Landed Gently: Alan Hunter

I read some of the George Gently books years ago, but all I remember is that the protagonist is a police inspector. Landed Gently is the fourth book in the series  and the only one that I have read recently. In this story, Chief Inspector Gently travels to Northshire to visit with Sir Daynes Broke, the Chief Constable, and enjoy some pike fishing over Christmas. Thus this book may not be entirely representative of the series.

Gently is visiting Sir Daynes for a vacation but of course he gets involved in a murder investigation. The second evening of his visit, Gently, Sir Daynes, and Lady Broke are invited to an informal party at Lord Somerhayes' home, Merely Hall. The next morning, one of Lord Somerhayes' guests is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Gently cannot officially investigate the crime, but as a guest of the Chief Constable, he tags along for a visit to the crime scene and takes part in some interviews with witnesses and suspects. Sir Daynes actually does not want to admit that it is a crime but Gently is sure that the death was not accidental.

This mystery novel had a large cast that confused me, with a lot of red herrings. But I found the hero, Inspector Gently, very charming and I liked that Gently is an outsider in this investigation. The author's writing pulled me into the story and I was very entertained. And it was set at Christmas.

The book is prefaced by an "EDUCATIONAL NOTE"

Those readers familiar with the glories of Holkham will be in no doubt as to the source of a number of architectural details distributed about this novel. Those who are not so familiar are recommended to close this book immediately and to hasten to repair an education so gravely defective. It should not be necessary to add, but I do so out of courtesy, that the characters in the book, unlike the architecture, are wholly fictitious, and have existed nowhere except in the mind of 

Sincerely yours, Alan Hunter

And this description of the start of Gently's trip. Sergeant Dutt takes Chief Inspector Gently to the station. He is initially reluctant to go away at Christmas, but it is hard to refuse the invitation of a Chief Constable...

In spite of himself, Gently couldn't help feeling a mild thrill of excitement as he and Dutt, laden with luggage and the precious pike-rod, plunged into the icy pandemonium of Liverpool Street Station. So many people going home – going home for Christmas! There were queues at every platform and every ticket window, surging crowds of people, burdened, like himself, with suitcases, parcels, Christmas trees, everything under the sun. How could one fail to catch the spirit?

Here is some information about Alan Hunter and this series from Unbound -- UEA Archives Blog:

Written between 1955-1999, Hunter completed 46 novels across 45 years with punning titles like Gently Does It, Gently by the Shore, Gently Down the Stream, Gently Continental, Gently with the Ladies and so on. The popular BBC One television series George Gently and later Inspector George Gently were loosely based on Hunter’s novels.

...  ...

From Diss to Dunwich, Bury St Edmunds to the Broads, Gently found himself in locations across East Anglia and sometimes in London, Scotland and even Wiltshire. This is in contrast to the televised series which places Gently in Northumberland and Durham.

See Katrina's review at Pining for the West.

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Publisher: Dell, 1982 (first publ. 1957)
Length:    224 pages
Format:    Paperback
Series:     George Gently
Setting:    UK 
Genre:     Police procedural

Reading Summary for October 2017

It felt like I read fewer books in October, but it wasn't that bad, it just took me 18 days to finish two of the books, Emma and Strangers on a Train. Whiteout was also read during that time but it doesn't really count because even at 128 pages, a graphic novel doesn't take that long to read.

My project through December of this year is to read one book a month by Jane Austen, as a part of the Jane Austen Read All A-Long at James Reads Books.  In August I read Pride and Prejudice (a re-read)  and in September I read Mansfield Park. October's Austen book was Emma, and as I said, it took me a while. I did enjoy the book but it was slow going. My thoughts on the book are HERE.

I did not realize until I had listed all the books I read this month that four of my five crime fiction books were written prior to 1960. That surprised me because lately I have been reading a higher percentage of contemporary novels.

And these are the five crime fiction books I read in October:

Whiteout (1991), a graphic novel written by Greg Rucka, illustrated by Steve Lieber

This is a mystery / thriller set in Antarctica featuring Carrie Stetko, U.S. Marshal. The story has been adapted into a movie of the same title, which I have yet to see.

Strangers on a Train (1950) by Patricia Highsmith

This is a fairly well-known novel, and also has a movie adaptation, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The basic story is that two men meet on a train, and one of them suggests a murder pact. If they each murder a person that the other wants to get rid of, then they can get away with the perfect crime. A very good novel, but a disturbing read. Peggy at Peggy's Porch very kindly sent me this book, which I have been planning to read for years. 

Murder on the Blackboard (1932) by Stuart Palmer

Another book that has been adapted into a film. Oh no, a trend. It was not exactly deliberate, but I have had the Hildegarde Withers Mystery Collection from Warner Archives for quite a while, and wanted to read the book first.

Hildegarde Withers, a third-grade teacher in New York City, finds the dead body of an attractive young music teacher, Anise Halloran, in the cloakroom. Miss Withers calls in her friend Inspector Piper, but by the time he arrives, the body has disappeared. This is a complex mystery with a large cast, which also was a lot of fun to read.

Landed Gently (1957) by Alan Hunter

Another mystery novel with a large cast that confused me, and a lot of red herrings. But that was OK, because I found the hero, Inspector Gently, very charming and I liked that there were multiple investigators. Gently is visiting with the Chief Constable, Sir Daynes Broke, to get a chance at some pike fishing over Christmas, when a visitor at nearby Merely Hall is murdered. Being a guest of the Chief Constable, Gently cannot officially investigate the crime.

Envious Casca (1941) by Georgette Heyer

A country house mystery, with a corpse in a locked room, and a smallish set of residents and guests who are almost all suspects. I read a few of Georgette Heyer's mystery novels decades ago, and liked them well enough, but I was very surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. In a month of very good reading, this was easily my favorite read. Another one set at Christmas.