorter story within. The two prison break tales are priceless. In short, there’s nary a damp squib in this lot of fictional fireworks. And the suave, insinuating, intelligent Frederick Davidson was the perfect choice to perform these nuanced, intelligent stories.

Morsels’ painful mystery

The story(s) were very difficult to follow because of the horrible tone and delivery of the narrator. I nearly gave up on it several times until one evening I needed something to listen to while accomplishing some banal tasks. I would not recommend anything else read by this man.

Not all Morse

I enjoyed the Morse stories. However a few had little or no Morse activity. They were interesting and very different.