Gently Floating

Chief Superintendent Gently #11

by Alan Hunter

Gently wades through a torrent of suspects when a body is found floating face down in the river.Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing - that's if you can call having too many suspects, too many potential murderers, 'a good thing'. What Gently has to work out is which of them had the cold blooded nerve to smash the victim's skull and dump him in the river.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

181 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rock Me Gently on the Water*
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2011) of the Cassell Crime Connoisseur hardcover original (1963).

His eyes were greenish-hazel eyes which had a mild expression but which were nevertheless penetrating. The driver didn’t know who this man was but supposed he might be a doctor or perhaps a medical specialist on holiday. The expression of his eyes startled the driver and the driver remembered it for some time afterwards. Later he saw a newspaper picture of the man. He was Superintendent George Herbert Gently.

This #11 of the George Gently series stood out due to several passages of extended stream of consciousness writing with no punctuation. It was not the sort of thing which you would expect in crime & mystery genre novels. I always find it especially interesting to watch how a series author (there are 46 George Gently books) takes chances and changes styles in order to keep things interesting for themselves.

The investigation this time involved a boat-builder who is found dead in the water after having been knocked on the head. There are plenty of suspects including a rebellious son, workers at the boatyard and competitors in the business. There was quite of lot of maritime terminology in this one and, if you are a landlubber like me, you might find yourself having to look up the meanings of words such as launch, staithe, dinghy, mudweight, boathook, ebb, helm, aft, yacht, etc. You may think you know what they mean but may still want to check to see if it is what you think it is.


The dust cover of the original hardcover published by Cassell Crime Connoisseur in 1963. Image sourced from IberLibro.

I'll admit that I bumped this up a star due to the writing experimentation used and because I was able to guess the identity of the murderer fairly early. Admittedly, that was based on the non-detection method of asking myself: "Who is the most unlikely person in this extended cast to have committed this crime?" 🤔🕵️

Footnote
* Yes, I stole the idea for my lede from Jackson Brown's 1972 song Rock Me on the Water.

Trivia and Link
Gently Floating 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.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which the mystery writer abandons commas to the wind and attempts to channel Under Milk Wood.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another murder for Gently from Scotland Yard, this time the murder of a bullying boat builder on the Broads. Dated but a decent read.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector George Gently investigates a murder on the Suffolk Broads. Harry French is a ruthless businessman, a harsh employer and a domineering father, and has many enemies in the boatbuilding community along the river where he lives. When he is killed one summer evening, there are plenty of suspects and Gently finds them all unwilling to talk about events.

I really liked the setting with the yachts and river cruisers, the boatyards and the Bank Holiday fair and tourists. Hunter uses a lot of sailing jargon, but it added to the enjoyment of the scene rather than taking away from it. There’s a lot of gritty dialogue, so although this is light on graphic detail, it’s certainly a lot more bleak and dark than a cozy crime.

I did find the writing style a little odd at times, veering from a glut of short tight sentences to meandering lists with an absence of commas. It gave a kind of literary feel that didn’t wholly gel with the crime genre. Overall though I enjoyed Gently’s determination and focus, and the sound plotting.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best Gently book I have read so far. Many long sentences without much punctuation, much sailing terminology, use of different names for people along with repeated phrases just made the book feel clumsy.

[Carolyn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting characters on the river. Different style of writing than usual. Kept me guessing until the end.

[Ian Schagen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading some of the George Gently books when I was a lot younger, and thought it would be good to revisit one. This was written in 1963, but it feels like it was written in another age by someone from another planet. The prose style is weird, turgid and almost unreadable. When you wade through it, the plot is fairly inconsequential. A very strange experience.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first George Gently book that I have read, and I have to say I liked it. However at times I did feel that it was a little too descriptive and it did bog the story down.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gently Floating is a quite traditional police procedural, with the thoughtful, even-tempered Superintendent George Gently interviewing and prodding a handful of suspects, whilst the local inspector jumps to conclusions and wants to resort to more forceful methods. There’s little in the way of melodrama, high tension, violence or action. Rather the story focuses on the investigation and the puzzle concerning the killer’s identity. Hunter makes sure that all the suspect have a plausible reason to want Harry French dead and keeps them all in the frame until the last few pages, though the puzzle is not too challenging. There’s a nice evocation of the Norfolk broads and the close knit community around the boatyard, though the characterisation is fairly light, with the focus more on plot and sense of place. Overall, an enjoyable enough tale, but lacks bite and intrigue.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder why Alan Hunter changes his style of writing in some books. The lack of punctuation was really annoying and the character of Gently more than annoying on occasions. Not in my opinion one of the better Gently tales but no doubt I will try another one in due course.

Oh and I had guessed the murderer quite early on in the book.

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 11th book in the Inspector Gently series--but it reads like a much earlier effort. I normally like these British police procedurals, but this one just didn't do much for me. The style seemed off and I really couldn't get into Gently's investigative process in this one.

[Paul Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated but good detective story. Far too much description for my liking. Enjoyable enough but not memorable.

George Gently investigates a death on the Norfolk Broads: nobody likes the victim so everybody is a suspect.

[Madison Hoyles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that it was an ok read, not overly spectacular but still manageable. I have watched the show that was based on this series and have to admit that so far, I have only read one of the 46 books, I do prefer the show

[Lulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little denser as a mystery, with many things left unsaid which was a bit frustrating until the eventual revelation of the murderer - if you follow the 'the most unlikely person to have done it is the murderer ' format, you'll guess from quite early on. More herrings than usual.

[Les Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been 100 pages if you take out the "? said". Makes a better radio play / TV than a piece of literature.