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balisally's review against another edition
3.0
Good Lord this is convoluted. The Morse of this book is pretty much “a dirty old man” although he seems to be in his mid-forties in this book so not particularly old. Absolutely amazing how much Morse drinks while on duty. Still, the various characters are strongly drawn and it’s not a bad read.
susiesbookbubble's review against another edition
3.0
3.5, I'm persevering to see if the later ones improve as these early ones are very of their time, great stories as you would expect but the permeating sexism makes them difficult to read at times.
drjonty's review against another edition
3.0
Sokay. Morse is a racist lech. And not much cop as a detective. He needs about ten guesses before he gets this right.
readbooks10's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second book in the Chief Inspector Morse series (written in 1976). Morse is assigned a missing persons case of a 17 year old girl who disappeared about 2 years ago. He would rather be investigating a murder. Morse believes she must be dead, but his sergeant, Lewis, imagines she is alive and living in London. A couple of the male teachers at her former school, as well as an old boyfriend, are suspects. Morse heads off down a few wrong turns, each time thinking the case is solved, but eventually gets it right. It's enjoyable reading the books upon which the TV series and spinoffs are based.
gailm's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Also fits prompts 10, 33, 35 and 40. Twists and turns all the way. It could have been one of 6 persons who were involved in the disappearance of schoolgirl, Valarie Taylor. All have alibis for her murder (if there were one) and then one of the main suspects is murdered. 5 of the original 6 suspects could have committed this murder. All are eventually eliminated. But Valarie is there all the time and yet elusive to the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
skeiser's review against another edition
3.0
Fun, but it peters out near the end when red herring on top of false lead on top of coincidence are laid on thick.
klueck's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
gruezelda_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I think this is one of Dexter's earlier Morse books. I really appreciate that there is a lot less of Morse here... there is enough of his character and personality to keep the story going, but it is not nearly so self-absorbed as the later Morse stories. This is a good thing.
What was not so good about this book was the apparent need to conjure up a plausible solution in which Morse is convinced every single player in the drama is by turns unquestionably guilty. By the last few pages I no longer even cared who did it. A good mystery ought to have many possible solutions, but really one "final" exposition of whodunnit and why is plenty.
I still think Lewis is the more human and interesting of the pair.
What was not so good about this book was the apparent need to conjure up a plausible solution in which Morse is convinced every single player in the drama is by turns unquestionably guilty. By the last few pages I no longer even cared who did it. A good mystery ought to have many possible solutions, but really one "final" exposition of whodunnit and why is plenty.
I still think Lewis is the more human and interesting of the pair.
msfehrwight's review against another edition
1.0
40 pages in, I just gotta quit. The misogyny is just too much. I'm DNFing in in forty pages because it's too disgusting. I was sort of hoping the first book was just a doozy but nope, same continues, not reading any more Dexter. Nope nope nope nope.
rancidslopshop's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5