I enjoyed the TV series years ago, despite never being able to follow the plot and finding Morse himself basically unlikeable if occasionally brilliant. I mostly enjoyed the relationship between Morse and Lewis, and the convoluted journey towards a solution.
I took this out of the library to read while convalescing after major surgery and I think I am still reeling from the blatant and entrenched misogyny which oozes nastily from almost every page! I was a young woman in the 1970s and this reminded me, horribly, of the attitudes that were all too prevalent and so, so hard to push back against.
But I persevered - I need a lot of books at the moment - and I enjoyed aspects of the labyrinthine plot and its final resolution. I somehow managed to compartmentalise the misogynist element, just in order to get on with trying to work out the plot.
Whether I'll bother with another of Dexter's books, I'm not sure. The misogyny is not even particularly attached to anyone in particular, although Morse is obviously seriously tainted - expecting women to be available to him and labelling them 'tart' if he decides he's not interested - but it seems that whole objectification of women strand is the author's own fantasy world. No thanks.