The Remorseful Day - Hardcover

Dexter, Colin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609606220 ISBN 13: 9780609606223

Publisher: Crown Pub, 2000

Synopsis

An unsolved murder case yields new clues that could implicate Inspector Morse even as he seeks to solve the case.

About this title

Review:

As o'er now thou lean'st thy breast, With launder'd bodice crisply pressed, Lief I'd prolong my grievous ill-Wert thou my guardian angel still (Edmund Raikes, 1537-65, The Nurse).

So begins the final case of Chief Inspector Morse's career. Yvonne Harrison, a married, middle-aged nurse with a penchant for S&M, is found in her bedroom naked, handcuffed, gagged and bludgeoned to death. Despite the blitzkrieg of media coverage the killing creates in the quiet village in Oxfordshire (including the enlistment of two psychics and a hypnotist), after one year, the Thames Valley CID are still stumped. That is, until two disturbing phone calls reveal new evidence and force the feisty Inspector out of furlough. Although Morse's partner, Sergeant Lewis, is accustomed to the old sleuth's numerous idiosyncrasies, the Inspector's refusal to lead the re-investigation comes as a surprise. What's more, the Sergeant learns that not only is Morse secretly conducting his own investigation, but that Harrison and he share a "friendly" past. Is the Inspector hiding evidence? Is his behaviour of late connected with a recently diagnosed ailment?

It is fitting that the story in which the long-suffering Sergeant Lewis shows the most independence of mind be read by his TV incarnation, Kevin Whatley. Fans of the TV programmes will immediately feel at ease with Whatley's gentle and unintrusive Geordie tones. Although he is most recognisable as Lewis, Whatley makes a convincing Morse and his voice also lifts easily to find the female characters. The Remorseful Day is an engrossing final chapter very well told. Believable and perplexing to the last, this is a fitting farewell to an outstanding series and a sharp salute to a beloved crime-fighting curmudgeon. --Running time 3 hours

--Rebekah Warren

Review:

"Fascinating . . . Memorable . . . [A] sweetly rueful conclusion to a revered series."
--The Washington Post Book World

"IMPECCABLY PLOTTED . . . A series that raised the bar for genre writing. Not since Nero Wolfe has a detective of Morse's ratiocinative skills, refined tastes, and tetchy temperament held court in such a magisterial fashion."
--The New York Times Book Review

"THE PLOT IS FLAMBOYANTLY CLEVER: even the most minor characters are bizarre and intriguing. Long after his swan song, Morse will be missed."
--Los Angeles Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown Pub
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0609606220
• ISBN 13: 9780609606223
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 363