Synopses & Reviews
Oxford, England. A shot rings out in the early morning on Bloxham Drive. A young woman is murdered while having breakfast in her apartment.
At nearby Lonsdale College, the peaceful quadrangle seems insulated from the everyday realities of the entire outside world, let alone this recent murder. Yet Lonsdale is not as tranquil as it appears. The Master of the college is about to retire, and two senior dons, Denis Cornford and Julian Storrs, are discreetly competing to succeed him. Meanwhile, their wives are involved in a more openly venomous competition of their own.
For Chief Inspector Morse and his partner, Sergeant Lewis, the murder investigation leads to a tabloid journalist, to the strip clubs of Soho, and, eventually, back to the university. A disturbing question rises to the surface: Is the Mastership of Lonsdale worth killing for?
About the Author
Colin Dexter has twice won the Gold Dagger Award, the Crime Writers' Association's honor for the best novel of the year, most recently for The Way Through the Woods. He has twice won the Silver Dagger Award. He is also the author of The Daughters of Cain, Morse's Greatest Mystery, and ten other Inspector Morse novels. Dexter lives in Oxford, England.