Amorous Leander

Chief Superintendent Gently #30

by Alan Hunter

The Norfolk Broads seemed the perfect place to recover... How could novelist Stella Rushton know that life-threatening "accidents" awaited her there? Horrified and alone, she turns to the quiet, pipe-smoking fisherman--Chief Superintendent Gently.

Genres: Mystery

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Alan Hunter was born at Hoveton, Norfolk and went to school across the River Bure in Wroxham. He left school at 14 and worked on his father's farm near Norwich. He enjoyed dinghy sailing on the Norfolk Broads, wrote natural history notes for the local newspaper, and wrote poetry, some of which was published while he was in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

He married, in 1944, Adelaide Cooper, who survives him with their daughter. After the war he managed the antiquarian books department of Charles Cubitt in Norwich. Four years later, in 1950, he established his own bookshop on Maddermarket in the city.

From 1955 until 1998 he published a Gently detective novel nearly every year. He retired to Brundall in Norfolk where he continued his interests in local history, natural history, and sailing

Reviews

[Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder]

Gently Incognito
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2016) of the original Constable (UK) hardcover published as "Amorous Leander" (1983) & the Walker Mysteries (US) hardcover published as "Murder on the Broadlands" (1984).

He let them sink slowly out of sight, then winked at her and took out a pipe. He was a big, solidly-built man, probably nearer fifty than forty. He had a likeable, rugged face with a determined, square jaw, a strong nose, emphatic brows and hair lightly touched with grey. He wore an ancient tweed jacket and a yet older, more shapeless hat, and was studying her amusedly with twinkling, greenish eyes.

Gently With Passion starts off as more of a romance novel, as jilted author Stella Rushton retreats to the rivers & waterways countryside of the Norfolk Broadlands after her supposed fiancé marries another. Hesitantly she starts an affair with a younger man, but then he is found dead, perhaps by accidental misadventure or was it murder? In the same vicinity she meets an older man on a solo fishing vacation. Rushton takes him to be a country doctor and he allows her to continue that impression. The reader of course realizes immediately that this is an incognito Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent George Gently who is bound to become involved with the case, even if unofficially.


The dust cover of the original UK hardcover published by Constable in 1983. Image sourced from Goodreads.

Author Alan Hunter takes an unorthodox approach in this novel with the Gently character not appearing until the half-way mark and only identifying himself to the main character at the 90% point. That doesn't detract from the reader's enjoyment and adds its own unique suspense as we wait for the final reveal.

This 30th book is the last of the 46 George Gently novels to have been republished by Constable in paperback and eBook formats in 2016. The remaining 16 books (1984-1999) are only available as highly priced first edition hardcovers as of 2023. So this mostly ends my binge read which was inspired by my late discovery through the TV-series. I may still read some of the later books if I am able to source them at a reasonable price or make a lucky library or used book store find.

Trivia and Link
Gently With Passion was not adapted for the Inspector George Gently TV series (2007-2017). Very few of the TV episodes are based on the original books and the characters are quite different, e.g. Sgt Bacchus does not appear in the books. The timeline for the TV series takes place in the 1960s only.

[Paul]

This was rather an unusual entry in the George Gently series, in that the good Chief Superintendent is very much in stealth mode throughout. In fact, he doesn't even appear until the halfway point and even then he isn't actually identified by name until about 90% through. I think that, when this book was first published, Hunter was trying to fool people into thinking this wasn't a Gently novel. Alas, when you're retrospectively working your way through the series, the surprise is spoiled a little.

Even with its different protagonist (a female author who has retreated to the country after a nasty relationship breakup) and delayed crime the murder doesn't even happen until we're over halfway through this is still a cracking good read.

It's also where George Gently and I part company for the time being as this book (thirtieth in a series of forty six) is the last one that's available as an e-book as I write this (May 2017). As I've had to say a sad farewell to paper books due to my atrophying eyes, I shall just have to wait for the publisher to release the rest of the series as either e-books or audiobooks before I can get my next George Gently fix.

[Louise Culmer]

I've been working my way steadily through the George Gently novels, and this is one of the least satisfactory so far. to begin with, it's hardly about Inspector Gently at all, he doesn't even appear until halfway through the book and has only a few brief scenes, and he does hardly any detecting at all. The book is told entirely from the point of view of a self absorbed young writer staying in a cottage on the Norfolk broads while recovering from an unhappy love affair. She is interested in nothing except her own affairs, hers is not an agreeable personality.
The only really interesting part of the book is a quite detailed description of Gently: "he was a big, solidly built man, probably nearer fifty than forty. he had a likeable, rugged face with a determined, square jaw, a strong nose, emphatic brows and hair lightly touched with grey. he waa studying her amusedly with fwinkling, greenish eyes."

[Sparrow .]

Alan Hunter – about whom I can find essentially nothing on the vast World Wide Web – is one of the great writers of our time. (He died in 2005.) How can I instigate a belated vogue for his careful writings, chronicling the Taoist adventures of Inspector Gently, an aging detective from East Anglia?

Each of his novels (or each of the ones I’ve read) has a specific geographical setting. This one centers on Heron Cottage, “near Barford Broad” [in the county of Norfolk]:

“The cottage was situated on a by-road about a mile from Alderford village, standing back behind trees that almost hid it from passers-by. It was single-story, built of flint and rusty brick, the roof thatched with reed thatch and the windows furnished with green shutters. It wasn’t large, but it was delectable.”

You see what I mean? The prose is efficient, modest, but shining. Hunter – is that his real name? – writes the way Coleman Hawkins plays the saxophone.

I hate to reveal the plot of any book, especially a mystery, so I will just mention the name Stella Rushton. She’s a novelist, and this book is about her.

[David Highton]

A bit dated, and a small part for Gently, but a decent read set on the Norfolk Broads

[Alan]

Tricky book to rate I found as the story is not the typical gently investigation/mystery/thriller.
Gently himself does not appear for about three quarters of the novel and when he does it is as a bystander to events.
The novel is really centred around a lady who has been involved in a failed (for want of better word) relationship and how she comes out from its shadow. Obviously being a gently novel this does involves a murder eventually.
The descriptions of people and places in the broads are very good and up to the normal standards of the author. Despite not being across that part of the world for a number of years the descriptive passages really bring it back to me. This is something that Alan hunter really did very well.
I have a number of later gently novels to read so am interested if this change in style will continue or if it was a one-off experiment. Overall it reminded me of the change of 1 James Bond novel (spy who loved me) from the normal Fleming style..
The rating is difficult as there are only 1-5 available
Therefore as a mystery thriller I think I is a 3 BUT as a dramatic (sic) novel then the rating would be a 4.

[Nancy]

First, general info: If you've come to this book series because you saw the George Gently tv shows...these books are very different. I read these and watch those, like both of them, but consider them two different entities.

Secondly, specifically this book: Wow, what a flashback to the times when premarital sex ruined your reputation.... Not one of the best Gently stories, but I'm determined to read them all so this one just was the next in line. Not a meaty mystery.

[mrs joan v cecil]

I completely agree with the previous reviewer. No a typical Gently book at all, and altho' the writing is smooth & good, not quite what I expect or want in a Gently story.