Rating: 
Summary: The last of Inspector Morse
Review: A 318 page story separated into 80 chapters, a prolegomenon, and an epilogue, this is the last of the Inspector Morse novels. Morse is protrayed as an alcoholic diabetic who does not take care of his health. He gets a substantial portion of his calories from Glenfiddich and various brands of ale. He has been on medical leave, but is ordered, along with Sgt. Lewis, to take responsibility for investigating a case. A year before, a married woman with loose morals was found murdered in her bedroom. The case was never solved, but is now reopened when Chief Inspector Strange reports mysterious telephone calls.The case takes some new twists and turns when people involved start turning up dead. Investigations reveal that the woman was not the only one sleeping around. Some evidence had conveniently disappeared during the initial investigation. The case is well known to Inspector Morse fans as it was a TV production. However, the written story has some differences from what was on TV, which is usually the case. I would rate the novel PG-13 based on content.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Tribute to Quirky Morse
Review: As an earlier reviewer said, this isn't the best book in the series, but every little quirk of Morse comes to the forefront, and that is a treat for long-time fans. It's sad to see him go, but I can't wait to see what will come next from Colin Dexter.
Rating: 
Summary: Skillful twists lead to demise
Review: Colin Dexter's ability to weave a good tale is masterful indeed. His work truly works one's mind. There is no easy way through a Morse tale, even this last one. Dexter's use of appropos tidbits to introduce each short chapter have the links one finds in Annie Proulx. These Dexter novels are no simple whodunnits. I, too, love the PBS Mystery series featuring Morse and plan on taping and watching The Remorseful Day and its prequel The Final Morse this Thursday night. I am glad that I met the challenges of reading the novel first. One feels that Morse's death is a self-fulling prophecy. His alcoholism and diabetes do not produce a new Morse, just a dying one. This demise is both inevitable and in character. All the strings are found and tied up with this final chapter of his life. I find that I am not only entertained by Dexter's writing. I grow mentally as well. I really must get to Oxford before I die. Now that Morse is gone, I have one more reason.
Rating:
Summary: It haunted me for days!
Review: I am so disappointed to see the Inspector Morse series end, but I have to say Colin Dexter is a champ in the way he achieved it! A year ago, a woman was murdered and left in an unpleasant state in her home. The Chief Superintendent has a new lead in the case. He has assigned Morse and Lewis to it. Morse, who is on vacation, won't bite. He refuses to work the case for the CID, but it doesn't stop him from being one step ahead, as usual, of Lewis. Of course Lewis, as usual, humbly works him self into the ground following leads and being Morse's second pair of eyes and hands. During this investigation, something is different about Lewis and something is worrying Morse. Mr. Dexter gives us plenty of intriguing characters that are as thought provoking as he crossword puzzles. The list of suspects is lengthy and perplexing, and the twists and turns are plentiful, but I have to say the greatest one will broadside the readers and leave them speechless at the close of the book. Mr. Dexter's skill at making his characters so life like, as if they were acting out in ones mind, is amazing. I took my time reading the mystery and found myself back tracking so I wouldn't miss a thing! Once I finished, I was haunted for days with the mystery and the outcome of the series. Mr. Dexter didn't just end a popular series in an astonishing way, he also intermingled a complex whodunit with an emotional twist that the characters and readers share. I have never used this word with any book I have reviewed, but I will with The Remorseful Day, it's stupendous.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly, The Last Of Morse
Review: I have been a huge fan of the television version of the "Inspector Morse Mysteries" and because I have found them to be so well done, I decided that diving into the original written word might be very interesting. This was a correct assumption on my part. What a wonderful series and an amazing character. I'm very saddened to know that this book, "The Remorseful Day" is the last in a long and well done series. The most brilliant thing about Morse is that in the end he's a normal man with flaws. You can certainly find fault with many things he does, but it's with a certain charm and mystic that makes it all very endearing. I find him to be dashing, charming, wise and very gruff. That may be one of the things I enjoy most about him. He's no pushover and certainly not a man to be taken lightly. I love everything about him and certainly rank him right up there with Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and all the other famous English Detectives that have wowed and amazed up all. Comic relief is always added by Seg. Lewis. (Morse's sidekick) He seems to be a bumbling idiot but, so sweet and charming you just love him. I'm very sad to see Morse go and can only take comfort in the fact that I can keep these mysteries with me for ages and ages. A wonderful conclusion to a spectacular journey.
Rating:
Summary: I cried
Review: I remember calling the friend who had introduced me to Inspector Morse - a couple of books ago - and crying "He's going to kill him off..."
Knowing this didn't make it any easier. I can't remember the last time I sobbed so completely. A tribute to the gifts of Colin Dexter and John Thaw, both of whom made Morse so much more than a name in a book.
On one hand I wanted the death so be so much heroic, on the other hand that would have been so artificial for a man who basically killed himself.
As Lewis says "Inspector Morse is dead!" But Lewis isn't, and I hope Colin Dexter can't help but pick up the thread with him...
Rating:
Summary: An underserving end to a more deserving character
Review: In his final work of the Inspector Morse series, Colin Dexter appears to have vicariously dealt with his impending own demise by cheating his readers. The inspector we have come to know an love in both books and television was far more deserving of a better final chapter than the one spawned by his own creator. Mr. Dexter chose, however, to turn the intelligent, practical Morse into a seemingly feeble sole unable to deal intelligently with his diabetes. Inspector Morse was far more deserving of a more appropriate "retirement". For die hard Morse fans, my advice would be to skip this last installment and keep Inspector Morse alive and well listening to his music, completing his crosswords in record time and sipping the odd glass of Glenfiddich .
Rating:
Summary: And so a great mind leaves us for that long good night...
Review: It never ceases to amaze me concerning certain circumstances. Shortly after PBS discontinued the series on Colin Dexter's books on Inspector Morse, John Thaw who played the part died. A similar track of events happened after PBS stopped making Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett, he also died. So forever will my mind see these two great actors in their final appearances as the intensely brilliant, very British, very demanding crime-solvers that they were in spite of the other parts they played throughout their lives. And so when I read this final book of Dexter's concerning Inspector Morse's final days and his last case, I see a curmudgeon with a shock of white hair, an obvious limp, and a tendency to use big words wandering throughout this book. I also see a perplexed Kevin Whatley as Morse's very long-suffering sidekick Seargeant Lewis. And at the end when Morse is dead, and Lewis is struggling so hard to come to terms with information left behind that seems to implicate Morse as a less then perfect officer of the law, only to find out that Morse had been protecting their soon-to-retire senior officer and his dying wife...when Lewis breaks down and cries for his loss finally, my heart breaks with him. Dexter was right to stop his series. His writing remained magnificently British to the end, but all series get stail and sometimes the authors just need the opportunity to move on to something else. And like with Jeremy Brett's death, even the production of a prequel could not be done, because the man who ultimately 'is' the part of Morse is no longer with us. Since this is the last in the series, I gave it a five. Some of the earlier stories are better, and this one was a bit confusing in some spots. There seem to be suspects all over the place, and yet, some don't make sense. But the writing is so much better than most American mystery writers, and as I said, the end nearly brought me to tears. Morse himself, while treating his symptoms which he knows indicate a heart attack in happening with acid reflux medicine, he continues to be himself and solve the one case from which he tried to distance himself, because of personal involvement with the victim. Morse never finds the happiness of human companionship in his life. But his life is full never-the-less with his job, with his music and reading, and with his relationship with Lewis (who is surprised at the end with being the recipient of an inheritance from this man he thought did not respect him. but who loved him nevertheless). An appropriate ending to a wonderful series. Karen Sadler
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Probably the best Morse novel of them all. I'm just sad it's the last. The plot is well thought out, and not obvious all the way until the end, leaving questions hanging in the air you have to find the answers to. Every twist and turn shows another side of Morse, perhaps taking you back in the series (if you've read the others), or giving you a place to relate to when you decide, after reading this one, that you should immediately go out and discover the rest of Morse's world.
Rating:
Summary: All good things have to end
Review: The Inspector Morse book as well as TV series (played by John Thaw) was and still remains one of my favorits British mystery series. John Thaw was the perfect Inspector Morse and thinking back at reading this book, makes me so sad that both Inspector Morse and John Thaw have passed on.
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