Service of all the dead

'Morse was a believer neither in the existence of God nor in the fixity of the Fates. Yet, as he looked back, it seemed somehow pre-ordained that his steps should take him on only one course that morning...'

Most people could still remember the murder of the churchwarden at St Frideswide's. A few could still recall the murderer's suicide. But Chief Inspector Morse was alone in suspecting continuing unrest in the parish.

* * * *

Colin Dexter graduated from Cambridge in 1953. He spent his years wholly in education until his retirement in 1988, first teaching Greek and Latin, then moving to Oxford in 1966 to work for the University Examination Board.

His first Inspector Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, was published in 1975, and in addition to winning the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award twice - for The Way Through the Woods and The Wench is Dead - Colin Dexter has also been awarded Silver Daggers by the CWA for Service of all the Dead and The Dead of Jericho. The most recent novel, Death Is Now My Neighbour, became a number one bestseller on hardback publication in 1996.

The Inspector Morse novels have been adapted for the small screen, with huge success, in Central Television's series starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately. In 1993 Colin Dexter achieved a long-held ambition - a speaking part (two words) in the seventh Inspector Morse TV series.