Oxford has become the prime location for crime fiction and murder mystery novels over the decades.

Earlier this week filming for the eighth series of popular Inspector Morse spin-off Endeavour was taking place in an Oxford park.

It was also revealed that Agatha Christie’s former house and inspiration for famous crime fiction is up for sale.

Read also: Endeavour film crews take over Oxford park in the sunshine

However, there are many more crime fiction stories to immerse yourself in all inspired by Oxfordshire, here are seven must read novels.

1. Inspector Morse books by Colin Dexter

Dexter’s Inspector Morse books about a troubled detective is the most famous mystery series set in Oxford.

2. Books by Agatha Christie

Winterbrook, the Wallingford house which has recently been put on sale for £2.75 million, is thought to be the model for the home of Miss Marple.

Read also: Crime novelist Agatha Christie's home could be yours for £2.75m

3. An Oxford Tragedy by J.C Masterman (1933)

This is the book that is thought to have started the tradition of setting mystery novels in Oxford. It is set in the fictional St Thomas’ College it follows the mystery of a murdered academic, killed by the weapon that he had confiscated previously.

4. Treasure in Oxford by David Williams (1988)

The novel is about a murder in Walton Street with some pricey sketches as the motive.

5. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay (1935)

The novel is set in the fictional Persephone College, whose bursar is found dead in her boat on the River Cherwell by four undergraduates. 

6. Landscape with Dead Dons by Robert Robinson (1956)

The novel opens at Oxford University where the body of a Vice- Chancellor is found stiff among a group of carved stone rooftop statues.

7. The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin (1944)

Unlike many fictional detectives the protagonist in this novel is a cheery detective with a fairly normal homelife taking on mysteries in Oxford.

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