Service of All the Dead cover art

Service of All the Dead

The Fourth Case in the Classic Inspector Morse Series

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Service of All the Dead

By: Colin Dexter
Narrated by: Samuel West
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £10.76

Buy Now for £10.76

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

Service of All the Dead is the fourth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.

The sweet countenance of Reason greeted Morse serenely when he woke, and told him that it would be no bad idea to have a quiet look at the problem itself before galloping off to a solution.

Chief Inspector Morse was alone among the congregation in suspecting continued unrest in the quiet parish of St Frideswide's.

Most people could still remember the churchwarden's murder. A few could still recall the murderer's suicide. Now even the police had closed the case.

Until a chance meeting among the tombstones reveals startling new evidence of a conspiracy to deceive . . .

Service of All the Dead is followed by the fifth Inspector Morse book, The Dead of Jericho.

 Cosy Crime Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Murder Suspense
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
I love the Morse books, it's good to listen to the whole and then dip in again to understand fully

Addicted to Morse

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As a crime story it is well written with an interesting plot and well defined characters. The plot is complex and there are devices such as the bemused side kick Lewis , to ask questions about he bits the listener may have missed.
Attitudes towards women grate on the C21 ear.
Excellent performance by Samuel West.

Enjoyable novel of its time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So well written and beautifully plotted. Some VERY old attitudes to women and gay men, BUT it’s of it’s time and if you bear in mind it was written in the 1970, it should not distract too much from the great story, and performance.

Fantastic plot - beware old attitudes to women and gay people

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well read by Samuel West, without silly voices. Just a good performance.
In “Brideshead Revisited” Charles Ryder’s priggish cousin Jasper gives him advice on how to behave as a student at Oxford (which Charles ignores, mostly, to the benefit of Waugh’s readers!)
“Beware the Anglo-Catholics, they’re all sodomites with unpleasant accents”.
The Anglo-Catholics in Dexter’s book are well worth avoiding, for many reasons - a tendency to murder, even during services would count rather higher than a middleclass or regional accent in my estimation!

All that incense, elaborate vestments, sung Eucharists and old-fashioned Confessionals - more Catholic than the Pope! - provide the background for a series of murders of sinners and innocent alike.

Morse is supposed to be on annual leave, but gets drawn into the unholy mystery by chance, first unofficially. He is often perplexed, but obsessional that he is, comes at last to a solution, albeit partial.

Poor old Lewis - it’s a trial to have a boss who hasn’t a happy domestic life!

It’s well written, has local colour, intrigue and suspense.

“Beware of Anglo-Catholics”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Morse is always beautifully written and a joy to read - or listen to - and "Service of all the Dead" doesn't disappoint in any way. In fact I think I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best I've read... The plot is complex and convoluted enough to confound one's expectations right to the end, while remaining within the bounds of possibility - just about ! And as always the relationship between Morse and put upon Sergeant Lewis is a gift that just keeps on giving. A real delight...

Always a pleasure...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews