Alan Hunter (author)

Alan Hunter (25 June 1922 - 26 February 2005 [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485357/Alan-Hunter.html 'Obituary: Alan Hunter', "Daily Telegraph", 11 March 2005, London] ] ) was an English author of crime fiction. His 46 novels all feature Inspector George Gently and are mainly set in East Anglia.

Initially a Farmer, he became an antiquarian bookseller before writing his first novel. [ [http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/alan-hunter.htm Alan Hunter Bibliography - Checklist ] ]

Life

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. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485357/Alan-Hunter.html 'Obituary: Alan Hunter', "Daily Telegraph", 11 March 2005, London] ]

In the year of that first publication he married Adelaide Cooper, with whom he had one 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. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485357/Alan-Hunter.html 'Obituary: Alan Hunter', "Daily Telegraph", 11 March 2005, London] ]

From 1955 onwards he published a Gently detective novel about annually until 1998. He retired to Brundall in Norfolk where he continued his interests in local history, natural history, and sailing. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485357/Alan-Hunter.html 'Obituary: Alan Hunter', "Daily Telegraph", 11 March 2005, London] ]

Bibliography

*"The Norwich Poems" (1944)
*"Gently Does It" (1955)
*"Gently by the Shore" (1956)
*"Gently Down the Stream" (1957)
*"Landed Gently" (1957)
*"Gently Through the Mill" (1958)
*"Gently in the Sun" (1959)
*"Gently with the Painters"(1960)
*"Gently to the Summit" (1961)
*"Gently Go Man" (1961)
*"Gently Where the Roads Go" (1962)
*"Gently Floating" (1963)
*"Gently Sahib" (1964)
*"Gently with the Ladies" (1965)
*"Gently North-West" (1967)
*"Gently Continental" (1967)
*"Gently Coloured" (1969)
*"Gently with the Innocents" (1970)
*"Gently at a Gallop" (1971)
*"Vivienne -- Gently Where She Lay" (1972)
*"Gently French" (1973)
*"Gently in Trees" (1974)
*"Gently with Love" (1975)
*"Gently Where the Birds Are" (1976)
*"Gently Instrumental" (1977)
*"Gently to a Sleep" (1978)
*"The Honfleur Decision" (1980)
*"Gabrielle’s Way" (1981)
*"Fields of Heather" (1981)
*"Gently Between Tides" (1982)
*"Amorous Leander" (1983)
*"The Unhung Man" (1984)
*"“Once a Prostitute”" (1984)
*"The Chelsea Ghost" (1985)
*"Goodnight, Sweet Prince" (1986)
*"Strangling Man" (1987)
*"Traitor's End" (1988)
*"Gently with the Millions"(1989)
*"Gently Scandalous" (1990)
*"Gently to a Kill" (1991)
*"Gently Tragic" (1992)
*"Gently in the Glens" (1993)
*"Bomber’s Moon" (1994)
*"Jackpot!" (1995)
*"The Love of Gods" (1997)
*"Over Here" (1998)
*"Gently Mistaken" (1999)

Adaptations in other media

In 2007 the BBC broadcast an adaptation of 'Gently Go Man' under the title George Gently. Two more stories, 'The Burning Man' (adapted from the book 'Gently Where the Roads Go') and 'Bomber's Moon', were broadcast by the BBC in July 2008. The role of George Gently is played by Martin Shaw.

References