Colin Dexter maintains that he had but one simple aim in mind when he started writing – “to tell a story that would entertain whatever readers might be coming my way,” despite being well aware, as an academic with a background in the classics and literature, of Dr. Johnson’s famous remark that “no man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”
Dexter is featured in The Lineup, a 2009 collection of interviews, edited by Otto Penzler, in which some of the most venerated and bestselling authors in the mystery world reveal how they create their most beloved characters.
For his Morse endeavours – fans will forgive the pun – Dexter has won numerous awards and he was presented with the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement in 1997.
There have been thirteen Morse novels, a short story collection, Morse’s Greatest Mystery and Other Stories (1993), and a hugely successful television series starring John Thaw in the title role. Produced by the ITV in Britain and shown in the States on PBS, thirty-three episodes were filmed between 1987 and 2000, concluding with Morse’s death in the final episode The Remorseful Day.
The fun part for Dexter’s fans has been watching out for his brief appearance (à la Alfred Hitchcock) in each episode.
Despite some initial skepticism at ITV, after reading some of Dexter’s novels they agreed that “the beautiful city of Oxford would be an ideal setting for a series of murders solved by a lugubrious Wagnerian and his solid (never stolid) sidekick.”
Oxford itself became a main character on screen, because, as Dexter says, “Whilst I may indulge myself for a couple of paragraphs on describing the effect of sunlight on the cinnamon-colored stone of Oxford college, TV can do it in a few seconds – and do it better.”
Actor Kevin Whately, who played Morse’s assistant Sergeant Robbie Lewis in the original series, now has a successful series of his own, called, appropriately enough, Lewis, which began in 2006.
Fans of Morse and Lewis will enjoy two new books in the Library’s collection: The Oxford of Inspector Morse and Lewis, a guide to the city by Bill Leonard, as shown through the cameras of the makers of the Inspector Morse series, and The Complete Inspector Morse, by David Bishop, a definitive guide containing a critique of Colin Dexter's original novels, their television adaptations, and other writers' stories featuring the popular characters.
I was fortunate to share tea with Colin Dexter in Oxford on a visit to England several years ago for a crime conference, and this year he will be the Guest of Honor at Crimfest in Bristol, England in late May. Check their website for details. The conference also features an optional three day pre-conference tour of the Devon and Cornwall of Christie, Conan Doyle and du Maurier.
