![]() Cover of the first edition | |
Author | Colin Dexter |
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Series | Inspector Morse series, #5 |
Genre | crime novel |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Publication date | 4 June 1981 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 224 |
ISBN | 0333317289 |
OCLC | 8900702 |
Preceded by | Service of All the Dead |
Followed by | The Riddle of the Third Mile |
The Dead of Jericho, published in 1981, is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter. It is the fifth novel in the Inspector Morse series. In 1987 it was adapted as the first episode of the highly successful television series inspired by the novels, also called Inspector Morse .
Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets Anne Scott at a party hosted by Mrs Murdoch in North Oxford. Six months later Anne Scott is found hanging in her kitchen at 9 Canal Reach, Jericho, Oxford. The police launch a suicide inquiry. Initially Chief Inspector Bell, from the closer Oxford Central station on St. Aldate's Street, is assigned to the case; but a fortnight later Morse takes over the investigation and questions the assumption of suicide initially. Subsequently both of Mrs Murdoch's sons, Edward "Ted" Murdoch and Michael Murdoch, as well as Anne Scott's former employers, brothers Charles Richards and Conrad Richards, and Charles's wife, Celia, come to the attention of Morse, as do Ms Scott's neighbours, including the nosy handyman George Jackson. Dexter gives a big clue to what might have been going on in Anne Scott's mind with one chapter headed with this epigram from Sophocles's Oedipus Rex : "We saw a knotted pendulum, a noose: and a strangled woman swinging there".
"The Dead of Jericho" is the first instalment of the Inspector Morse TV series starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately (as Detective Sergeant Lewis). Colin Dexter also appears briefly in a non-speaking, unnamed role as a man walking along a cloister in the opposite direction to Morse (as they pass Morse gives Dexter a suspicious backwards glance). Filmed in the summer of 1986, it aired 6 January 1987. Anthony Minghella wrote the adaptation and the episode was directed by Alastair Reid.
Several changes were made from the book. Anne's last name of Scott was changed to Staveley (the part was played by Gemma Jones). The first names of the three Richards were changed to Anthony "Tony" (James Laurenson), Alan (Richard Durden), and Adele (Annie Lambert), making the Cs into As. Edward "Ted" Murdoch was changed to Ned Murdoch (Spencer Leigh). Former Doctor Who star Patrick Troughton, in one of his final roles, played George Jackson.
Sophocles's Oedipus Rex also figures in episode 3.1 of the spin-off TV series Lewis .
Norman Colin Dexter was an English crime writer known for his Inspector Morse series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, Inspector Morse, from 1987 to 2000. His characters have spawned a sequel series, Lewis from 2006 to 2015, and a prequel series, Endeavour from 2012 to 2023.
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series Inspector Morse (1987–2000), in which John Thaw played the character, as well as the (2012–2023) prequel series Endeavour, portrayed by Shaun Evans. The older Morse is a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer with the Thames Valley Police in Oxford in England and, in the prequel, Morse is a young detective constable rising through the ranks with the Oxford City Police and in later series the Thames Valley Police.
James Laurenson is a New Zealand stage and screen actor.
Lewis is a British television detective drama produced for ITV, first airing in 2006 (pilot) then 2007. It is a spin-off from Inspector Morse and, like that series, it is set in Oxford. Kevin Whately reprises his character Robert "Robbie" Lewis, who was Morse's sergeant in the original series. Lewis has now been promoted to detective inspector and is assisted by DS James Hathaway, portrayed by Laurence Fox, who was promoted to inspector before the eighth series. The series also stars Clare Holman as forensic pathologist Dr. Laura Hobson, likewise reprising her role from Inspector Morse; and, from the eighth season, Angela Griffin as DS Lizzie Maddox.
Detective Sergeant/Detective Inspector Robert "Robbie" Lewis is a fictional character in the Inspector Morse crime novels by Colin Dexter. The "sidekick" to Morse, Lewis is a detective sergeant in the Thames Valley Police, and appears in all 13 Morse novels. In the television adaptation, Inspector Morse, he is played by Kevin Whately. Following the conclusion of the series, Whately reprised the role as the lead character in Lewis, in which the character has been promoted to the rank of inspector.
Inspector Morse is a British detective drama television series based on a series of novels by Colin Dexter. It starred John Thaw as Detective Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes produced between 1987 and 2000. Dexter made uncredited cameo appearances in all but three of the episodes.
On The Move is a British television series made by the BBC and first broadcast in 1975 and 1976, on Sunday teatimes, in 50 ten-minute episodes. On the surface a lightweight soap opera, it was in fact an educational programme aimed at adults with literacy problems, and linked to a national campaign at the time. Up to 17 million people watched the series, and it was credited with removing some of the stigma attached to illiteracy. It was produced by David Hargreaves and directed by Barbara Derkow.
Last Bus to Woodstock is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the first of 13 novels in his Inspector Morse series.
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The Jewel That Was Ours is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the ninth novel in Inspector Morse series. This novel was written by Dexter after he wrote a screenplay for an episode titled The Wolvercote Tongue in series 2 of the television programme Inspector Morse.
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The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the third novel in Inspector Morse series.
Service of All the Dead is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the fourth novel in his Inspector Morse series.
The Daughters of Cain is a crime novel by Colin Dexter. It is the eleventh novel in the Inspector Morse series.
The Way Through the Woods is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the tenth novel in the Inspector Morse series. It received the Gold Dagger Award in 1992.
Canal Street is a residential street in Jericho, an inner suburb of Oxford, England, northwest of the city centre.