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Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dead at 86 Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dead at 86
(35 minutes later)
Colin Dexter, the creator of the infamous detective Inspector Morse and his adventures solving crimes in Oxfordshire, has died at the age of 86. Colin Dexter, the creator of the detective Inspector Morse and his adventures solving crimes in Oxfordshire, has died at the age of 86, with the top names in crime writing lining up to pay tribute to a “a kind, generous man”.
His publisher Macmillan said in a statement on Tuesday: “With immense sadness, Macmillan announces the death of Colin Dexter who died peacefully at his home in Oxford this morning.” Dexter’s death at his home in Oxford was announced by his publisher Macmillan on Tuesday. Val McDermid, who was a good friend of Dexter, described him as “a lovely, lovely man” and not as grumpy as his creation – “though he did share Morse’s love of music.”
“Colin was an author who inspired all those who worked with him,” said Maria Rejt, his most recent editor. “His loyalty, modesty and self-deprecating humour gave joy to many. His was the sharpest mind and the biggest heart, and his wonderful novels and stories will remain a testament to both.” “Early on in my career I told him I was nervous about how to write police procedurals and he said: ‘Well my dear, I had written five Morse novels before I had even set foot in a police station.’ He had great sense of humour,” McDermid told the Guardian.
Author Peter James said “all of us who love crime fiction owe Colin Dexter a very great debt.”
“There are few writers of whom it can be genuinely said that they changed - or indeed created - a genre. But Colin Dexter did. Morse was unique, both in the pages of the novels and in the subsequent television adaptations,” James told the Guardian. “In many ways he mirrored characteristics of the much earlier, similarly cultured, intellectual sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, with his fierce brain and quiet nature, and like Holmes, he came off the page and stepped out of our screens to become a living person, someone any of us could imagine meeting for a drink in a pub.”
Born Norman Colin Dexter in Lincolnshire in 1930, Dexter began his writing career by writing text books while working in education. After retiring from a 13-year teaching career due to deafness, Dexter decided to write a crime novel while on a rainy holiday in Wales with his family in 1972. Bored of the novel he was reading, Dexter decided he could do better: his debut, Last Bus to Woodstock, arrived on shelves in 1975. It was a sleeper hit, but the series eventually took off, in part due to his main character Inspector Morse, a curmudgeonly police detective who liked ale, crosswords and Wagner – sharing many of his interests with his creator. “He’d no time for reports,” Dexter wrote of Morse, in Last Bus to Woodstock. “He suspected that about 95% of the written word was never read by anyone anyway.”Born Norman Colin Dexter in Lincolnshire in 1930, Dexter began his writing career by writing text books while working in education. After retiring from a 13-year teaching career due to deafness, Dexter decided to write a crime novel while on a rainy holiday in Wales with his family in 1972. Bored of the novel he was reading, Dexter decided he could do better: his debut, Last Bus to Woodstock, arrived on shelves in 1975. It was a sleeper hit, but the series eventually took off, in part due to his main character Inspector Morse, a curmudgeonly police detective who liked ale, crosswords and Wagner – sharing many of his interests with his creator. “He’d no time for reports,” Dexter wrote of Morse, in Last Bus to Woodstock. “He suspected that about 95% of the written word was never read by anyone anyway.”
Dexter’s 13 Morse novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999, sold in their millions. They were adapted into a hugely popular television series, starring John Thaw as Morse. Dexter’s writing also spawned spin-off TV shows, Lewis and Endeavour. Dexter’s 13 Morse novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999, sold in their millions. They were adapted into a hugely popular television series, starring John Thaw as Morse. Dexter’s writing also spawned spin-off TV shows, Lewis – following Morse’s longtime companion – and Endeavour, about Morse’s early days on the police force.
Dexter killed his famous detective off in 1999’s The Remorseful Day, to great sadness among his fans worldwide. In an interview in 2000, he told the Guardian: “I started with him 27 years ago, and I miss the old boy more than most people. I get lots of letters saying ‘It’s terribly sad’; ‘You’re terribly cruel’; ‘Why did you do it?’”Dexter killed his famous detective off in 1999’s The Remorseful Day, to great sadness among his fans worldwide. In an interview in 2000, he told the Guardian: “I started with him 27 years ago, and I miss the old boy more than most people. I get lots of letters saying ‘It’s terribly sad’; ‘You’re terribly cruel’; ‘Why did you do it?’”
In 2000, Dexter was given an OBE for services to literature and in 2001, was awarded Freedom of the City in Oxford, where all his Morse stories were set. He also won the CWA Diamond Dagger award and the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction. On advice of his publisher, Dexter retained creative control over Morse’s character and would not allow the television series to keep his detective alive. Inspector Morse finished on ITV in 2000, with the actor John Thaw dying of cancer 15 months later.
While receiving his OBE, Dexter said he liked to think Morse would have bought him a celebratory whisky. In 2000, Dexter was given an OBE for services to literature and in 2001, was awarded Freedom of the City in Oxford, where all his Morse stories were set. He also won four CWA Dagger awards, as well as the Diamond Dagger – the highest honour in British crime writing – and the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction.
“I think Morse, if he had really existed and was still alive, would probably say to me, ‘well, you didn’t do me too bad a service in your writing’,” he said. “He might say ‘I wish you’d made me a slightly less miserable blighter and slightly more generous, and you could have painted me in a little bit of a better light’. Dexter refused to write a memoir, and would not allow someone else to write a biography while he was still alive. “I’ve had such a lot of luck, I don’t want to risk having someone ridiculously ill-informed doing it,” he told the Guardian. “I think it should wait till you are dead. And when you’re dead, everyone forgets you anyway, if you write crime fiction.”
“If he had bought me a drink, a large Glenfiddich or something, that would have been very nice, but knowing him I doubt he would have done - Lewis always bought all the drinks.” “Colin was an author who inspired all those who worked with him,” said Maria Rejt, his most recent editor. “His loyalty, modesty and self-deprecating humour gave joy to many. His was the sharpest mind and the biggest heart, and his wonderful novels and stories will remain a testament to both.”
“Colin represented the absolute epitome of British crime writing, and in the 1990s John Thaw’s Inspector Morse took over Wednesday night television. He was one of those television characters who the nation took to their hearts. This is a very sad day for us all,” said Jeremy Trevathan, a publisher at Macmillan.