The book pictured is an omnibus edition of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse novels. The first is Last Bus to Woodstock which introduces us to the Inspector with all his strengths and weaknesses already intact and ingrained into his character. The story revolves around two girls hitchhiking a ride and one ends up dead a few hours later. The search for the second girl seems the best bet for locating the killer. This series has more layers than most in the genre. Morse is a bit unusual for a detective character in that his logical deductions often turn out to be wrong and Dexter isn't shy about showing the character's flaws as well. The character ages through out the series until the final book, another interesting aspect that shifts away from the norm in a mystery series. There's also the added bonus of the BBC television series in which the author makes Hitchcockian appearances. Then there's the mystery of the Inspector's first name.... ( )