The Riddle of the Third Mile is the sixth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series. As portrayed by John Thaw in ITV's Inspector Morse.
The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact, nobody would miss most of them at all. . .
Dr Browne-Smith passed through the porter's lodge at approximately 8.15 a.m. on the morning of Friday, 11th July. And nobody has heard from him since. By the 16th of July the Master of Lonsdale is concerned, but not yet worried. Plenty of time to disappear, think Chief Inspector Morse. And plenty of time, too, for someone to commit murder . . .
As bodies begin to pile, Morse sets out on a journey through intricate and complicated history, from World War Two Egypt to present-day London, in search of answers.
The Riddle of the Third Mile is followed by the seventh Inspector Morse book, The Secret of Annexe 3. Inspector Morse takes on another curious case in Colin Dexter's detective mystery series. Colin Dexter graduated from Cambridge University in 1953 and moved to Oxford in 1966, where he lived until his death in 2017. His first novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, was published in 1975. There are now thirteen novels in the series, of which The Remorseful Day is, sadly, the last. He won many awards for his novels, including the CWA Silver Dagger twice, and the CWA Gold Dagger for The Wench is Dead and The Way Through the Woods. In 1997 he was presented with the CWA Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature, and in 2000 was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The Inspector Morse novels have been adapted for the small screen with huge success by Carlton/Central Television, starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately. Spin-offs from Dexter's much-loved novels also include the popular series, Lewis, featuring Morse's former sergeant, Robbie Lewis, and Endeavour, a prequel starring the young Endeavour Morse.
"Traditional crime writing at its best; the kind of book without which no armchair is complete" -Sunday Times
"No one constructs a whodunit with more fiendish skill than Colin Dexter" -Guardian
"Dexter has created a giant among fictional detectives" -The Times
"A character who will undoubtedly retain his place as one of the most popular and enduring of fictional detectives" -P. D. James, Sunday Telegraph
"The writing is highly intelligent, the atmosphere melancholy, the effect haunting" -Daily Telegraph
"The triumph is the character of Morse" -Times Literary Supplement
"Colin Dexter's superior crime-craft is enough to make lesser practitioners sick with envy" -Oxford Times
"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot" -New York Times Book Review
