THE 15th CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT GEORGE GENTLY, C.I.D., MURDER MYSTERY NOVEL. [now a television series starring Martin Shaw]. .. FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, I HAVE SUPPLIED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BOOK, AND THIS IS WHAT THE DUST JACKET FLAPS [the 'blurb'] STATES :
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When the 'S.S. Naxos Island', a floating sieve on charter to one Thomas Blackburn of London and homeward bound from Kingston, Jamaica, went to the bottom of the channel, she took a few tons of sugar with her. But not everything sinks so easily; and some things pay better than sugar. Quite soon the bodies started coming ashore - twenty-two illegal immigrants, at £250 a head. Tax free.
Thomas Blackburn got away with it, briefly. Two weeks later he was dead, with a cheap sheath-knife stuck in his back. He was in bed, and he hadn't been alone. A very ordinary, very sordid little murder: but for the 'Naxos Island' incident. The Chief Inspector on the spot was Tallent, and he was good. But rough. He called a spade a spade, and in the West Indian colony in West London where Blackburn had lived that was a very dirty word. If Tallent raised his voice that would be brutality, racial discrimination, the end of a valuable career. The Yard wanted a super-policeman to clear this mess up: an angel of tact, patience and tolerance, with a mind like a razor. Chief Superintendent Gently.
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REVIEWS FROM OTHER "GENTLY" NOVELS" :
["Gently Does It"] .... "Fond as we all are of the familiar faces, it is a particular (and rare) pleasure to be able to welcome a talented newcomer into the blood-soaked circle of true detective novelists. In Chief Inspector Gently of the Yard, Alan Hunter presents a new and most acceptable detective, owing a good deal perhaps to Inspector Maigret, but nevertheless standing solidy in his own very English boots. I look forward to watching this splendidly sympathetic sleuth consume thousands more of his favourite peppermint creams. - ('Time and Tide')."
["Gently by the Shore"]. ... "When Alan Hunter introduced Chief Inspector Gently just over twelve months ago, it looked as though an important new figure had joined the ranks of fictional detectives; 'Gently by the Shore' more than fulfills the promise of the earlier book. The detective has all the attributes of a great fictional character; a distinct and human personality, an individual style of investigation, a number of pleasant affections which are so well under control; above all, he is entirely credible. - (F.E.Pardoe, 'Birmingham Post')."
["Gently Sahib"] ... "After eleven books, it is about time that this bloke Gently - now promoted to Chief Supt. Gently C.I.D. - got done. On T.V. Or films. After all, he is as solid (fourteen stone I reckon) as Maigret. Or Cluff. And he comes out very welll in this tale of an escaped tiger that eats a blackmailer in an edgy Home Counties market town. A clever murder, says Gently, proves it, shoots a panther, then goes fishing, but he will be back. Many times, I hope. - (Peter Phillips, 'The Sun', 1965)".
"Pipe smoking Gently interviews a colourful array of likely suspects, uncovers the flaws in several 'unquestionable' alibis, steers the case through a violent and exciting climax and, in his wisdom, brings matters to a just and tidy finish. A very readable novel with several pleasing touches of humour. - ('Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine', 1965)."
