 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Colin Dexter |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Martin White |
| Language | English |
| Series | Inspector Morse series, #7 |
| Genre | crime novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Publication date | October 1986 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 0-333-43139-1 |
| OCLC | 59097956 |
| Preceded by | The Riddle of the Third Mile |
| Followed by | The Wench Is Dead |
The Secret of Annexe 3 is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the seventh novel in Inspector Morse series.
Plot summary
As the novel begins, Margaret Bowman of Charlbury Drive Chipping Norton is off to a funeral. Her husband, left alone, finds an angry letter, apparently from a lover, in his wife's handbag.
The guests of Haworth Hotel rise late on New Year's Day, with one exception, the guest in Annexe 3 who missed New Year's Day completely. He lies dead in his room on the blood-soaked bed.
After the murder, Inspector Morse, with the help of the receptionist Miss Sarah Jonstone, examines the letters and phone messages booking the various rooms at the hotel. Discovering the non-existent address, he deduces that a postman must be involved.
Thomas Bowman, the postman, turns out to be the corpse, and his wife and her lover are the instigators of the murder. Winston Grant, a black musician, was hired to provide the alibi.
Adaptations
Although the narratives differ, this novel provided the inspiration for the Inspector Morse television episode The Secret of Bay 5B, the last episode of series 3, aired in 1989. It guest stars Mel Martin as Rosemary Henderson (the rough equivalent of Margaret Bowman), Philip McGough as Brian Pierce (the rough equivalent of Winston Grant) and George Irving as George Henderson (the rough equivalent of Thomas Bowman). The corpse is found in a car in a multi storey rather than in a hotel annexe, and a number of complications are added to the plot, with Rosemary having two lovers, one of whom kills the other and her husband, and a subplot of Pierce being involved in art fraud. Whereas the book has Margaret escaping justice, Rosemary is arrested with her accomplice at the end.
Publication history
- 1986, London: Macmillan ISBN 0-333-43139-1, Pub date October 1986, Hardback
- 1987, New York: St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-01089-3, Pub date November 1987, Hardback
References
Further reading
- Bishop, David, The Complete Inspector Morse: From the Original Novels to the TV Series London: Reynolds & Hearn (2006) ISBN 1-905287-13-5
- Bird, Christopher, The World of Inspector Morse: A Complete A-Z Reference for the Morse Enthusiast Foreword by Colin Dexter, London: Boxtree (1998) ISBN 0-7522-2117-5
| Inspector Morse by Colin Dexter | |
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