Last Bus to Woodstock

Written by Colin Dexter

Narrated by Samuel West

Last Bus to Woodstock is the novel that began Colin Dexter's phenomenally successful Inspector Morse series.

'Do you think I'm wasting your time, Lewis?'

Lewis was nobody's fool and was a man of some honesty and integrity.

'Yes, sir.'

An engaging smile crept across Morse's mouth. He thought they could get on well together....

The death of Sylvia Kaye figured dramatically in Thursday afternoon's edition of the Oxford Mail.

By Friday evening Inspector Morse had informed the nation that the police were looking for a dangerous man - facing charges of willful murder, sexual assault and rape.

But as the obvious leads fade into twilight and darkness, Morse becomes more and more convinced that passion holds the key....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Oct 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781509865413

Colin Dexter

Colin Dexter won many awards for his novels including the CWA Gold Dagger and Silver Dagger awards. In 1997 he was presented with the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding services to crime literature. Colin's thirteenth and final Inspector Morse novel, The Remorseful Day, was published in 1999. He lived in Oxford until his death in 2017.

Reviews for Last Bus to Woodstock

[MLJS-piano · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am a huge fan of PBS' "Endeavour" and Inspector Lewis series, so i thought I'd check out this origin source for the beloved character of Morse. I can say that the writing is masterful... and of course it's fun to meet Lewis for the first time. The narration is also excellent! - However, as a woman reader with modern sensibility, the whole sordid plot of this book was disappointingly thin, and glaring in its 70s-era "male gaze" in its banal portrayal of female characters. All of the women are Objects... the victim herself, various wives, potential lovers, porn desires, helpful barmaid: scheming, promiscuous/loose, lying, obfuscating, being confusing TO THE MEN... or else angelic or sweet and possibly trustable. Not a single realistic woman or her experience portrayed. Lots of honesty about how the male characters feel about them... Darn, i was hoping for a great summer of plowing through these books... nope.

[Maggie Norris · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I watched one or two of the TV series when the series was current. I did not enjoy it, mostly because I did not like the character “Morse.” I listened to this audiobook to see if I would like the novels better. I didn’t. I disliked the character Morse just as much. This is obviously just a personal preference and I don’t want to discourage another fan of police procedural novels from reading this series.
Something I often notice about older such novels is the outdated social and political ideas. In this novel (1975), there are several jokey conversations among people in Oxford about whether rape is even possible. This shocked me. I am not sure why the author included those (fictional) conversations. I don’t think they advanced the plot or developed important characters. Was he making a social or political point? Is it really possible that Oxford academics seriously held that opinion in 1975? They angered this reader.

[Gary Gallo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Overall a good experience. I like both the Morse and Endeavor series on pbs. I was surprised at how the first book in this series delved into Morse’s loneliness and alcoholism.

The book is a little too long and I had a difficult time following some of the minor characters.

The narrator reads very well and has a great accent. He also does a good job with voice changes.