Colin Dexter - The Secret of Annexe 3

The seventh novel in the Inspector Morse series, Colin Dexter's The Secret of Annexe 3 might not be the first book you'd suggest to a novice reader of the detective genre. But I was led to the book because I'd watched the marvellous Endeavour TV dramas. From there, I meandered into the Inspector Morse TV series. And then found this book in the library.

The detective shows born out of Dexter's novels - particularly Endeavour - weave culture deftly into the fabric of the narrative. However, the book can be a bit of a plod where the television adaptations and especially the offshoots (Endeavour and Lewis) entertain and educate.

Morse turned, and for a few seconds looked back up the short corridor down which they had walked; looked at the marks of many muddy shoes (including their own) on the purple carpeting - the latter seeming to Morse almost as distasteful as the reproduction of the late Renoir, 'Les nues dans l'herbe', which hung on the wall to his right. 

Renoir was a major painter of his time but I have not found the painting mentioned. For the Indian reader, here is a sample of his work. Do look into Renoir's output and delight. 

 

Auguste Renoir: Luncheon of the Boating Party

Interestingly, The Secret of Annexe 3 might be the only Morse novel with no specific show based on it. Some say The Secret of Bay 5B (hard to find) draws something from it.

I must admit that I was also charmed by descriptions of the author's personality and the anecdote of how he came to write crime stories. They say that it was during a rainy holiday in the countryside. Holed up with a bunch of restless kids, he sat himself down at the kitchen table and out came the first story. However, nothing else about the man suggests any engagement with crime and punishment. He looks like a shy, kindly old academic and that, it appears, is what he was. 

But he does share traits with the detective he birthed: they both love doing crossword puzzles. The imaginary crime fighter loves classical music too - Wagner operas in particular.  

Dexter gave Morse his own interests: that fondness for Wagner, pleasure in cryptic crosswords and liking for real ales and single malt whisky. Both men were heavy smokers.

Colin Dexter obituary: Inspector Morse creator and one of the great whodunnit men

 

Getting back to the culture component, here is some Wagner in the times of the pandemic:

The Secret of Annexe 3 will delight those who enjoy reading about police procedurals:

Morse had asked him to check (factually) with Phillips all the names and addresses of those staying in the hotel, and briefly himself to interview as many vital witnesses as he could find – with Phillips to take on the rest; to try to form a picture (synoptically) of the scene at the hotel on the previous evening; and to keep his antennae attuned (almost metaphysically, it appeared) for any signals from an unsuspected psychopath or any posthumous transmissions from the newly dead. Festivities – all of them, including the pantomime – had been cancelled, and the hotel was now grimly still, with not even the quiet click of snooker balls from the games room to suggest that murder was anything but a deadly serious matter.

In contrast to the debonair Inspector Morse, Dexter created Detective Sergeant Robert Lewis. 

Lewis himself had never spent a Christmas or a New Year away from home since his marriage; and although he knew that family life was hardly prize-winning roses all along the way, he had never felt the urge to get away from his own modest semi-detached house up in Headington over such holiday periods. Yet now – most oddly, considering the circumstances – he began to see for the first time, some of the potential attractions: no frenetic last-minute purchases from supermarkets; no pre-feastday preparations of stuffings and sauces; no sticky saucepans to scour; no washing-up of plates and cutlery. Yes! Perhaps Lewis would mention the idea to the missus, for it seemed perfectly clear to him as he spoke to guest after guest that a wondrously good time was being had by all – until a man had been found murdered.

The murder takes place in a cosy hotel where people routinely book themselves in to celebrate things. And, in a nutshell, that is what the story will do for you and why you should probably decide to read it this Christmas or gift it. After all, it might be some time before we can book ourselves into a hotel for a holiday!