Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: First I discovered P.D. James, then there was Ruth Rendell...how had I missed Colin Dexter? The characterizations are fantastic (John Thaw of the TV version does not do Inspector Morse credit) and the plot is complex and twisting. At the same time the book is very funny in the best tradition of British humor. A must read for any mystery aficionado!
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: Disappointing
Review: I had high expectations to this book; with so well reviews from people I really looked forward to it. Now, I'm not saying it's bad, no, but not all that it's cracked up to be! It's nothing to do with Morse's diversions from the TV-series, it's just the plot, the characters; it's all rather mediocre. Maybe my expectations were too high...? No, if you want to read Dexter, read Service of all the dead!
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.
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed it but...
Review: I love the Inspector Morse mysteries on TV and have been listening to the book tapes whenever I can find them. This seems to have been an early Morse story, since it seems that Lewis and Morse had not worked together before. But it was an enjoyable read (or rather listen). My only problem was with the real murderer. I don't want to give the secret away, but I felt that Dexter had not sufficiently developed the character enough for us to understand why this person could have been in a position to commit the crime. In fact, Dexter misleads us (perhaps a mystery writer should do that) by giving us selective glimpses of the murderer's thoughts which give us no clue as to motives or envolvement. Still, I did enjoy it. The reader, Terrence Hardiman did a great job.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it but...
Review: I love the Inspector Morse mysteries on TV and have been listening to the book tapes whenever I can find them. This seems to have been an early Morse story, since it seems that Lewis and Morse had not worked together before. But it was an enjoyable read (or rather listen). My only problem was with the real murderer. I don't want to give the secret away, but I felt that Dexter had not sufficiently developed the character enough for us to understand why this person could have been in a position to commit the crime. In fact, Dexter misleads us (perhaps a mystery writer should do that) by giving us selective glimpses of the murderer's thoughts which give us no clue as to motives or envolvement. Still, I did enjoy it. The reader, Terrence Hardiman did a great job.
Rating: 
Summary: Read Another Book In The Series
Review: I started reading the Inspector Morse novels with Dexter's later works. I don't normally do that, and so decided to go back and start at the beginning. I wholly regret doing so as it's nearly ruined the series for me. Although I am not a militant feminist by any means, I felt that the repeated "jokes" about sexual assault were offensive and in terribly poor taste. The characters are cardboard cut-outs, the mystery is touch-and-go, and, IMHO, the ending doesn't work well at all. My advice is to skip this book and move on to others in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Morse and Dexter a Winning Combination
Review: Inspector Morse is known to millions through the excellent BBC/PBS television series. While I am a huge fan of the TV episodes, due in no small part to the work of John Thaw as he portays our hero, I find the level of detail offered by the books even more captivating.
This book tells the story of the first case that Morse and his sidekick Sergent Lewis are assigned to. A young woman last seen hitchhiking with a friend is found battered to death in a pub yard later the same night. Morse and Lewis are human and make many mistakes as they fight through lies and deceit to finally uncover the truth. The twist at the end is a real shock, cleverly worked leaving a feeling of sadness with the reader.
But the quality of the Morse series by Colin Dexter is not the interesting stories or clever twists that are a requirement of a good mystery. The real attraction is the character of Morse, a hugely complex man, alcoholic, lovable, egotistic, vunerable, cultured, bad tempered, lonely, this is no infallible super hero. Morse also uses his intelligence not his athletic brawn to sift through the clues, something not seen often in murder mystery these days (probably because if the detective has to think so does the author).
There are only a few quality mystery writers out there still writing, Mr Dexter is one of the best exponents of his craft and well worth your attention.
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