Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
England, Oxford, 1990
En flok rige gamle (abcde = alcohol, bridge, cigaretter, detektivromaner og ekologi) amerikanske turister, mestendels fra vestkysten, er i England. Turlederen er en John Ashenden. En af deltagerne har en del af et smykke med for at skænke det til The Ashmolean museum. Smykket,
Vi hører lidt om to af foredragsholderne Cedric Downes (45, halvdøv men egentlig tilfreds med livet, gift med Lucy på 34) og Theodore Kemp (masser af uægte børn, en kone Marion, som er lam og aborterede i en bilulykke, som Kemp var skyld i, fordi han var fuld).
Kemp bliver fundet nøgen og død i en kanal af et ungt par, der er ude og gå tur.
Lewis fortæller Marion Kemp om dødsfaldet og Morse fortællet det til Sheila Williams, der havde en affære med Kemp. Morse får deltagerne i turen til at skrive ned hvor de har været henne. Et af sporene er en tidsplan, hvor der er rettet med kuglepen og hvor et syvtal har en horisontal streg gennem den lodrette streg hvilket er mere kontinentalt end anglo.saksisk.
Marion Kemp dør efter et selvmordsforsøg med piller. Cedric Downes er måske et godt bud på en mistænkt, for Theodore Kemp havde en affære med Lucy Downes. Morse gætter på at det er Kemps hang til kvinder, der er motivet, men i stedet er det bilulykken, der er motivet. En kvinde blev dræbt i ulykken, Phillippa J. Aldrich, datter af to af deltagerne på turen, Phil Aldrich og Janet Roscoe. De to slår Kemp ihjel og siger begge at det var den anden. Janet er dødssyg af kræft og de elsker stadig hinanden, så forklaringerne er formentlig afstemt med hinanden. Datteren er selvfølgelig "the jewel that was ours".
Eddie og Laura Stratton havde planlagt forsikringssvindel med smykket og Janet overhørte noget af det, så derfor lavede de to hold alibier for hinanden for de to forbrydelser. Marion Kemp hadede sin mand, så derfor sladrede hun ikke om mordet, selv om hun overværede det. Måske var der endda et element af uheld over det, for Theodore Kemp havde et ualmindeligt tyndt kranie. Eddie har pillet rubinen ud af smykket, gemt den i konens kiste og håber på at kunne få den igen, når han kommer ud af fængsel. Gad vide hvor smykket er blevet af?
Lidt indviklet plot, for mindst fem af personerne er involveret i det. Men ok.
Morse og Sheila Williams har en lille affære til sidst, hvilket man jo godt kan unde dem begge.
Arxford, Bairth og bardy i stedet for Oxford, Bath og body.
En flok rige gamle (abcde = alcohol, bridge, cigaretter, detektivromaner og ekologi) amerikanske turister, mestendels fra vestkysten, er i England. Turlederen er en John Ashenden. En af deltagerne har en del af et smykke med for at skænke det til The Ashmolean museum. Smykket,
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kaldet The Wolvercote Tongue, bliver rapporteret stjålet, da ejerinden bliver fundet død af et hjerteanfald. Morse og Lewis kigger på sagen, men udover at Morse spekulerer over smykket og endda overvejer om det faktisk findes, sker der i første omgang ingenting.Vi hører lidt om to af foredragsholderne Cedric Downes (45, halvdøv men egentlig tilfreds med livet, gift med Lucy på 34) og Theodore Kemp (masser af uægte børn, en kone Marion, som er lam og aborterede i en bilulykke, som Kemp var skyld i, fordi han var fuld).
Kemp bliver fundet nøgen og død i en kanal af et ungt par, der er ude og gå tur.
Lewis fortæller Marion Kemp om dødsfaldet og Morse fortællet det til Sheila Williams, der havde en affære med Kemp. Morse får deltagerne i turen til at skrive ned hvor de har været henne. Et af sporene er en tidsplan, hvor der er rettet med kuglepen og hvor et syvtal har en horisontal streg gennem den lodrette streg hvilket er mere kontinentalt end anglo.saksisk.
Marion Kemp dør efter et selvmordsforsøg med piller. Cedric Downes er måske et godt bud på en mistænkt, for Theodore Kemp havde en affære med Lucy Downes. Morse gætter på at det er Kemps hang til kvinder, der er motivet, men i stedet er det bilulykken, der er motivet. En kvinde blev dræbt i ulykken, Phillippa J. Aldrich, datter af to af deltagerne på turen, Phil Aldrich og Janet Roscoe. De to slår Kemp ihjel og siger begge at det var den anden. Janet er dødssyg af kræft og de elsker stadig hinanden, så forklaringerne er formentlig afstemt med hinanden. Datteren er selvfølgelig "the jewel that was ours".
Eddie og Laura Stratton havde planlagt forsikringssvindel med smykket og Janet overhørte noget af det, så derfor lavede de to hold alibier for hinanden for de to forbrydelser. Marion Kemp hadede sin mand, så derfor sladrede hun ikke om mordet, selv om hun overværede det. Måske var der endda et element af uheld over det, for Theodore Kemp havde et ualmindeligt tyndt kranie. Eddie har pillet rubinen ud af smykket, gemt den i konens kiste og håber på at kunne få den igen, når han kommer ud af fængsel. Gad vide hvor smykket er blevet af?
Lidt indviklet plot, for mindst fem af personerne er involveret i det. Men ok.
Morse og Sheila Williams har en lille affære til sidst, hvilket man jo godt kan unde dem begge.
Arxford, Bairth og bardy i stedet for Oxford, Bath og body.
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Genres
Publication
London : Pan Books, 2010.
Description
An Inspector Morse Mystery. The case seems so simple that Inspector Morse deems it beneath his notice. A wealthy, elderly American tourist has a heart attack in her room at Oxford's luxurious Randolph Hotel. Missing from the scene is the lady's handbag, which contained the Wolvercote Tongue, a priceless jewel that her late husband had bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum just across the street. Morse proceeds to spend a great deal of time thinking-and drinking-in the hotel's bar, certain the solution is close at hand, until conflicting stories, suspicious doings, and a real murder convince him otherwise.
User reviews
LibraryThing member uryjm
Well, I was lost after about page forty, but I persevered just for the comfort and warmth I find in Dexter's prose. I love how he portrays Morse, his drink-fuelled brain, his loneliness, his relationship with Lewis. Even if I couldn't follow the convoluted plot, I still made it to the end - but it
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wasn't one of Dexter's best. Show Less
LibraryThing member TomChicago
Inspector Morse is one of my faves; a cranky, literate detective who belongs to the world-weary league.
LibraryThing member Othemts
Morse is out of the hospital and less interesting, but this may be my second-favorite Morse book. First, his relationship with Lewis is well established and works really well here. Second, a tour group of elderly Americans are central to the mystery and leads to some interesting commentary on the
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idea of “Americans” versus the likeability of actual Americans. Finally, there’s just some funny stuff about tourism in Oxford I can relate to. Really the mystery takes a back door to the story and the characters in this novel, and I like that Show Less
LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
The Wolvercote Tongue is stolen and several interested parties die but, all likely suspects appear to have unbreakable alibis. This was one of my favourite stories from the televised Morse so, I was particularly interested to see how it faired in its intended novel form: the answer, even better.
Eruditely written, this is a first class read!
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Reading the Morse books in order allows one to appreciate the improvement from book to book, with almost no exception. Characters, whilst perhaps not entirely real, are somehow believable and the improbable twists in the plot which would leave a real detective floundering at square one, are conquered by a sleuth on par with Holmes, Poirot and the greats of detective fiction. Eruditely written, this is a first class read!
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LibraryThing member ishtahar
The one with the Anglo Saxon relic, the American tourists, the naked dead Professor and where Morse falls in love. Again.
Also the one where the Jag first appears
Also the one where the Jag first appears
LibraryThing member fdholt
The ninth mystery featuring Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis, The jewel that was ours, tells the story of an artifact that was stolen, a woman who died and the murder of the Keeper of the Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. There are twists and turns but the evidence is there to solve
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the crime and answer the puzzling details. Also helpful is a map of Oxford and the colleges which helps to place the characters and events in perspective. It is interesting to note the facsimiles of handwriting when a letter or statement is printed in the book. (And look for clues among these samples as well as misspellings and grammar mistakes. Morse catches them and you may also.) Another clue is the title of the book. An enjoyable read and a wonderfully crafted mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
One of the few Inspector Morse Novels I've read. I don'tread many mysteries at all, and really enjoyed the appearance by the "Alfred Jewel". As far as the whole corpus goes, I prefer the Masterpiece Theatre" versions.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
I found this entry in the Inspector Morse series to be pleasantly straightforward -- not that the solution was obvious, but it wasn't the convoluted solution that some of the previous books had. I also noted that Dexter seemed to stay focused on the investigation, with less about Morse's libido and
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drink propensities. My biggest complaint: it wasn't possible for the reader to reach the entire solution, although one could get the broad outline. Show Less
LibraryThing member idiotgirl
Have watched so much Morse on PBS. Thought I should do some reading of the originals (or more precisely be read to). Great fun. A very complex solution. With Morse mostly just sitting in the pub. Have decided to read a few more. Downloaded a couple that have Kevin Whately reading (he who plays Sgt.
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Lewis in PBS series). Show Less
LibraryThing member TomDonaghey
THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS (Inspector Morse #9) 1981, by Colin Dexter is yet another in an all too small collection of superlative mysteries. Set in Oxford, England, this outing has a bus full of American tourists, a death, the theft of a priceless artifact, and no possibility of a rational solution.
While we can still visit Morse through the books and the television shows (Morse and Endeavour), I certainly miss the anticipation of a new thriller on the shelves.
Alas.
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Until Morse arrives that is. And in his fashion he manages to not only pull the thread of the mystery free, but does so in his own elegant fashion.While we can still visit Morse through the books and the television shows (Morse and Endeavour), I certainly miss the anticipation of a new thriller on the shelves.
Alas.
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LibraryThing member Hardboiled
The Inspector Morse mysteries are truly in a class by themselves. Colin dexter does a remarkable job of crafting the characters of Morse and Lewis then letting them interact against their own set of strengths/weaknesses as they work through very complex mysteries. The Jewel That Was Ours fits all
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of these parameters and I don't think much else has to be said. Great read! Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
Morse doesn't always get it right. Sometimes he gets to the point of actually charging a suspect before he realises that he's got it wrong. In fact Lewis thinks that Morse creates scenarios before he looks at the facts. But somehow he gets some elements right and then he plucks something else out
We listen carefully, just as Lewis does, and eventually Morse persuades us.
We have really been enjoying this set of audio books narrated superbly by Samuel West.
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of left field, and somehow it all fits.We listen carefully, just as Lewis does, and eventually Morse persuades us.
We have really been enjoying this set of audio books narrated superbly by Samuel West.
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
In a slight reversal of the customary sequence, this novel was actually an adaptation of a television screenplay. The book is derived from an episode broadcast on Christmas Day during the height of the popularity of the Inspector Morse television series, and Colin Dexter subsequently developed it
I first encountered Colin Dexter’s books following a recommendation from Mr Wilf Massiah, my wonderful English teacher, who was also my school’s librarian. To be fair, this referral had less to do with any literary merit that Mr Massiah might have perceived in the books, and was more a consequence of the fact that Colin Dexter’s first job after graduating from university had been as a classics teacher at the school (Loughborough Grammar School). Dexter’s spell there was very brief (possibly even just one academic year), and he had moved on long before I was even born, let alone attended the school. He did seem to retain fond memories of his time at the school, however, and became a regular speaker at alumni events throughout the period when the television series dominated ITV’s schedules.
I have often wondered why television producers selected Dexter’s books for adaptation. Presumably he was just lucky in his selection of such a photogenic setting. The Oxford cityscape certainly transferred favourably to the small screen, and John Thaw captured much of the querulous and capricious nature of Morse’s personality. If I might briefly slip[ into nerd mode (although you are probably asking, ‘What do you mean “slip into …”?’), I recall that in the original editions of the earlier novels, Morse actually drove a Lagonda, rather than his celebrated red Jaguar, which was an adornment of television’s making.
To my mind, the early novels in the series tended to be over-complicated to a ridiculous degree, primarily as an exercise in demonstrating Dexter’s own dexterity with crosswords and similar puzzles, which quickly emerged as one of Morse’s identifying features. That trait persists into this book, although to a less obtrusive extent than in some of its predecessors.
The basic scenario revolves around the death in Oxford’s smart Randolph hotel of an American tourist before she was due to present a medieval jewel to the Ashmolean Museum. Despite the almost priceless nature of this jewel, it had been stowed in her handbag which appears to have been stolen at the time of her death. Shortly afterwards, the rather extravagant Oxford academic who was due to receive the jewel on behalf of the Ashmolean, and who saw it as his guarantee of academic preferment, is found dead in the River Isis.
There isn’t really much more to say about the book. It is fairly standard Morse fare. The Chief Inspector is as querulous, and Sergeant Lewis as long-suffering as ever. If you like whodunits, you will probably enjoy this one, as I certainly did, although it is nothing out of the ordinary within that genre, and not up to Dexter at his best.
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into a novel, changing many of the plot twists, and delivering a completely different solution to the mystery.I first encountered Colin Dexter’s books following a recommendation from Mr Wilf Massiah, my wonderful English teacher, who was also my school’s librarian. To be fair, this referral had less to do with any literary merit that Mr Massiah might have perceived in the books, and was more a consequence of the fact that Colin Dexter’s first job after graduating from university had been as a classics teacher at the school (Loughborough Grammar School). Dexter’s spell there was very brief (possibly even just one academic year), and he had moved on long before I was even born, let alone attended the school. He did seem to retain fond memories of his time at the school, however, and became a regular speaker at alumni events throughout the period when the television series dominated ITV’s schedules.
I have often wondered why television producers selected Dexter’s books for adaptation. Presumably he was just lucky in his selection of such a photogenic setting. The Oxford cityscape certainly transferred favourably to the small screen, and John Thaw captured much of the querulous and capricious nature of Morse’s personality. If I might briefly slip[ into nerd mode (although you are probably asking, ‘What do you mean “slip into …”?’), I recall that in the original editions of the earlier novels, Morse actually drove a Lagonda, rather than his celebrated red Jaguar, which was an adornment of television’s making.
To my mind, the early novels in the series tended to be over-complicated to a ridiculous degree, primarily as an exercise in demonstrating Dexter’s own dexterity with crosswords and similar puzzles, which quickly emerged as one of Morse’s identifying features. That trait persists into this book, although to a less obtrusive extent than in some of its predecessors.
The basic scenario revolves around the death in Oxford’s smart Randolph hotel of an American tourist before she was due to present a medieval jewel to the Ashmolean Museum. Despite the almost priceless nature of this jewel, it had been stowed in her handbag which appears to have been stolen at the time of her death. Shortly afterwards, the rather extravagant Oxford academic who was due to receive the jewel on behalf of the Ashmolean, and who saw it as his guarantee of academic preferment, is found dead in the River Isis.
There isn’t really much more to say about the book. It is fairly standard Morse fare. The Chief Inspector is as querulous, and Sergeant Lewis as long-suffering as ever. If you like whodunits, you will probably enjoy this one, as I certainly did, although it is nothing out of the ordinary within that genre, and not up to Dexter at his best.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tmph
Boy. Not impressed. At all.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1991
Physical description
347 p.; 17.7 cm
ISBN
0330324195 / 9780330324199
Local notes
Omslag: Michael Trevillion
Omslagsfoto: Michael Trevillion
Omslaget viser nogle gamle engelske portbuer
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Morse (engelsk), bind 9
Købt som del af samlet morseudgave i genbrugsen
Titlen er fra et citat, der gives allerførst i bogen:
Side -5: Espied the god with gloomy soul // The price that in the casket lay // Who came with silent thread and stole // The jewel that was ours away. -- Lilian Cooper, 1904-1981
Side 8: For the better cure of vice they think it necessary to study it, and the only efficient study is through practice. - Samuel Butler
Side 26: All saints can do miracles, but few can keep a hotel. -- Mark Twain: Notebook
Side 50: Often I have wished myself dead, but well under my blanket, so that neither death nor man could hear me. -- George Lichtenberg
Side 54: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays
Side 72: Solvitur Ambulando (The problem is solved by walking around) -- Latin proverb
Side 84: The best-laid schemes o'mice and men // Gang aft a-gley, // And lea'e us nought but grief and pain // For promised joy -- Robert Burns, To a Mouse
Side 101: In the police-procedural, a a fair degree of realism is possible, but it cannot be pushed too far for fear that the book might be as dull as the actual days of a policeman. -- Julian Symons: Bloody Murder
Side 103: Some of us spend most of our lives telling lies.
Side 113: The moon jellyfish // like a parachute in air // sways under the waves. -- Basil Swift: Collected Haiku
Side 114: You've no poetry in your soul.
Side 140: Going by railroad I do not consider as travelling at all; it is merely being "sent" to a place, and very little different from becoming a parcel.-- John Ruskin: Modern Painters
Side 152: It is a matter of regret that many low, mean suspicions turn out to be well founded. -- Edgar Watson Howe: Ventures in Common Sense
Side 155: Myself when young did eagerly frequent // Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument // About it and about: but evermore // Came out by the same Door as in I went. Edward FitzGerald: The Rubaiyat
Omslagsfoto: Michael Trevillion
Omslaget viser nogle gamle engelske portbuer
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Morse (engelsk), bind 9
Købt som del af samlet morseudgave i genbrugsen
Titlen er fra et citat, der gives allerførst i bogen:
Side -5: Espied the god with gloomy soul // The price that in the casket lay // Who came with silent thread and stole // The jewel that was ours away. -- Lilian Cooper, 1904-1981
Side 8: For the better cure of vice they think it necessary to study it, and the only efficient study is through practice. - Samuel Butler
Side 26: All saints can do miracles, but few can keep a hotel. -- Mark Twain: Notebook
Side 50: Often I have wished myself dead, but well under my blanket, so that neither death nor man could hear me. -- George Lichtenberg
Side 54: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays
Side 72: Solvitur Ambulando (The problem is solved by walking around) -- Latin proverb
Side 84: The best-laid schemes o'mice and men // Gang aft a-gley, // And lea'e us nought but grief and pain // For promised joy -- Robert Burns, To a Mouse
Side 101: In the police-procedural, a a fair degree of realism is possible, but it cannot be pushed too far for fear that the book might be as dull as the actual days of a policeman. -- Julian Symons: Bloody Murder
Side 103: Some of us spend most of our lives telling lies.
Side 113: The moon jellyfish // like a parachute in air // sways under the waves. -- Basil Swift: Collected Haiku
Side 114: You've no poetry in your soul.
Side 140: Going by railroad I do not consider as travelling at all; it is merely being "sent" to a place, and very little different from becoming a parcel.-- John Ruskin: Modern Painters
Side 152: It is a matter of regret that many low, mean suspicions turn out to be well founded. -- Edgar Watson Howe: Ventures in Common Sense
Side 155: Myself when young did eagerly frequent // Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument // About it and about: but evermore // Came out by the same Door as in I went. Edward FitzGerald: The Rubaiyat
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Fyret by P. D. James
Series
Pages
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DDC/MDS
| 823.914 |