The Oxford Examinations Syndicate is responsible for running overseas O levels in a variety of countries, most notably in the Middle East, and new recruit Nicholas Quinn is settling nicely into the job. Concerns were raised about the fact that Quinn is deaf, but with a hearing aid and impressive lipreading abilities, Quinn is doing very well in the job, but he is rubbing some more experienced colleagues up the wrong way.

When Quinn is found murdered, Chief Inspector Morse finds plenty of suspects, but everyone seems to have a cast iron alibi, despite Morse being unable to pin down exactly when Quinn was killed. As the Syndicate closes ranks, a second violent death complicates matters still further.

So, the big question. Is Colin Dexter being satirical about men’s (and women’s) attitudes to sex or is he just saying what he sees (or thinks)? Because every single character in this book seems to be motivated by wanting to look at naked women or having affairs. Every single one. It’s a railway timetable of a mystery that has the reader trying to keep track of who was where at what time, but one of the places that, if I recall correctly, every suspect and the victim visited on the fateful day was the Oxford pornography cinema. And nobody seems remotely embarrassed by this, treating it as just something you do? Personally, if my alibi was the fact that I was watching Brenda Does Birmingham, I’d be reluctant to admit it. Even Lewis seems happy at the end of the book, when Morse decides to treat him to a visit to the cinema once the case has solved! It’s not me – this is just weird.

Oh, yes, the rest of the book. Better mention that.

As with most mysteries where you have to keep track of where everyone is to find the window of opportunity, it can be tricky for the reader not to lose focus. A little like Last Seen Wearing, I thought there was a clever central idea with how Quinn’s deafness ties into the plot – twice, in fact – but extending it to novel length involved a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between suspects. Dexter does a nice structure of dividing the book into How?, When? and Who? but there was quite a bit of “yes, I lied, I was actually…” and “yes, I lied again, I was actually…” and “would you like to grope me, Inspector?” OK, that last one only happens once, but given it was in a hospital bed…

Dexter writes very well, and he’s clearly used his experience at examination setting to create the world the book sits in. But this is the third book in the series and I’m looking forward to one where his cleverness at wordplay and plotting is balanced by at least one decent female character. If I recall correctly, the next one, Service For All The Dead, might be that book…