8 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Publisher Macmillan Media type Print (Hardcover) Originally published 4 June 1981 Preceded by Service of All the Dead | 4/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 4 June 1981 Pages 224 pp Genre Crime Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Followed by The Riddle of the Third Mile Characters Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis Similar Colin Dexter books, Inspector Morse Mystery Series books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Dead of Jericho is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter, the fifth novel of the Inspector Morse series, which was subsequently the first of a highly successful series of television adaptations of the novels.
Contents
Plot summary
Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets Anne Scott at a party hosted by Mrs Murdoch in North Oxford. Six months later Anne Scott is found hanging in her kitchen at 9 Canal Reach, Jericho, Oxford. Initially Chief Inspector Bell, from the closer Oxford Central station on St. Aldate's Street, is assigned to the case; but a fortnight later Morse takes over the investigation and subsequently both of Mrs Murdoch's sons, Edward "Ted" Murdoch and Michael Murdoch, as well as Anne Scott's former employers, brothers Charles Richards and Conrad Richards, and Charles's wife, Celia, come to the attention of Morse, as do Ms Scott's neighbours, including the nosy handyman George Jackson, and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex (the latter also figures in episode 3.1 of the spin-off TV series Lewis).
Television adaptation
"The Dead of Jericho" is the very first instalment of the Inspector Morse TV series starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately (as Detective Sergeant Lewis). Colin Dexter also appears briefly in a non speaking, unnamed role as a man walking along a cloister in the opposite direction to Morse (as they pass Morse gives Dexter a suspicious backwards glance). Filmed in the summer of 1986, it aired 6 January 1987. Anne's last name of Scott was changed to Staveley, and the part was played by Gemma Jones. The first names of the three Richards were changed to Anthony "Tony" (James Laurenson), Alan (Richard Durden), and Adele (Annie Lambert), making the Cs into As. Edward "Ted" Murdoch was changed to Ned Murdoch (Spencer Leigh). Patrick Troughton in one of his final roles, plays George Jackson. Anthony Minghella wrote the episode and it was directed by Alastair Reid.