The Dead of Jericho

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The Dead of Jericho
TheDeadOfJericho first.jpg
Cover of the first edition
AuthorColin Dexter
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesInspector Morse series, #5
Genrecrime novel
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
4 June 1981
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages224
ISBN0333317289
OCLC8900702
Preceded byService of All the Dead 
Followed byThe Riddle of the Third Mile 

The Dead of Jericho, published in 1981, is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter. It is the fifth novel in the Inspector Morse series. In 1987 it was adapted as the first episode of the highly successful television series inspired by the novels, also called Inspector Morse.

Plot summary[]

Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets Anne Scott at a party hosted by Mrs Murdoch in North Oxford. Six months later Anne Scott is found hanging in her kitchen at 9 Canal Reach, Jericho, Oxford. Initially Chief Inspector Bell, from the closer Oxford Central station on St. Aldate's Street, is assigned to the case; but a fortnight later Morse takes over the investigation and subsequently both of Mrs Murdoch's sons, Edward "Ted" Murdoch and Michael Murdoch, as well as Anne Scott's former employers, brothers Charles Richards and Conrad Richards, and Charles's wife, Celia, come to the attention of Morse, as do Ms Scott's neighbours, including the nosy handyman George Jackson, and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex.

Television adaptation[]

"The Dead of Jericho" is the first instalment of the Inspector Morse TV series starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately (as Detective Sergeant Lewis). Colin Dexter also appears briefly in a non-speaking, unnamed role as a man walking along a cloister in the opposite direction to Morse (as they pass Morse gives Dexter a suspicious backwards glance). Filmed in the summer of 1986, it aired 6 January 1987. Anthony Minghella wrote the adaptation and the episode was directed by Alastair Reid.

Several changes were made from the book. Anne's last name of Scott was changed to Staveley (the part was played by Gemma Jones). The first names of the three Richards were changed to Anthony "Tony" (James Laurenson), Alan (Richard Durden), and Adele (Annie Lambert), making the Cs into As. Edward "Ted" Murdoch was changed to Ned Murdoch (Spencer Leigh). Former Doctor Who star Patrick Troughton, in one of his final roles, played George Jackson.

The character Sophocles's Oedipus Rex also figures in episode 3.1 of the spin-off TV series Lewis.

References[]

Further reading[]

  • Dexter, Colin (1981). The Dead of Jericho (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333317289.

External links[]

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