A review by chally
Gently Does It by Alan Hunter
5.0
The pace of this book is slow, measured and thoughtful, just like its protagonist. And I loved it for that. Detective Inspector George Gently is a pleasure to spend time with: a methodical, deep-thinking man in his fifties, Gently is mild, quiet and rather humble. He's fond of fishing, food and peppermint creams. He's also a particularly fine detective: the type who is precise, observant and never satisfied with less than the truth.
Where other policemen rush to close a case early, Gently believes in taking his time. He's presented with a house full of tangled characters, each hiding secrets about the afternoon that the master of the house was killed. Gently will slowly but surely untangle all of these muddled stories until he identifies the culprit.
What's interesting about this book is that it isn't quite a classic whodunnit. The reader discovers the truth about the murder relatively early - about three-quarters of the way through the book - and the rest deals with the challenge of uncovering enough evidence about the crime to arrest and charge the murderer. It's intriguing watching Gently match wits with a clever, ruthless killer who's planned out his crime almost too perfectly.
Set (and in fact originally published) in the mid-fifties, this book is also a pleasant trip into the mid twentieth century. It appears that Alan Hunter wrote a lot of books about George Gently; I can easily imagine reading them all in time and I hope I'll get the chance to.
Where other policemen rush to close a case early, Gently believes in taking his time. He's presented with a house full of tangled characters, each hiding secrets about the afternoon that the master of the house was killed. Gently will slowly but surely untangle all of these muddled stories until he identifies the culprit.
What's interesting about this book is that it isn't quite a classic whodunnit. The reader discovers the truth about the murder relatively early - about three-quarters of the way through the book - and the rest deals with the challenge of uncovering enough evidence about the crime to arrest and charge the murderer. It's intriguing watching Gently match wits with a clever, ruthless killer who's planned out his crime almost too perfectly.
Set (and in fact originally published) in the mid-fifties, this book is also a pleasant trip into the mid twentieth century. It appears that Alan Hunter wrote a lot of books about George Gently; I can easily imagine reading them all in time and I hope I'll get the chance to.