The Dead of Jericho(1981)

Colin Dexter

He meets her at a suburban party. They share a flirtation over their red wine ... and he doesn't see her again. It's the old familiar story for Morse. Then one day he just happens to be in Jericho, where Anne Scott lives. Nobody's home - and Morse should know since her door is unlocked and he takes a quick look inside. Only later does Morse learn that the lady was at home, just not alive. The jury's verdict at the inquest is death by suicide. But that doesn't sit right with Morse, and he embarks on his own investigation into the tangled private life of a lovely woman, all the while feeling his own remorse of what might have been ...