The first Inspector Morse

I loved the Inspector Morse mystery shows, and was very sad when the actor who played him (John Thaw) passed away. I thought he was such an interesting, layered character. At least the way that Thaw played him. The first spin off, Inspector Lewis, is great. Lewis was always a great character on the show as well. And the new one, Endeavour? I freaking love that show and can’t wait until the next season. Young Morse may be even more intriguing than older Morse, although that may have something to do with the attractiveness of the actor playing the part.

So it’s funny that I had never read any of the books, especially considering what a mystery buff I am. I got an omnibus edition of the first three Morse novels, and Last Bus to Woodstock is the first of them. It’s a good mystery, but I think I prefer the TV version a bit better. Mainly because the books are very much of their time – incredibly sexist, mainly. One can take the stuff with a grain of salt, but that doesn’t make it any less galling.

Regardless, in this one, two girls decide to hitch a rid instead of waiting for the bus. Only one of the girls makes it home alive. Her body is found in the parking lot behind a bar in Woodstock (the one in England, not upstate NY). There are plenty of suspects, and Morse pretty much suspects everyone at some point. And he’s pretty much wrong every time. I think the TV Morse was smarter than the book Morse. Or at least he seemed that way.

There are complications, false accusations, multiple arrests, affairs, and plenty of other mess. Morse eventually gets to the bottom of it, with quite a bit of luck.

The story is still pretty decent, if you can overlook the deep misogyny. And it’s pretty deep. But I kept going, since there were two more books in my book.