Death is Now my Neighbour is the 12th novel in Colin Dexter's "Inspector Morse" series; another enjoyable and very well-written read, in the series focusing on the crimes solved by Chief Inspector Morse, and Detective Sergeant Lewis. It is not vital to read the books in order - each one can stand on its own - but a regular reader will tend to become involved with Morse's own personal story. Both the slow reveal of facts about him, plus many emotional nuances, may be lost if this penultimate novel in the series is the first to be read.Yet these are not long sagas in the current trend, with the personal lives of the "heroes and villains" almost overshadowing the plot. The chapters are extraordinarily short, and headed by cleverly appropriate, yet diverse quotations, as is Colin Dexter's wont. He once joked in a interview that he liked to keep his chapters short, so that the reader feels they are making good progress. He liked to include conversation too, because of all the consequent space on the page! This way of writing he partly attributed to being a slow reader himself, and partly because his brother told him he particularly liked to read the Morse novels, because there was just enough in a chapter to read before he fell asleep at night! Joking aside, Colin Dexter's books could be termed as cerebral whodunits. The twists and turns of the plot are always paramount, convoluted and complex. As each novel in the series was published, Dexter cleverly kept his readers guessing about Morse. In some ways eliciting any personal information about the main character was like getting blood from a stone, and readers would pounce on the merest snippet. It is difficult in retrospect to realise just what a big deal it was that the reading audience still did not know his first (or Christian) name, especially in the light of the new series of prequels, by other writers, whose one-word series title gives the game away!For the publication of Death is now my Neighbour, however, Dexter made the gift of a publicity hook for his publishers, with the fact he was going to reveal Morse's Christian name for the first time. This caused a media frenzy, even being announced on ITV's "News at Ten"! The book shot to the top of the bestseller list, selling over 120,000 in the first four weeks in the UK alone. Reading it at this distance, the final two words, "Endeavour Morse", still manage to bring a lump to the throat. This is perhaps because of the history and presence of the main character. All the additional TV episodes by other writers, have contributed to consolidating the public's perception of the personality of Morse. He is now almost a cult figure. In the later books we can see that although TV writers have been scrupulously careful to write "in character", with no inconsistencies, some have inevitably emerged. But even Colin Dexter himself has been prey to this influence. Morse no longer curses and swears as much as he did in the early novels, his attitude towards women has undergone a slight update, and his physical type relates more now to John Thaw's than it does to the early descriptions. It's likely that Colin Dexter visualised John Thaw's portrayal when he wrote,"hair that had thinly drifted these last few years from ironish grey to purish-white" Death is Now my Neighbour is satisfyingly complex. Two main story threads are interwoven. An additional layer is provided; that of Morse's own personal story. His increasing health problems mean that there is an impending sense of doom hanging over this novel. In much of the novel, Morse typically proceeds by thinking and mulling things over, being too impatient to deal with actual "clues". And the reader knows that when Morse finally fits all the pieces of the jigsaw together, and knows who is lying and who is not, the case will be solved. He frequently goes off at a tangent, often to Lewis's exasperation and the reader's amusement. There is a very amusing episode, for instance, involving a tie-rack at Marks and Spencer's. Sometimes Lewis admires his boss's "inspired guesswork" - but in this novel he frequently states a wish to get back to "proper police work". Unusually, Morse piously agrees with him... before doing the exact opposite himself. "You make it up as you go along, sir,"Morse's face betrayed some irritation. "Of course I bloody do! That's what I'm here for"... and "it's all so - so airy -fairy, isn't it? And you said we were going to get some facts straight first.""Exactly."Lewis gave up the struggle."There is a crime near the beginning of this novel. A young physiotherapist living at 17 Bloxham Drive, Rachel James, has been shot and killed at almost point blank range, through the closed blind of her kitchen window. Morse and Lewis deduce that all that could have been seen would be her head and upper body silhouetted in the window, as she was in the process of getting breakfast before going to work. Her murderer must have been standing in her back yard. Unfortunately, none of the other residents in the road can recall seeing anything suspicious that morning. Even her immediate neighbour at number 15, Geoffrey Owens, says he saw and heard nothing. Since he is a newspaper reporter, this would have been a welcome scoop for him.Alongside this crime is interwoven a story about the application of two academics for the position of Master of Lonsdale College, to replace the 69 year-old Sir Clixby Bream. Owing to a loophole in the constitution, Sir Clixby, a most unpleasant individual, has been in position for far longer than was ever expected. The rivalry between Julian Storrs and Dr. Dennis Cornford for the position of Master, is very acrimonious. As the novel proceeds, secrets about both of them, and their wives, are unearthed. Would either of them resort to dirty tricks to keep these covered up and ensure their appointment? Would the odious Sir Clixby Bream do likewise, to keep his favoured position?And are these two separate stories, or will they be shown to be connected? Previous novels have usually shown the latter, but it is difficult at first to imagine how these "Town and Gown" characters can ever have had anything to do with one another. However the links become apparent, when it is revealed that (view spoiler)[one of the two candidates has been having an affair with the murdered Rachel James. In addition, it starts to look as if the intended victim was actually Rachel's next door neighbour the journalist, instead. Owens himself is also subsequently shot dead at close range, and it becomes evident that he had been blackmailing one of the academics. There is a satisfying explanation of how such a mistaken identity could come about, involving house numbers, and the similarity of the two characters in profile, as both of them wore a ponytail. (hide spoiler)]
Read by................... Terrence HardimanTotal Runtime.......... 8 hours 53 minsDescription: As he drove his chief down to Kidlington, Lewis returned the conversation to where it had begun. 'You haven't told me what you think about this fellow Owens - the dead woman's next-door neighbour.' 'Death is always the next-door neighbour,' said Morse sombrely. The murder of a young woman ...A cryptic 'seventeenth-century' love poem ...And a photograph of a mystery grey-haired man ...It's more than enough to set Chief Inspector E. Morse on the trail of a killer. And it's a trail that leads him to Lonsdale College, where the contest between Julian Storrs and Dr. Denis Cornford for the coveted position of Master is hotting up. But then, Morse faces a greater, far more personal crisis ...We open this penultimate story to the sound of breaking glass as an early morning bullet through a window claims the life of a woman.A convoluted story that rather stretched the realms of possibility, yet I enjoyed the gruff pedantic bantering as usual. This is the one where Morse discovers he has diabetes, and Lewis, finally, finds out Morse's first name. On to the last...4* Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse, #1)3* Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse, #2)3* The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse, #3)3* Service of All the Dead (Inspector Morse, #4)3* The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse, #5)4* The Riddle of the Third Mile (Inspector Morse, #6)3* The Secret of Annexe 3 (Inspector Morse #7)3* The Wench Is Dead (Inspector Morse, #8)3* The Jewel That Was Ours (Inspector Morse, #9)3* The Way Through The Woods (Inspector Morse, #10)4* The Daughters of Cain (Inspector Morse, #11)3* Death Is Now My Neighbor (Inspector Morse, #12)CR The Remorseful Day (Inspector Morse, #13) 3* Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories
What do You think about Death Is Now My Neighbor (1999)?
In this penultimate book in the Inspector Morse series, Dexter has clearly been influenced by the success of the TV show -- Lewis is now explicitly stated as being younger than Morse despite the fact that this contradicts statements in the earlier books in the series. Morse continues to have health issues in this book, but in some regards his character is reminiscent of that shown in the earlier books. This is most evident in his scattershot approach to solving the crime. I thought that the mystery part of the book was done well. However the mood the book left me with was melancholy -- not only is Morse sick, but the solution of this particular case left me feeling sorry for some of suspects as well (mostly (view spoiler)[Dennis Cornwall (hide spoiler)]
—Leslie
Mystery-writing above all other types seems to require an understanding of human nature and behaviour down to the most disgusting and devious of details. When murder occurs in the classic, elegant City of Oxford amongst the academics the City, the University of Oxford and its colleges, and the far wider world place on high but unmerited pedestals, the contrast is great visually (even in the mind's eye) and viscerally. Colin Dexter knows Oxford from its great traditions to its pubs and roundabouts. He also knows more about crafting mysteries than possibly any other author writing today, and he understands the balance needed in the character of his detectives. Like Conan Doyle and Christie, his detectives solve murders best because their own flaws have been their best teachers. Morse knows his own arrogance and erudition, but he also knows that he is a traitor in the eyes of many in Oxford because he turned to police detection instead of academia for a career and because that endeavour often leads him into the innermost, shady secrets of the City's shining lights. Lewis by contrast knows his tastes are limited to eggs and chips and to the bits and pieces of family life; his gift is cherishing these "failings" and realizing the insights simple pleasures and lifetyles give him into the far-from-simple.In "Death Is Now My Neighbor", Morse and Lewis investigate the shooting death of a young woman with a ponytail who happens to live next door to a man with a ponytail. The woman herself is as distant from the heights of Oxford style as Lewis himself; but, when Morse observes the ponytail coincidence and its link to broken fences and mistaken house numbers, he picks up the loose end of a daisychain of cause-and-effect leading to two senior Oxford dons who are rivals for the position of Master of Lonsdale College. The prestige of this appointment usually leads to a knighthood for the chosen don, and, although important to the two men, it is even more important to their two young and attractive wives who have climbed out of the mire of their pasts. For Morse and Lewis, the case involves understanding the character of the people wrapped up in it and not just the cold, hard facts (which are also murky and confused). Other persons and entities seeming to play parts in the mystery are a tabloid journalist, a trucking business about to expand to the Continent, and potentially shady trafficking that connects the haulage firm and the strip-club past of one of the wives. Is it conceited greed for position and prestige or garden-variety lust for money that is behind the murder of the ponytailed girl? Morse and Lewis follow a circuitous path with loads of offshoots and cul-de-sacs as they track down the murderer.The murder mystery is everything, of course, but the title "Death Is Now My Neighbor" also foretells Morse's own outcome. He is getting old and has related health problems as well as many more he has brought on by his own affection for drink and other indugences. He still lusts after the women who cross his path in every mystery, but his personal relationships are lacking or flawed, often thanks to his own emotional dysfunction. This book tells the story of the mystery that is Morse himself and ends with a surprise reveal made to Lewis from a distance and as essential to Lewis (destined to be the survivor) as to Dexter's readers who must tie up some loose ends themselves before they will reluctantly release Morse from his earthly bonds and Dexter from his responsibilities of authorship. The entire story is fulfilling and rewarding because Dexter makes it just that--an entire story bubbling over with detail and challenge. Can you tell I love these books?
—Jill Holmes
The end is in sight. Morse's health takes a real turn for the worse with the discovery that he has diabetes - this isn't a man to be told what to eat and drink - although he does seem to give up smoking. Once again he gets lucky with the ladies and once again he finds himself deep in a murder investigation.A woman shot in her own kitchen is the start of a story that involves blackmail and infidelity. Before the story is over 2 more bodies are added to the count. 2 men who want to become master o
—Charlotte (Buried in Books)
