Last seen wearing ...

Having read the book Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter a couple of weeks ago, I decided to dig out the DVD and watch the adaptation for TV as portrayed in Morse.  The most striking thing about the TV version is that it bares very little resemblence to the book.  Just about everything has been changed - context, the characters and their lifestyles, the relationships between the characters, the storyline, the killer's identity.  It's a wonder that they even called it 'Last Seen Wearing'.  I really don't understand why the writer did this.  The book could have been adapted as is and it would have worked just as well, if not better than the adaptation (if one can call it adaptation).  What I do know is, it annoyed the heck out of me and the person I gave the running commentary to on what had been altered!  If I was Colin Dexter I probably would have been livid.  I'd love to hear a rationale explanation as to why so many changes were made as I really can't think of any.

Review of Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter (Pan, 1976)

Whilst following up on a cold case involving the disappearance of teenage school girl, Chief Inspector Ainley has died in a traffic accident.  The case is passed to Morse, who is less than enamoured to be given a two year old missing persons file where all the leads seem to have gone dead.  Two days after Ainley’s death, however, a two sentence letter arrives stating that she is alive and well.  Morse doesn’t believe it.  In his head, the letter is a hoax because Valerie Taylor is dead.  She must be after all this time.  Forced to pursue the case, he starts to delve into the live of Valerie, a girl who seemingly liked the company of older men, trying to discover what happened to her.

There are two elements that raise Last Seen Wearing above usual police procedural fare.  The first is the plotting and the second the characterization.  Dexter maps out a wonderfully constructed story of feints and blind alleys as Morse stumbles from one line of reasoning to another, his theories constantly dashed on the rocks of empirical evidence.  Every time it appears he has found a path forward, it turns into a cul-de-sac.  This is not a tale of a genius cop who always finds his quarry, but is rather more Clouseau in his bumbling, much to Lewis’ delight.  Morse and Lewis are both well drawn, somewhat complex and paradoxical characters.  Morse, for example, is both cultured and coarse, buying the Sunday Times and the News of the World as his Sunday papers and dragging Lewis into a strip club on a visit to London.  The support cast of suspects were also nicely realised.  As always, Oxford and its surrounds provide a scenic backdrop. Overall, a very enjoyable read.