Gently Does It (Inspector George Gently Series Book 1)

The first Gently book and sets you up perfectly for the rest!! Great read and grips you from the first page

It is so refreshing to read a decent crime story where the detectives have to actually detect rather than just type stuff into a computer or analyse stuff in some shiny whizz bang machine.These are set in the days before all that and I started with this one and have been merrily working my way through the rest of the series as it appears on kindle.They are quite short books but well written, good characterisation and pretty credible storylines. It did take me a little while to acclimatise to the era especially wrt language but worth persisting with.I did find the early books dwelt a little too much with peppermint creams and other food related matters but then again these things assisted the great man with his thinking and, as I mentioned earlier, thinking is how he best solves the crimes.

This is the first of the Gently books. I have read nine of them now, so this review is more about their overall style rather than just this one book. For any fan of 'classic' crime, these books are a good find. They are not so much 'whodunnits' as crime novels. There are few surprises and clue-laying moments, the emphasis being on the relationships between Gently and the various other police whose toes he treads on. The style is relaxed and easy to read, although the author does come up with some odd phrases occasionally.What should be noted, though, is that these bear no resemblance - none at all - to the TV series. None of the TV episodes appears to be a dramatisation of a book (at least not of the first nine books) although certain threads do crop up on TV, but they're only threads. Then the background is different - a thinly disguised Norwich and the Broads, rather than the North-East. Martin Shaw's character is quite a different person from the books', and there is none of the social commentary that makes the TV series so appealing. Bacchus doesn't appear at all (there is a Sergeant Dutt, who crops up quite regularly, but he's obviously a different person). It almost makes you wonder just how far the (excellent) TV series can go without ever acknowledging the books. Why did they bother? Why not create a detective from scratch - it presumably would have been cheaper.I mention this because many people will buy these books because they learned of Gently from the TV; most of them will be disappointed. Which is a pity because they're gentle reads that deserve to be available.

Like many others l started with the TV series and wanted to see how they compared. Well if they seemed dated on the box, they really are dated here. The author was born one hundred years ago back in the days of Downton and it captures the post war era well. The story is well told although the language shows its age. I shall be continuing reading them.

As the author says at the start, this is not a 'whodunnit' as much as a 'how on earth am I going to prove it'. Knowing the city in the 1960's, when the story is set, the locations are realistically described and added to my pleasure in reading the book. The story starts well and keeps you reading. Of course the TV series tends to put a stamp on expectations, but you will not be disappointed by this book. My only reason for only giving 4 stars is that I have now bought the George Gently Omnibus (Books 1 - 4), which means that I have two copies of the book now. My recommendation? Go straight for the Omnibus.

This is a well written, well paced exciting murder novel. It evokes the atmosphere of an industrial port and builds to an exciting climax. There’s plenty of misleading plotting and a fair measure of unpleasant characters. It’s well worth reading.

There were some irritations in the writing style of this book, but overall a good story.

Thhis is a good start to an enjoyable series. Gently is more of the sort of detective who thinks things out, rather than an all action type. It was interesting to fillow his thoughts

Good

Great character. Love the TV series! The books are equally good. Some are hard to find.

It was a good way to pass the time, nothing exceptional.

English Style..

Being a fan of the George Gently TV series, I looked forward to reading the first book. The book character and the television Gently see quite different and I found it difficult to place Martin Shaw as the literary Chief Inspector. However, I enjoyed the book, and will probably read others.