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Not since Sherlock Holmes has a fictional detective captured the imagination of the British public in the same way as Colin Dexter's irascible, intellectual, crossword-solving, opera-singing, ale-quaffing, monosyllabically-named Morse. A former classics teacher who took up “mystery writing” during a wet family holiday in 1972, Dexter created one of the all-time-great British detective series, but it only achieved true iconic status in Morse's television portrayal by the actor John Thaw. Morse first came to the small screen in 1987, 12 years after the first book. Thaw's was a memorable incarnation, ably abetted by Kevin Whately as his long-suffering sidekick Sergeant Lewis.Eventually the Morse on the page and the Morse on the screen fused to an extent that the final books read more like sparse scripts, while the public fuss over his never-mentioned (until the last book/episode) first name, overshadowed the plots.

One to read: Last Seen Wearing (1976) Buy the book

Colin Dexter on the musical of Morse, The Times

The 50 Greatest Crime Writers

Our selection of the all-time greats: Post your suggestions in the comments box below

Background

• Ian Rankin on the trouble with lists

• More trouble with lists

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• Top 50 Crime Writers - Main Page

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