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Chief Superintendent Gently #15
Gently Continental
Good music, fine dining and comfortable surroundings - that's how the Hotel Continental is advertised. Fraud, blackmail, torture and murder - that's what it becomes famous for. The popular hotel on the English coast built its reputation on its Viennese cuisine and Austrian style but when one of the guests is found dead at the bottom of the nearby cliffs bearing the wounds of a man who has been systematically tortured, Gently brushes aside the hotel's facade of respectability. International intrigue and a dark secret that stretches from Nazi-occupied Austria across the Atlantic to the back streets of New York leave Gently juggling with a deadly conundrum.
188 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
6 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Alan Hunter
105 books61 followersAlan 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 30, 2023
Gently at the Viennese Hotel (on the English Coast)
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2012) of the Cassell Crime hardcover original (1967).
As I've learned during this deep dive of Alan Hunter's George Gently novels, he changes styles and methods with each outing. Some of the books insert Gently into a cultural milieu where the dialogue of the witnesses and suspects can be in 60s beatnik lingo, in Scottish dialect, in Caribbean dialect, etc. For Gently Continental, Gently investigates the death of a vacationer at an English seaside resort which is run by an Austrian family of refugees from the time of the Second World War. They have built up the hotel through an inheritance and through hard work. Often their dialogue is in untranslated German, although the sentences are short and usually easy to understand.
The victim was tortured prior to his death, but met his end by fatally falling or jumping off a seaside cliff onto ruined debris below. The identity of the supposed Irish-American victim seems obvious at first, but soon a false identity is revealed with a mysterious origin and connections. The family and hotel staff are all under suspicion. In one of his stylistic changes, Hunter writes all of the suspect interrogations as if they were a playscript (or as if they were a police stenographer's transcription).
The dust cover of the original UK hardcover published by Cassell Crime in 1967. Image sourced from Goodreads.
The bulk of the rest of the text is in exaggerated purple prose like that of Gently's portrait above or in the aftermath of his revelations to his police colleagues below. I'm continuing to enjoy these Alan Hunter novels as my current favourite light reading in between other works.
Sidenote
There is no mention of Gently's girlfriend/partner Brenda Merryn in this book and one might suspect that Gently's leading her into danger in the previous book Gently North-West (Gently #14 - 1967) might have caused a breakup. In fact she is mentioned again a few books later, although without an appearance.
Trivia and Link
Gently Continental 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.
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2012) of the Cassell Crime hardcover original (1967).
They are in the presence of a manner of hero. One whose occupation is with death, with many deaths, with death in terror. They stare at Gently, this modern hero, this man who opens up mysteries, whose strong hands, casually filling a pipe, have ripped the veil from many a dying: who has seen what they pray not to see, has dealt with men they pray not to deal with: makes, as vocation, a common thing, what most men fear and turn aside from: at him they stare, a modern hero, a man who occupies himself with death. And he unthinkingly stares back, seeing the straw he will make his bricks with, mindlessly noting a thousand things as he tells the reporters precisely nothing, quite unaware within himself of the projection of a heroic image, which he would immediately know to be false, though it would reveal to him much about those who perceived it. He stares, and eyes fall, though his stare is a mild one. His stare has no penetration, yet it seems to lay one open.
As I've learned during this deep dive of Alan Hunter's George Gently novels, he changes styles and methods with each outing. Some of the books insert Gently into a cultural milieu where the dialogue of the witnesses and suspects can be in 60s beatnik lingo, in Scottish dialect, in Caribbean dialect, etc. For Gently Continental, Gently investigates the death of a vacationer at an English seaside resort which is run by an Austrian family of refugees from the time of the Second World War. They have built up the hotel through an inheritance and through hard work. Often their dialogue is in untranslated German, although the sentences are short and usually easy to understand.
The victim was tortured prior to his death, but met his end by fatally falling or jumping off a seaside cliff onto ruined debris below. The identity of the supposed Irish-American victim seems obvious at first, but soon a false identity is revealed with a mysterious origin and connections. The family and hotel staff are all under suspicion. In one of his stylistic changes, Hunter writes all of the suspect interrogations as if they were a playscript (or as if they were a police stenographer's transcription).
Gently: I want you to tell me, Mrs Breske, everything you remember about the deceased.
Mrs Breske: But there is nothing! He is here six, seven weeks, and I do not speak to him more than twice.
Gently: Did he have an accent?
Mrs Breske: Ach, yes. He came from America, is true. He has that slur, you know, and he speaks through his nose. I, myself, have met many Americans. During the War I was in London. This one, yes, he is like the others, indeed, is certain.
Gently: He had a strong accent?
Mrs Breske: Oh, ja.
Gently: Perhaps a little too strong?
The dust cover of the original UK hardcover published by Cassell Crime in 1967. Image sourced from Goodreads.
The bulk of the rest of the text is in exaggerated purple prose like that of Gently's portrait above or in the aftermath of his revelations to his police colleagues below. I'm continuing to enjoy these Alan Hunter novels as my current favourite light reading in between other works.
Shelton is silent. He is overwhelmed. He has never before met this level of intelligence. He feels like a child with a hideous algebraic problem, whose despair is resolved by the huge wisdom of an adult. He had no key, it was impossible; the key is provided, all is plain. At a single blow Gently has smashed the impasse, shown how the terms fall into place. All, that Shelton had stared at so hard, is suddenly, without violence, coherent and related.
Sidenote
There is no mention of Gently's girlfriend/partner Brenda Merryn in this book and one might suspect that Gently's leading her into danger in the previous book Gently North-West (Gently #14 - 1967) might have caused a breakup. In fact she is mentioned again a few books later, although without an appearance.
Trivia and Link
Gently Continental 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.
February 9, 2017
Every few books in this series, Alan Hunter seems to tire of his normal, straightforward yet effective prose style and attempts something a little more experimental. This is one of his more experimental books.
In Gently Continental he has stopped writing in paragraphs; he doesn’t even insert line breaks for dialogue. To make matters worse, he has almost entirely abandoned punctuation when it comes to said dialogue. This works in certain passages, giving them a relentless feel to the pacing and bestowing a sense of urgency to the proceedings, but maintained for the entire 300 page length of the book it becomes really quite tiring.
The only break we get from this style is when our eponymous policeman protagonist interrogates suspects and witnesses. When this happens, Hunter switches to a play-script-type style, like so:
HUNTER
Are you trying to say you didn’t like what I did here?
SELMAN
Yes, that’s precisely what I’m trying to say.
HUNTER
Huh. Screw you, man. Where’s YOUR 46-book detective series, eh?
SELMAN
Point taken. Apologies.
Stylistic idiosyncrasies aside, this is a natty little murder-mystery with a fair amount of action and twists and turns galore. Not a bad read by any means (and I’m not just saying that because the author came back from the dead to insult me in my review).
In Gently Continental he has stopped writing in paragraphs; he doesn’t even insert line breaks for dialogue. To make matters worse, he has almost entirely abandoned punctuation when it comes to said dialogue. This works in certain passages, giving them a relentless feel to the pacing and bestowing a sense of urgency to the proceedings, but maintained for the entire 300 page length of the book it becomes really quite tiring.
The only break we get from this style is when our eponymous policeman protagonist interrogates suspects and witnesses. When this happens, Hunter switches to a play-script-type style, like so:
HUNTER
Are you trying to say you didn’t like what I did here?
SELMAN
Yes, that’s precisely what I’m trying to say.
HUNTER
Huh. Screw you, man. Where’s YOUR 46-book detective series, eh?
SELMAN
Point taken. Apologies.
Stylistic idiosyncrasies aside, this is a natty little murder-mystery with a fair amount of action and twists and turns galore. Not a bad read by any means (and I’m not just saying that because the author came back from the dead to insult me in my review).
May 16, 2017
Gentle Elegance
As a newcomer to Alan Hunter, I had no expectations about his style. Many have criticised Gently Continental as an aberration from his usual form. I find it wonderfully original and enjoyable.
Gently Continental is, if nothing else, a book about England, its mores, foibles and its charms. Unlike the usual fictional narrator who disappears into the background of a story, Hunter's initially puts himself forward with wry wit and irony. As details of the crime and those associated with it emerge, the narrator is there to comment on the illogic of the local bumpkins and the procedural wrangling among official agencies. No one is spared, from the local constable to the ministers in Whitehall.
And unlike many murder mysteries which spring the villainous nature of the perpetrator as almost an afterthought if not a downright deus ex machina, Hunter does a slow reveal of all the personalities involved. And it is here that his narrator is at his wittiest and most ironic. I think it is the sustained irony that creates an almost conspiratorial bond with the reader. We and the narrator are above the petty interests and faults of all the East Anglian bumpkins and bureaucratic civil servants.
Above all except Detective Chief Inspector Gently himself, of course, who outranks the narrator and the Reader in terms of insight and skilful observation. The irony comes to a dead halt with Gently's appearance on the scene, and by its sudden absence gives him an immediate presence without the need for description. The narrator disappears entirely in a dialogue between Gently and his witnesses that reads like a film script. Just questions and answers with the occasional bit of stage direction, but no interpretation, and certainly no irony.
It's a remarkable technique which I have encountered nowhere else. Gently's competence is established incidentally, as it were, by the narrative shift. It's a technique that doesn't transfer easily to film in which the sustained irony of the narrator can't be captured except indirectly - precisely the opposite effect of the book. So Gently Continental exemplifies at least one point of superiority of literature over cinema.
Another advantage over cinema is that Gently provides meaning to what is known by others through his presence The local law enforcers only realise the significance of what they know, not when Gently interprets, but when he is merely in the room with them. They become inspired. And they are taken aback by this unexpected inspiration. They even become somewhat self-aware, and appear to learn in his presence.
Finally, it would seem impossible, except in print, to capture Gently's poetic thought processes, expressed in short, clipped, metrical phrases. These demand to be read aloud like an Elizabethan play. Quick, impressionistic, precise, they convey not just thought but the personality of the thinker who is merely enigmatic for everyone involved in the case. The effect is a sort of civilised noir, hard-nosed but articulate, even elegant in the connections made.
So not just a murder mystery but a literary sampler of Hunter's undoubted talents. Highly recommended for the jaded crime-thriller reader.
As a newcomer to Alan Hunter, I had no expectations about his style. Many have criticised Gently Continental as an aberration from his usual form. I find it wonderfully original and enjoyable.
Gently Continental is, if nothing else, a book about England, its mores, foibles and its charms. Unlike the usual fictional narrator who disappears into the background of a story, Hunter's initially puts himself forward with wry wit and irony. As details of the crime and those associated with it emerge, the narrator is there to comment on the illogic of the local bumpkins and the procedural wrangling among official agencies. No one is spared, from the local constable to the ministers in Whitehall.
And unlike many murder mysteries which spring the villainous nature of the perpetrator as almost an afterthought if not a downright deus ex machina, Hunter does a slow reveal of all the personalities involved. And it is here that his narrator is at his wittiest and most ironic. I think it is the sustained irony that creates an almost conspiratorial bond with the reader. We and the narrator are above the petty interests and faults of all the East Anglian bumpkins and bureaucratic civil servants.
Above all except Detective Chief Inspector Gently himself, of course, who outranks the narrator and the Reader in terms of insight and skilful observation. The irony comes to a dead halt with Gently's appearance on the scene, and by its sudden absence gives him an immediate presence without the need for description. The narrator disappears entirely in a dialogue between Gently and his witnesses that reads like a film script. Just questions and answers with the occasional bit of stage direction, but no interpretation, and certainly no irony.
It's a remarkable technique which I have encountered nowhere else. Gently's competence is established incidentally, as it were, by the narrative shift. It's a technique that doesn't transfer easily to film in which the sustained irony of the narrator can't be captured except indirectly - precisely the opposite effect of the book. So Gently Continental exemplifies at least one point of superiority of literature over cinema.
Another advantage over cinema is that Gently provides meaning to what is known by others through his presence The local law enforcers only realise the significance of what they know, not when Gently interprets, but when he is merely in the room with them. They become inspired. And they are taken aback by this unexpected inspiration. They even become somewhat self-aware, and appear to learn in his presence.
Finally, it would seem impossible, except in print, to capture Gently's poetic thought processes, expressed in short, clipped, metrical phrases. These demand to be read aloud like an Elizabethan play. Quick, impressionistic, precise, they convey not just thought but the personality of the thinker who is merely enigmatic for everyone involved in the case. The effect is a sort of civilised noir, hard-nosed but articulate, even elegant in the connections made.
So not just a murder mystery but a literary sampler of Hunter's undoubted talents. Highly recommended for the jaded crime-thriller reader.
February 22, 2017
This book is completely spoilt by the strange and unusual writing style that Alan Hunter decided to adopt for this particular book.
I was so confused by this that I'm not really sure why the murder was even committed.
Unless you are on a mission to read all the gently books I would give this one a miss.
I was so confused by this that I'm not really sure why the murder was even committed.
Unless you are on a mission to read all the gently books I would give this one a miss.
October 25, 2012
I found this novel a little difficult to read though normally I enjoy the Gently series. This one is written in a strange elliptical style with much of it being in reported speech with some of the interview with suspects set out like a play. It gave me a feeling of watching the action taking place in a gold fish bowl. The scene is the Hotel Continental on the East Coast of England run by a family, mother and two daughters, who are originally from Austria.
When one of the hotel guests is found dead at the foot of a nearby cliff all the hotel’s staff and guests are suspects though of course many of them have alibis. It is clear from the start that the owners of the hotel have secrets to hide but the dead man also isn’t exactly what he seemed to be at first. Gently finds himself upsetting people left right and centre in his attempts to get at the truth.
The ingredients for a good police procedural are there but they are somehow not mixed in the usual way and the result could almost better be described as experimental fiction. Some may like it – I didn’t find it held my attention as much as some of the novels in this series.
When one of the hotel guests is found dead at the foot of a nearby cliff all the hotel’s staff and guests are suspects though of course many of them have alibis. It is clear from the start that the owners of the hotel have secrets to hide but the dead man also isn’t exactly what he seemed to be at first. Gently finds himself upsetting people left right and centre in his attempts to get at the truth.
The ingredients for a good police procedural are there but they are somehow not mixed in the usual way and the result could almost better be described as experimental fiction. Some may like it – I didn’t find it held my attention as much as some of the novels in this series.
October 3, 2016
Written in a very peculiar style and one which made it difficult to read and understand.. Cannot say I enjoyed it at all and quite frankly could not wait for it to end. Thank goodness this is the only Gently written like this. It would be interesting to know why Alan Hunter decided to this kind of prose!!!
May 7, 2014
Set on the east coast, where George Gently is called in to investigate the suspicious death of a hotel guest. This novel is rather curiously written in the present tense, in a style which I'm undecided about.
February 8, 2014
Found this book quite difficult to read read others in the George Gently series and really enjoyed them, but this is written more like a script from a play and I found it hard to get into as I have said read others and this is definitely for me not the most enjoyable
July 24, 2015
This is a very strange book, quite unlike any of the others. It is told in a sort of weird present tense stream of consciousness style, rather as if Alan hunter had been channelling Virginia woof or someone like that. It makes the story ( about a hotel guest who is tortured and killed) very difficult to follow. I am glas Alan Hunter did not attempt this style again.
November 22, 2016
Way too much narration, run-on sentences, confusing. Not much detection for a mystery novel. No characters were very well developed. I have enjoyed the previous books and will try the next one before I give up. Just an unappealing writing style.
September 25, 2014
The style is quite different from the previous Gently books and I cannot believe that it was written by the same author. I hope that later books in the series revert to the original style.
Read
March 29, 2020#15 in Alan Hunter's Superintendent (ne Inspector) George Gently novels finds the titular hero investigating a suspicious death at a remote East Coast hotel run by an Austrian ex-pat and her two daughters. The story is told mostly from the point of view of the local Inspector, Shelton, who regards Gently as both a mystery and a harsh master he has to please.
Here is Hunter once again playing with style. This is admittedly my second time reading through this novel, and while I remembered it being a slog to get through, I tried to come with an open mind. It's not as difficult as I recalled, though it does take some girding when you first start. The sentences are very long, many of them run-on, with paragraphs filling entire pages. There is no dialogue punctuation or paragraph-breaking, either, making for some occasionally hard to decipher threads. It's almost easier to comprehend if you read aloud; the sentences seem to be made for patterns of breath. The interrogation dialogue sections are written out as they might be in a police stenographer's report, which is a clever touch...and a pleasant break from the solid text around it.
As with many of Hunter's "Gently" stories, it's less about solving the mystery than it is about collecting the facts to support the case. There aren't that many twists, turns, or red herrings. But as an experiment in style, it's a thoughtful change of pace. Assuming you can get through it.
Here is Hunter once again playing with style. This is admittedly my second time reading through this novel, and while I remembered it being a slog to get through, I tried to come with an open mind. It's not as difficult as I recalled, though it does take some girding when you first start. The sentences are very long, many of them run-on, with paragraphs filling entire pages. There is no dialogue punctuation or paragraph-breaking, either, making for some occasionally hard to decipher threads. It's almost easier to comprehend if you read aloud; the sentences seem to be made for patterns of breath. The interrogation dialogue sections are written out as they might be in a police stenographer's report, which is a clever touch...and a pleasant break from the solid text around it.
As with many of Hunter's "Gently" stories, it's less about solving the mystery than it is about collecting the facts to support the case. There aren't that many twists, turns, or red herrings. But as an experiment in style, it's a thoughtful change of pace. Assuming you can get through it.
February 13, 2020
Detective story with a literary side to it. Different from the usual fare.
This detective novel deals with the death of an American staying at a coastal hotel in the UK. Gently is called in when it transpires that all is not as it seems. His investigation takes in a myriad of characters, the development of which takes up most of the novel. Unlike previous novels, Alan Hunter uses a literary style here with few paragraphs, florid language and builds up the characters rather than concentrating on a complicated plot. Certainly different and reasonably worthwhile.
This detective novel deals with the death of an American staying at a coastal hotel in the UK. Gently is called in when it transpires that all is not as it seems. His investigation takes in a myriad of characters, the development of which takes up most of the novel. Unlike previous novels, Alan Hunter uses a literary style here with few paragraphs, florid language and builds up the characters rather than concentrating on a complicated plot. Certainly different and reasonably worthwhile.
August 7, 2022
Boring difficult format
This is written completely different from the first books in the series. It is a continuous run of wordy prose without dialog. It is a hard read to be a light mystery novel. I wish I had skipped it.
This is written completely different from the first books in the series. It is a continuous run of wordy prose without dialog. It is a hard read to be a light mystery novel. I wish I had skipped it.
November 23, 2017
Hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Es war ähnlich wie in der TV-Serie, weil es diesmal eine Nebenrolle gab, die wie Bacchus war.
November 30, 2018
Not my favourite: didn’t like the style of the prose and the story didn’t resonate.
July 14, 2019
Gently goes to the East Anglian coast to respond to the mysterious death of an American, and solves the case in 24 hours - great stuff
August 2, 2019
Was a bit hard to follow compared to some of his other Gently books
Read
January 7, 2023:)
April 7, 2024
I was glad when I finished it it was hard going
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews