Book info

• Title Last Seen Wearing
• Author Colin Dexter
• Year 1976
• Genre Mystery

Why now? Why Friday 12th September – two years, three months and two days after Valerie Taylor had left home to return to afternoon school? He frowned. ‘Something’s turned up, I suppose.’ Strange nodded. ‘Yes.’ After leaving her home in Oxford to return to school in London, seventeen-year-old Valerie Taylor completely vanished. Despite the efforts of the police and Chief Inspector Ainley, the trail went cold and she was never found. Two years on, Ainley is dead, and Inspector Morse is handed the case. But now, someone has decided to supply some surprising new evidence...

Thoughts

The second Morse book puts the Inspector in a position he’s not entirely comfortable with - a cold case of a missing person, rather than a murder with a body to work from. That makes it all the more fascinating as a reader - the twists and turns of the is she/isn’t she alive on top of the possibilities of who did what to whom and when.

I’m still not entirely sure I’m on board with Morse himself. His scattergun nature is fine, that’s often the way with brilliant detectives - Sherlock and Frost both come across as inconsiderate and random, and always get to the answer eventually. The thing about Morse is it does really feel like he’s not very good at his job and doesn’t have the inclination to try any harder. Whereas Frost bumbles about doing what he can and stumbles on good fortune, Morse has clues in front of him and disregards them, preferring to rely on his own thoughts.

I don’t know, I’ve got one more of this collection to read and then I might call it a day. Not every detective appeals to everyone, and whilst I like the cases that he has to work with, I might leave Lewis to deal with Morse from here on in.

Rating: 2 / 5