Alan Hunter

Shirley Johnson, a young artist, is found stabbed to death after a meeting of the local Palette Group. The case falls to newcomer Inspector Stephens, but soon Superintendent George Gently is called in to help out.

When a timber merchant is found stabbed in Norchester, the local police find an obvious suspect in his son, a stunt rider in a circus. But Inspector Gently realises there is more to it than appears on the surface.

If you were to guess how a womanising, middle-aged brewer was murdered, you might say he was shot by a jealous husband or drowned in his own beer - not savaged by a horse. The strange death of Charles Berney, savaged and trampled to death by a horse on a windswept stretch of moorland, came as he had apparently settled down with an attractive young wife and was concentrating on developing his business. He may have argued with his wife at her birthday...

When Chief Inspector Gently arrived in Starmouth, the 'body on the beach murder' was already the topic of conversation for the massed holiday-makers. First published in 1956, this was the 2nd of Alan Hunter's series of crime novels featuring George Gently.

This was no suicide, however it looked - too many people wanted Adrian Stoll dead. From an embarrassment of suspects, Gently had a very tangled tale to unravel.

Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing - that's if you call having too many potential murder suspects a good thing. What George 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.