The Second Inspector Morse Omnibus Colin Dexter

The Secret of Annexe 3

‘Morse sought to hide his disappointment. So many people in the Haworth Hotel that fatal evening had been wearing some sort of disguise – a change of dress, a change of make-up, a change of partner, a change of attitude, a change of life almost; and the man who had died had been the most consummate artist of them all.’

Chief Inspector Morse seldom allowed himself to be caught up in New Year celebrations. So the murder inquiry in the festive hotel had a certain appeal. It was a crime worthy of the season. The corpse was still in fancy dress. And hardly a single guest at the Haworth had registered under a genuine name.

‘A plot of classical cunning and intricacy’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Colin Dexter’s superior crimecraft is enough to make lesser practitioners sick with envy’ Oxford Times

The Riddle of the Third Mile

‘The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. Now wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all…’

Dr Browne-Smith had last been seen on the morning of Friday, 11th July. Nobody had heard from him since. Plenty of time to disappear, thought Morse. And plenty of time to cover his trail…

Last Seen Wearing

‘Morse was beset by a nagging feeling. Most of his fanciful notions about the Taylor girl had evaporated and he had begun to suspect that further investigation into Valerie’s disappearance would involve little more than sober and tedious routines…’

The statements before Inspector Morse appeared to confirm the bald, simple truth. After leaving home to return to school, teenager Valerie Taylor had completely vanished, and the trail had gone cold. Until two years, three months and two days after Valerie’s disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence for the case…