7.6 /10 1 Votes
3.8/5 Pan Macmillan Country United Kingdom Publication date October 1986 Pages 224p. Genre Crime Fiction | 3.8/5 Goodreads Cover artist Martin White Language English Media type Print (Hardcover) Originally published October 1986 Followed by The Wench Is Dead Publisher Macmillan Publishers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by The Riddle of the Third Mile Similar Works by Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse Mystery Series books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Secret of Annexe 3 is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the seventh novel in Inspector Morse series.
Contents
Plot introduction
The guests of Haworth Hotel rise late, after New Year's Eve, but there was one exception, the guest in Annexe 3 missed New Year's Day completely. He was still in his room, lying dead on the blood-soaked bed. Inspector Morse begins investigating each of the guests. Was Mrs. Palmer really a faithful wife? Just who exactly were the Ballards? And, how had the hotel's booking confirmation been delivered to a nonexistent address?
Plot
As the novel begins, Margaret Bowman of Charlbury Drive Chipping Norton is off to a funeral. Her husband, left alone, finds an angry letter, apparently from a lover, in his wife’s handbag.
After the murder, Inspector Morse, with the help of the pretty receptionist, Miss Sarah Jonstone, examines the letters and phone messages booking the various rooms at the hotel. Discovering the non-existent address, he deduces that a postman must be involved.
Thomas Bowman, the postman, turns out to be the corpse, and his wife and her lover the instigators of the murder. Winston Grant, a black musician, was hired to provide the alibi. Although the narratives differ, this novel provided the inspiration for the Inspector Morse television film "The Secret of Bay 5B".