The Last Bus to Woodstock CD - Audio

Rating:
Summary: Great start to a great series
Review: I confess to an unfair advantage .... I was living near Oxford when Colin Dexter first introduced his character, Morse. Dexter was not well known at the time but 'Last Bus ...' was a big success locally. I remember walking or driving the same streets that came to life in his book and I was immediately captivated by the way he brought out the atmosphere of the city and the guilty 'looking over the shoulder' mannerism of the characters. Yes, this was the first of the Morse books and a superb launchpad for those to follow. The way he introduced the setting, the characters to his new readershhip ... Of course, the rest is history. Curiously, I still think this is the best of his books.

Terence Hardiman must have been a perfect choice as story reader - he appeared as one of the characters in the TV production - and would have made a good 'Morse'. Gems of literary devices are many, but I particularly liked the bit about the batsman checking the scorebook. A bit like when another character in a different TV series, coincidentally also played by Hardiman, opens an envelope to read the one word denouement, 'Voltaire.' Have I given it away? I think not, but if you can deduce the guilty party from this, you could do Morse's job better than he can. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A good start to the series
Review: I have been reading a lot of mysteries lately and Last Bus to Woodstock is by far the best novel I've read this year. I've only seen a few of the Inspector Morse television episodes so I decided to start with this, the first novel. Written in 1975, I kept in mind that the Morse I would read about in this novel may be somewhat different from the later television series. He is. And that's what makes it interesting!

While in the myriad detective novels out there (Poirot excluded) the detective usually slugs a couple baddies with fists and bullets. Dexter, however, presents the thinking man's detective, a realistic detective. The mystery is not resolved in a few days; it takes nearly a month. Each chapter opens with the day and time, and like in real life, there are days when no work is done and days when Morse must attend to other duties. There are several suspects and the author leaves you guessing till the end.

Rating:
Summary: Masterfully Done!
Review: I have faithfully watched the Inspector Morse series on television and have really enjoyed each episode, and I never felt the urge to read the series that the TV show was based on because the TV series is very well done indeed. Well, I'm glad that I decided to read the series finally. Yes, the TV series is quite consistent with the story which in itself is unusual, but the books (this one anyway) are masterpieces! Dexter knows how to build a plot and how to have the reader chasing countless red herrings. And Morse is a wonderful character! John Thaw plays the part very well, but the Morse in the books is even more irascible and testy than Thaw's portrayal. He is brilliant, but somehow vulnerable. A true enigma of a man. I can hardly wait to read the other books in this series now. I'm sure it will put all the shows that I've seen in a new light as Last Bus to Woodstock did.

Rating:
Summary: "And now, for your entertainment and delight, Inspector ..."
Review: I have known of Inspector Morse (the hero(?)) of this book, for years through TV, so I had a set ideas of what he, and his cases, were like before I read this book. I should not have been so narrow minded. The plot appears quite simple, and at the start, boring. A young, somewhat "tarty" girl gets nastily murdered outside an Oxford pub. She was seen before the murder with a female companion hitch hiking. The obvious suspect (the owner of the car which picks the girls up) comes forward...and all hell breaks loose. The story is quite difficult to follow and slow, but the character of Morse, the Inspector in charge, and his relationship with his new "sidekick" Sergent Lewis, make the book good, and quite compelling. The "shock" ending is not so great a shock, but more a sad one. What makes the story better than average is Dexter's description of Morse's character and the way his mind works, his little quirks and habits. For a first book in a series it is slow, but still compelling enough to make me want to read more. I would not recommend this book if you are one for skipping ahead, or you get bored easily. The slow build up is something that adds to the whole book, if not the basic plot.