Way Through the Woods

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My first Inspector Morse... not my Last! - Rated
I'm a huge mystery fan (having over fifty Christie's in my collection) so I thought I'd try out something new. I slightly more modern detective novel. True enough, the worlds of Inspector Morse and Hercule Poirot are worlds apart. But, despite this, I found 'The Way through the Woods' absolutely excellent!
The characterisation is rich and in depth. Very entertaining and illuminating. This makes the story more realistic and, most importantly, the characters more real and understadable.
The actual concept is quite simple (or is it?!) and the overall revelation is just as impressive as anything Christie could pull out of her hat.
The story is, while not incredibly fast paced, is full of good characterisation and suspense... you just can't wait for a corpse. Your never dispointed!
Overall, this is a great story, with great charcters... and some brilliant vocabulary in there too. Colin Dexter - what a talented writer. This will not be my last Morse novel. They're so gripping that, as I write this review, I've already read three in my half-term school holidays.
(I recommend you buy the Inspector Morse Omnibuses; they're great value for money!)


Review by Calculus (4th dimension, of 26th potential dimensions).

Better than most - Rated
The Morse books and the stories themselves are well enough known through their publication and television dramatisation. Hearing the stories read by a single person is an often odd take on what you already know. This one is slightly better than the others as it is a little more generally exciting and interesting, so reacts well to the vocal non visual treatment. This was also an excellent vehicle for Whatley as the actor on television so he does well with this one.

A True Page Turner - Rated
As a first time Morse reader, who has since read all of the novels, I found this book one of the most satisfying I have ever read. As a bookworm, I relish it when I have found a genuine, compulsive, page-turner of a book (note the Oxford comma). I had seen many of the TV films, so knew the characters, and, though there are only 13 novels (14 if you count the short-story collection, I don't) to 33 films, they are the kind you can read over and over again.

An interesting point in this book was that Colin Dexter takes into account what happens in between novels. To clarify, The Way Through The Woods was published in 1993, two years after The Jewel That Was Ours, in which time two series of Inspector Morse had been shown on ITV. Having recently seen both 'Promised Land' and 'The Death of the Self', neither of which were novels, I noticed something that, had it been absent, would grind at the eyes and ears of die hard fans. Dexter mentions that, hithero to the events in 'The Way Through The Woods', Lewis's only travel abroad had been (in addition to a single afternoon in a Calais supermarket) three weeks in Australia and two weeks in Italy. I consider this a compliment from Mr Dexter to those who both read his novels and watch the television films, which they inspired, as he knows that we would notice, was this left out.

Other than this, I would consider this the best Morse book of them all.

Another Quality Morse Novel - Rated
This novel begins oddly with Morse on holiday, but it's not long before he's called back to Oxford where new evidence has emerged on a year old case.

This Morse novel is probably one of the best in the series. It has a multilayered plot that leaves the reader pondering many aspects of it during the reading and trying to work out who did what and why. The writing has the quality that is expected from Colin Dexter and the characterisation is excellent.

The resolution at the heart of the case was a little predictable, but it was a suprise when it was revealed.

If you've only seen the television Morse, then read the real thing. The television films are very good, but I find the books Morse more satisfying.