"The body of Joanna Franks was found at Duke's Cut on the Oxford Canal at about 5:30am on Wednesday, 22 June 1859. At around 10:15am on a Saturday morning in 1989 the body of chief Inspector Morse - though very much alive - was removed to Oxford's john radcliffe Hospital. Treatment for a perforated ulcer was later pronounced successful. As Morse begins his recovery he comes across an account of the investigation and trial that followed Joanna Franks' death...and becomes convicted taht the two men hanged for her murder were innocent..."

I only know Inspector Morse on TV and this was my first written account of him. I think they translated the books well into the TV series. Reading the book felt similar to watching it on TV.

Kommt mit zum Meetup.

Beim heutigen MeetUp im LüttLiv mitgenommen.

Nachtrag, 5. 1. 2018: Das war mein erster Morse und mein erster Dexter und es wird nicht mein letzter gewesen sein. Wobei mich der Fall der Joanna Franks weitaus weniger interessierte als die erzählerische und sprachliche Umsetzung. Die Grundidee des Romans erinnert mich an Josephine Teys "The Daughter of Time". Auch in diesem beschäftigt sich ein Kriminalbeamter und Protagonist einer Serie, durch Verletzung außer Gefecht gesetzt und im Krankenhaus liegend, mit einem historischen Mord. Ob Colin Dexter diese Konstruktion als Vorbild gedient hat?

Den TV-Morse kenne ich übrigens nicht, nur den TV-Lewis. Wobei ich den (zugegebenermaßen eher vagen) Eindruck habe, daß der Buch-Lewis mit dem TV-Lewis lediglich den Namen und den Schauplatz Oxford gemein hat.

Ich werde das Buch voraussichtlich bei einem der nächsten MeetUps wieder anbieten.

Took it from yet another meetup.

Update, 5. 1. 2018: My first Morse and my first Dexter, and definitely not my last! Though I wasn't that much interested in the case of Joanna Franks, I enjoyed both the narrative and linguistic style a lot. The plot reminds me of Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time", where another detective and protagonist of a series, injured and confined to a hospital bed, tries to bring light to a historical murder case. Perhaps Colin Dexter had this example in mind when writing "The Wench is dead".

By the way, I'm not familiar with the TV adaption, but I've come across the spin-off featuring Robbie Lewis. My (admittedly somewhat vague) impression is, however, that the persona depicted in the TV series merely shares the name and the Oxford setting with the character in the novels.

I will offer the book at one of the next meetups.

Beim Treffen im Café Erdgeschoss eingesteckt.

In the yellow bookcorssing shelf of the library.

We would be happy to get more information about how the book appealed to you and where the journey was and is going.