8.4 /10 1 Votes
8.9/10 TV Language English Media type Print (Hardcover) Followed by The Jewel That Was Ours Genre Crime Fiction | 4/5 Goodreads Cover artist Matthew Cook Publisher Macmillan Originally published 26 October 1989 Preceded by The Secret of Annexe 3 Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publication date 26 October 1989 (1st edition) Pages 200p. (hardcover edition) Similar Works by Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse Mystery Series books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Wench Is Dead is a historical crime novel by Colin Dexter, the eighth novel in the Inspector Morse series. The novel received the Gold Dagger Award in 1989.
Contents
Plot introduction
In 1859, the body of a young woman was found floating in the Oxford Canal; her death led to a sensational murder trial, and two men were eventually hanged for the murder.
In 1989, Inspector Morse is recovering from a bleeding ulcer in Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. Morse is given a book by the wife of a recently deceased patient at the hospital. The little book called Murder on the Oxford Canal tells the story of the murder of Joanna Franks aboard the canal boat Barbara Bray. Morse is soon convinced that the two men hanged for the crime were innocent and sets out to prove it from the confines of his bed.
Explanation of the novel's title
The title of the novel comes from Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta; the following quotation serves as the epigraph to the novel:
Awards and nominations
The Wench Is Dead won the British Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of the year in 1989.
Television and radio adaptations
The novel was filmed as an episode in Inspector Morse and was first aired on 11 November 1998. The filming took place on the Grand Union Canal at Braunston locks, South of Braunston tunnel and on the Kennet and Avon Canal, all broad canals, whereas the Oxford Canal is a narrow canal. The historical office and loading scenes were filmed at The Black Country Museum in Dudley. The Barge Inn at Honeystreet, Pewsey Wilts was used in many scenes and pictures from the filming are on their website. The Boats were provided by South Midland Water Transport and 'Barbara Bray' is actually 'Australia' built in 1894 by Fellows, Morton & Clayton Limited. 'Trafalgar' was Northolt built in 1899 by the same firm. 'Fazeley' built in 1921 is also used but carries two names. Three motor boats (Archimedes, Clover and Jaguar) were used to tow the unpowered horse boats around the country to the various locations which involved a two-week trip.
A BBC Radio 4 play The Wench Is Dead dramatised by Guy Meredith was broadcast in 1992 starring John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis, with Garard Green as Col. Deniston, Joanna Myers as Christine Greenaway, Peter Penry-Jones as Waggy Greenaway, and Kate Binchy as Sister MacLean. The play was directed by Ned Chaillet.