The Jewel that was Ours

An ornate, indulgently wordy police puzzle, with good characterization balanced by a frequently dragging plot.

Reviewed by David on August 22, 1999

Genre: Mystery (Police Procedural)

Synopsis: When group of American retiree tourists visiting Oxford suffer a theft and a mysterious death, the cantankerous and insightful Inspector Morse is called in. As he tries to untangle a web of unreliable alibis and a plethora of motives, a further tragedy strikes.

Full Review: This is an unabridged recording of The Jewel that was Ours. The novel takes place in Oxford, and the brilliant and erratic, frequently intoxicated and dyspeptic Morse, along with his rather plainer foil Seargent Lewis, toil until nearly the end to untangle the crimes.

The book is full of literary references, and goes rather too far in the references and the soliloquys, both Morse's and authorial; as though more in love with the language than the plot. Indeed, this is the book's greatest flaw: while the rhetoric is indulged, the pacing frequently becomes somnolent.

Another flaw is the tendency for wordy melodrama, which the reading tone seems to emphasize, seeming to echo Morse's more loquacious moods.

On the positive side, the characterization is very good, although the final solution seems to hang somewhat in a vacuum. Morse's reputation, frequently restated in the novel, seems under-earned by his erratic progress in this crossword-like mystery.

The Jewel is a skilled, literate and somewhat enjoyable mystery which would have been better at two-thirds its length.

Overall: 5.5; Plot: 4.5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 5; Originality: 4.5;

Copyright date 1991, Recorded Books, 1992, Audio Cassette, 7 cassettes