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Sergeant Cluff #4
More Deaths for Sergeant Cluff
When the police are called to a crime scene at a Gunnarshaw grocer’s shop, it looks to be a straightforward case of burglary – but not to Detective-Sergeant Cluff, whose subsequent investigations, following a boy’s brutal discovery of a dismembered body on the moors, force him to confront the most gruesome murder he has ever faced.
Cluff calls on his intimate knowledge of the folk of Gunnarshaw to push forward his investigation, but when events escalate and lives are under imminent threat, he must abandon his unorthodox methods in favour of immediate action – which even Inspector Mole must admire – but in doing so, and in his haste to bring the case to a close, he puts himself in great personal danger.
‘Gil North’s atmospheric writing shows the influence of Simenon, and Gunnarshaw’s finest, Sergeant Caleb Cluff, is a memorable detective – the Maigret of the Dales.’
Martin Edwards, CWA Diamond Dagger winner 2020 and author of Mortmain Hall.
Gil North’s novels, which follow the investigations of Detective-Sergeant Cluff in the fictional and close-knit moorland market town of Gunnarshaw, were first published in the 1960s.
Gil North was the pen-name of Geoffrey Horne (1916–1988). He was born in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where his father was Town Clerk. Horne was educated at the local grammar school, then studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before embarking on a career as a civil servant in Nigeria and Cameroon.
He later returned to pursue his writing ambitions in his native Skipton – the inspiration for Gunnarshaw.
Cluff calls on his intimate knowledge of the folk of Gunnarshaw to push forward his investigation, but when events escalate and lives are under imminent threat, he must abandon his unorthodox methods in favour of immediate action – which even Inspector Mole must admire – but in doing so, and in his haste to bring the case to a close, he puts himself in great personal danger.
‘Gil North’s atmospheric writing shows the influence of Simenon, and Gunnarshaw’s finest, Sergeant Caleb Cluff, is a memorable detective – the Maigret of the Dales.’
Martin Edwards, CWA Diamond Dagger winner 2020 and author of Mortmain Hall.
Gil North’s novels, which follow the investigations of Detective-Sergeant Cluff in the fictional and close-knit moorland market town of Gunnarshaw, were first published in the 1960s.
Gil North was the pen-name of Geoffrey Horne (1916–1988). He was born in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where his father was Town Clerk. Horne was educated at the local grammar school, then studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before embarking on a career as a civil servant in Nigeria and Cameroon.
He later returned to pursue his writing ambitions in his native Skipton – the inspiration for Gunnarshaw.
140 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1963
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About the author
Gil North
19 books7 followersGil North is the pseudonym of Geoffrey Horne, a British writer. He was born in Skipton Yorkshire and educated at Ermysted's Grammar School and Christ's College Cambridge. He married Betty Duthie in 1949. From 1938 to 1955 he was a civil servant in the African colonies. He has also written novels under his own name.
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May 30, 2025
More complex than the first three and the longest at 205 pages - but it’s North’s gorgeous depiction of landscape and the local Yorkshire Dales people which is most striking once more - and the marvelous creation of Sergeant Cluff and his loyal Dales sheepdog, Clive. Wonderful.
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