A foreign examination run by a syndicate in Oxford with Nicholas Quinn at its head is the base of the story. Quinn is deaf so for him it is a prestigious appointment which he is very proud of. His appointment was not without its opponents and he knows this.
When Quinn is found murdered everyone is suspect. There are connections between the staff members which are not apparent on the surface and so many of them lie to either protect themselves or one another, that is obvious to Inspector Morse that the truth will come out as they cannot help tripping over the various lies and pretexts trotted out as alibis.
A tale of corruption, examination fraud and Morse trying to get it right.
Interesting as usual.
The next story involves a murder that has long been written off. The fact that Morse is even investigating this gets the back up of local officials who feel that the matter is now closed. A vicar and his erring flock gets Morse's attention to the point that he almost gets murdered as well. Amurder and what is thought to be a suicide, a woman working for the church and the list of victims keeps getting longer and longer.
Morse and Lewis go through several theories discarding them as they go leading upto the final debacle.
Morse is as usual a pompous prickly sort of man. Lewis is self effacing, kindly and tolerant. How he tolerates Morse is another story. It is the contrast of the two characters that add greatly to the interest of the writings of the story. Murder aside it is these two people who lead the story and get you going.
For me two books in one and not very cumbersome either to read was a good choice.
I like the cover and by the sound of this review, it seems like a good choice. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this series but it's one I'd read in a minute. Nice reviews.
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