Landed Gently
The Inspector George Gently Case Files – Book IV
Alan Hunter

Robinson (Constable and Robinson)
21 April 2011/ ISBN 9781849015011
Historical Mystery / 1957 Norfolk, England
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Chief Inspector George Gently isn’t going to be relaxing alone in his London apartment this Christmas; he has been invited to stay with the Chief Constable instead. As he travels to Sir Daynes Broke’s rural home, he chances to share a railway carriage with a young American who is going to stay at nearby Merely Hall. Gently thinks that this is the first and last time he will see William Earle and in a sense it is, as Earle is killed by a fall downstairs early on Christmas morning. Naturally Gently is called in to assist and finds himself in the middle of an unusual situation.

Surely no self-respecting classic crime novelist’s list is complete without at least one of these – a country house murder mystery! Setting it at Christmas ensures that this is the sort of tale that is best read curled up in a warm room with a winter wind howling outside in the dark. Hunter is adept at depicting a stately home on the edge of the world we live in today, with the owner realizing that he is a relic of a past time, running a tapestry weaving business whilst opening the house’s doors to sightseers at other times. He is also adept at introducing the reader to the arcane world of a different trade, and this time it is tapestry weaving, although don’t expect yards of unwanted information on the subject. In some ways this is another linear tale with a murder to solve and not a lot in the way of side plots, but expect social comment, a fascinating insight into the changing world of the mid 1950s, and of course an enjoyable, well constructed mystery novel.

Reviewer's Note: Christmas