Gently Where She Lay: A Format

Chief Superintendent Gently #19

by Alan Hunter

There was no sign of a struggle, no wounds or bruises. To Gently, it looked like Vivienne had simply lain down and died, yet he knew she had been murdered.

The Chief Inspector George Gently Case Files
Alan Hunter

The unflappable Inspector George Gently has become a household name through the hit BBC TV series starring Martin Shaw. These are the original books on which the TV series was based, although the George Gently in Alan Hunter's whodunits is somewhat different to his TV counterpart. He is more calculating, more analytical, and his investigations are even more enthralling.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

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]

First Person Gently
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2013) of the Cassell hardcover original (1972).

‘Do you like doing this job of yours?’
I made a face. ‘Not very much.’
‘Why do it then?’
‘There’s something sacramental about it.’
‘Sacramental!' He laughed amusedly. 'I suppose you do hear lots of confessions.’
‘My people are usually at the end of their tether. I represent their last link.’
‘Through you salvation.’
‘In a sort of way. Murder is a crime that must be shriven. The killer puts himself outside society and I’m his only way back.’

Gently Where She Lay finds Superintendent George Gently called in on a case where divorcee Vivienne Selly is found smothered in her bed. This case was unique in the books of the series that I've read to date in that it is written in the first person from Gently's point of view. That doesn't really provide any real eureka moment where we learn Gently's realization of the culprit, as that simply comes along naturally during the course of the interviews.

The book was more risque than other books of the series, as we learn that the victim was a dominatrix and had a cult of followers. The sexual element is not portrayed explicitly however. The ending reveal was more pathetic than dramatic.

I am continuing with the George Gently novels as my current 'light' reading next to more serious reads and/or my translation work. Although author Alan Hunter does experiment with occasional stream of consciousness and other unconventional methods for the genre, overall they are mostly in the cozy line and I still try to imagine Martin Shaw from the TV series in the Gently role, even though the TV adaptation was quite different.


The rather disturbing dust cover of the original hardcover published by Cassell in 1972, which gives the impression of it being a nightmare out of Paul Gauguin's Tahiti period. Image sourced from Goodreads.

Trivia and Links
The George Gently books were adapted as the TV series Inspector George Gently (2008-2017) with actor Martin Shaw in the title role. Very few of the TV episodes are based on the original books though 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. A trailer for the first episode can be seen here.

[Paul]

Alan Hunter does something a bit different in this, the nineteenth George Gently book; he writes it in the first person, effectively making this the first book in the series actually narrated by Gently himself.

This gives us a look into the workings of our protagonist's mind, which is interesting as he's always been somewhat enigmatic up 'til now. His narration reveals a melancholic man with a darker aspect than has ever been seen in his previous third person adventures. He suffers from depressions; he longs to give it all up and travel the world but feels he has a duty to remain in law enforcement; he fantasises about punching a suspect who rubs him up the wrong way. At one point, he even vows to ruin one suspect's life, regardless of whether he turns out to be guilty or not, because he finds him so abhorrent.

In the light of all this we're left with a more complex character, albeit one that's not quite as likeable. No bad thing at all.

Honestly, I'd have given this book the full five stars if it weren't for the fact that Hunter uses a twist ending that was uncomfortably close to one he'd used in a previous book. I'd actually ruled out the suspect who ultimately turned out to be the killer purely because it would have been too similar to the ending of that previous book.

[John]

Three and a half stars.

This is the first Gently that I have read which is written in the first person. Gently himself is the narrator and it shows a different side to him. In a strange way he reminds me a bit of Maigret the way he wanders about alone going over the case in his mind with the reader being privy to all his thoughts.

Nothing particularly special about the plot but a pretty good lightweight read.

[Paul Allard]

One of the better Gently novels but ...

This novel deals with Inspector George Gently investigating the murder of a woman at a seaside town in England. There are only a few characters involved which narrows down the list of possible suspects. From 1970, it is dated in many ways and I find it hard to believe how cultured and knowledgeable the inspector is about art etc.. The characters are relatively interesting, even if a bit stereotypical in places. It's a short novel which hasn't really passed the test of time but it's better than others by Alan Hunter that I have read.

[Jo Jenner]

I really enjoyed this one. Fast flowing, easy read. I read it in a day.
Written in the first person you follow Gently as he tries to solve the murder of Vivienne.
I have to boast I did get there before Gently which definitely added to my enjoyment and my rush to finish the book to prove I was right.

[Mary Fleming]

Not believable.r

The idea that he believes the murderer had no motive is crazy and the idea y ou could smother someone like they wanted it is even crazier. He gets away with murder.

[David Highton]

The first in the series written in the first person, as Gently is sent to an apparent murder in a small genteel seaside town

[Alison]

Strange to find it written in the first person. It took a couple of pages to realise it was Gently narrating! Read in a couple of days with a nicely flowing plot.

[Janet]

Really found this one uninteresting.