The Inspector George Gently Case Files
Book X
Alan Hunter
Robinson Publishing (Constable
and Robinson)
April 1, 2012 / ISBN 978-1780331508
Mystery / 1962 / Norfolk, England
Amazon
/ Amazon
UK
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
Somewhere in the east country there runs a great road called the
A1. For centuries people have travelled up and down it with just
their destinations in mind; parts of it are nowhere in particular.
This is the story of how one tiny spot in a lay-by becomes briefly
famous when a Polish immigrant trucker called Tim Teodowicz is murdered.
Shot two hundred times with what must be a machine gun, there are
various suspects for the killing and as many reasons why anybody
should want him dead, George Gently investigates.
Alan Hunter excels at the sort of evocative descriptions of a place
that has existed forever but is suddenly spotlighted. He must have
loved roads, as in Gently Go Man (also reviewed on this site) he
waxes lyrical about them and does so again here. For modern readers
this is a fascinating snapshot of a time when the Second World War
was recent history, a time of social upheaval when Britain was starting
to become a multi-cultural society. Once again I guessed much of
the plot, which is very linear; but with a series like this I think
the plot is only a small part of its appeal. From the sinister MI5
operative to the minute description of a post-war air force base,
a lonely roadhouse to those poetic descriptions of the A1 this is
social history at its most entertaining.
Other
reviews in this series
Gently
Does It - Book
I
Gently by the Shore – Book
II
Gently Down The Stream – Book
III
Landed Gently – Book
IV
Gently Through the Mill - Book
V
Gently In The Sun – Book
VI
Gently With The Painters –
Book VII
Gently To The Summit – Book
VIII
Gently Go Man - Book
IX
Gently Where The Roads Go –
Book X
Gently Floating - Book
XI
Gently Sahib - Book
XII
Gently With The Ladies -
Book XIII
Gently Northwest - Book
XV
Gently Continental - Book
XVI
Gently With The Innocents - Book
XVII
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