Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dead at 86

Colin Dexter, author of detective Inspector Morse, and his adventures in solving mysteries in Oxfordshire has died at the 86th birthday. Crime writers from all walks of the world have come together to pay respect to this “kind, generous man”.

Macmillan, his publisher, announced Dexter’s passing at Oxford home on Tuesday. Val McDermid was a close friend of Dexter and described him as “a lovely lady” and not as grumpy like his creation. “But he did share Morse’s love for music.”McDermid said that he told McDermid early in his career that he was anxious about writing police procedurals. He replied, “Well, dear, I had already written five Morse novels, before I ever set foot in a station.”

Lee Child, the author, described Dexter’s “revolutionary” qualities. Child stated that Dexter was a “revolutionary” writer who wrote a character without making any concessions to popularity. Morse was esoteric, cantankerous and bad-tempered. This made it clear to Child that integrity and authenticity are the best. His literary descendants are all around. He is the root of a large portion of our genre’s family tree.