The Scottish Decision

Chief Superintendent Gently #27

by Alan Hunter

Inspector Gently suspects a link between the crash of a small plane in Scotland, the kidnapping of a French industrialist, and the disappearance of the intriguing Gabrielle Orbec

Genres: Mystery

145 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

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

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The George Gently books have all been standalone stories up 'til now but this one breaks from the norm and picks up right where the last one left off.

Not quite as action-packed as the last book, Hunter chooses to crank up the tension instead. It just keeps building and building until the finale which goes off with a bang and, without spoiling anything, gave me absolutely everything I'd been hoping for from the ending! Talk about giving the readers what they want! I actually shouted 'YES!!!' rather loudly at one point, which may have had my neighbours wondering what I was up to...

Anyway, here's hoping the next one's as just good; bring it on...

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gently vs the Kidnappers
Review of the Constable Kindle eBook edition (2016) of the Walker Mystery hardcover original (1981).

Gently rose. He picked Empton off the chair. He struck him in the stomach, then struck him in the face. Empton went down. He got up, sprang at Gently. Gently struck him again. Empton stayed down.
‘You bastard!’ Empton gasped. ‘That was before witnesses.’
‘What witnesses?’ Guthrie said. ‘I didn’t see anything.’
‘The Frog saw it!’
‘Monsieur,’ Frénaye said, ‘by chance, I was looking out of this window.’

[2.5 rounded up]
Gently Heartbroken follows almost directly on from Gently Under Fire (Gently #26 - 1980) starting with Gently trying to reconnect with his lost French love Gabrielle. Associates of the terrorist in the previous book kidnap a prominent French figure and fly into Scotland and the chase is on. Soon the Scots police and MI-5 are involved and then Gently's French policeman friend Frénaye appears on the scene as well. Frénaye appears to have an inside track to trace the kidnappers. Could it be that Gabrielle is somehow involved as well? Gently will leave no stone unturned to solve the case and attempt to rekindle his romance.


The dust cover of the original UK hardcover published by Walker Mysteries in 1981. Image sourced from Goodreads.

As with the previous book, Gently Heartbroken is written as a suspense thriller rather than a murder investigation. Again the running theme of 'Gently' titles was broken with the book originally titled The Scottish Decision to follow The Honfleur Decision. This has been corrected in the later reprints. The changes are further signs that author Alan Hunter was attempting to introduce different styles and elements to add variety to his long-running series. I preferred the omniscient detective Gently over the love-struck and desperate terrorist hunter Gently though.

Trivia and Link
Gently Heartbroken 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.

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in the mini-series within the series-a bit too far in the "suspend disbelief and come along for the ride" type of mystery, but pleasant overall. Very very clear good-guy bad-guy types, both in and out of law enforcement.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only Gently book so far in the series where you really need to have read the previous book, Gently Under Fire, for this to make sense. Originally published as The Scottish Decision, is is effectively part 2 of a two book story - here a rich French industrialist who features in the previous book is kidnapped and taken to Scotland for ransom, and the French authorities request the presence of George Gently. Gently’s love interest from the Honfleur antiques fair now reappears as the action gets more dangerous.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supposedly a detective story, this one is more love story really. Gently is seeking gabrielle, the woman he became infatuated with in the previous book, The Honfleur Decision. gabrielle is running around Scotland involved with a bunch of dangerous crooks, And gently is trying to find both her and the crooks. he spends a great deal of his time thinking about gabrielle and how much he loves her, instead of getting on with the detecting. i fear that there is going to be a lot more of this in subsequent volumes, as it seems Gabrielle is here to stay.

[Jordan Ramirez]

i dont know what happen

[Lila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was dropped in the middle of a book. There is little to let you know what happened before, so read the earlier one first.