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The Remorseful Day

by Colin Dexter

Colin Dexter has finally killed off his famous protagonist, Inspector Morse. The Remorseful Day is the last of the Morse series – and well-named it is! Mr. Dexter feels he's had enough, and it's time for a little leisure instead of dealing with publishers, editors, TV and deadlines. Colin Dexter has every right to relax, in spite of the angry outbursts of his Morse fans (who quite naturally are thinking only of themselves and their pleasure). Well, so is Mr. Dexter.

But if you haven't seen the TV series, starring John Thaw as Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis; or read the earlier Morse books, I'd strongly advise you to do so. Morse is certainly a talented character, even though he gets his sergeant to do most of the work – and Colin Dexter's plots are both clever and readable. Even with only 13 (or is it 14?) Morse novels written, it's still a marvelous legacy for the mystery devotee.

The Remorseful Day begins with the hint that Inspector Morse may be involved somehow with the nurse Yvonne Harrison – who was discovered murdered, naked on her bed, tied to the head and foot posts, handcuffed and gagged a year ago. The murder has never been solved. Now an anonymous male caller has intimated that the case should be reopened, and a watch put on a convict who has served his time and is just being released from prison. Chief Superintendent Strange wants Morse to take the case. Morse refuses.

Sergeant Lewis is put on the case instead, but Morse is always one step ahead of him, even while remaining in the background. The family all have alibis – Frank Harrison, the husband, Sarah, a daughter who works in the Diabetes Center where Morse goes for his checkups, and Simon, the son, who became deaf as a result of a meningitis outbreak at the school he attended as a boy. Simon is now a very good proofreader. Others involved are Patrick (Paddy) Flynn, Harry Repp, the released felon, Tom Biffen, landlord of 'The Maidens Arms', and John Barron, a builder.

As if all these people weren't enough to confuse anybody, it's also discovered that Debbie Richardson, Harry Repp's common-law wife, has two (illegitimate) children. One of them is Roy Holmes, a truculent and uncooperative young man if 15 years. The other is Allen Thomas, slightly older, who does nothing but play the slot machine at The Maidens Arms. First Paddy Flynn, then Harry Repp are found murdered. Then, just when Morse has decided that John Barron was the killer of Yvonne as well as the other two, Barron is killed himself, falling off a ladder from three stories up to hard ground while removing a crumbling window sill.

Now Roy comes to the police and confesses that his bicycle knocked Barron's ladder down – an accident. Morse' suspicions – while pretending to have little to do with the case – are transferred from one person to the other in a giddy whirl, while Sergeant Lewis is gradually learning to think a little like Morse. Morse meanwhile is blithely ignoring all medical safety procedures and copiously imbibing the alcohol he's been forbidden to touch – as well as forgetting to keep tabs on his blood sugar level for his diabetic condition.

Sergeant Lewis has discovered that Morse was involved with Yvonne Harrison, and is deeply disappointed in him – especially when he finds the handcuffs Yvonne was wearing at her death in Morse' desk drawer. What has his idol done? Inspector Morse ultimately writes out his thoughts on the case and as usual, he is proven quite correct. The murderer is apprehended – but too late for Morse, who has at last succumbed to his liquid diet with a heart attack and dies in the hospital.

The final chapters give us a confession by Chief Superintendent Strange at his retirement party, and the realization that Inspector Morse was not, after all, one of Yvonne Harrison's many lovers. Sergeant Lewis can now give vent to a very real grief.

The
Remorseful Day is a masterful work, written by a man who has proven himself to be adept at the kind of sleight-of-hand necessary in all mystery crime fiction. Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse will be sorely missed by many fans, although the Inspector's demise is hardly a surprise after the medicinal juggling his creator allowed him! Perhaps Colin Dexter will write again – another book, maybe even another murder mystery, without the inimitable Inspector Morse. We'll continue to hope.

Alan Paul Curtis

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