Terry M. (tmulcahy) - , reviewed on 1/31/2022 + 34 more book reviews

I had obtained this used book based on the description of the story and the fact that it was free. I'm glad it was. It is not the most tedious book I've ever read, like some I've never finished, but I finished this one out of curiosity, not pleasure. I'd heard of Inspector Morse, perhaps I'd glanced at a showing of the TV series. Needless to say, I won't be looking for any more of these. I think one has to be stoically British to like these. The constrained stories, deliberately padded with too much detail, and details that I was totally disinterested in really put me off on this writer, whom I'd never heard of before reading this book. The boring, one-upmanship between Morse and Strange is hard to sit through, and I hate to think it permeates every single book in the series. I shudder at the thought. As a yarn, it's OK, but barely. The mysteries were far too convoluted and numerous for the payoff at the end, which was less than satisfying. 1991? This is like reading an antique, good in its day, but horribly outdated without any redeeming qualities.

The copy I have has a badly creased cover, is an ex-library book, and had food stains in it with tiny bits of dried food. I don't think that colored my impressions, because I'd read books in far worse shape. I love books and read them carefully in order to pass them along. But not this one. For once, it's going in the recycle bin.

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