Inspector George Gently

1Gently Go Man

Gently has a fearsome reputation, earned through his relentless approach to pursing notorious gangsters in London. And now this renowned, very individual Commander is heading to the dramatic landscape of Northumberland, where the rugged hills meet the lakes. His journey is prompted by the murder of Gently's wife by his old adversary, the infamous gangster Webster - a murder that took place on the day of Webster's release from the prison Gently delivered him to. He hoped to find peace in the beautiful North of England, but the murder of a young biker gives rise to a suspicion that Webster has followed him North and is somehow connected to the victim. He soon finds himslef embroiled in a story of drugs, greed and love...

2The Burning Man

The charred corpse of a man believed to be Ruari O'Connell is found near RAF base Huxton and a ring found in his stomach leads Gently and Bacchus to his lover cafe owner Wanda Lane. When a second Irishman is shot dead supercilious Special Branch commander Empton arrives,telling Gently that Ruari was an IRA informer on the run from vengeful compatriots and he believes Ruari faked his death to avoid them. In that case who was the burning man? And will Bacchus survive a hostage situation to allow Gently to take him fishing? Written by

3Bomber's Moon

Chief Inspector George Gently and Detective Sergeant John Bacchus investigate the murder of Gunter Schmeikel, who is found at the bottom of the harbor. The man drowned but his back had been broken, so it clearly wasn't an accident. Gunter had lived in England as a POW during World War II and had worked on Old Jim Hardyment's farm. It's only been 20 years since the end of the war and there is still a good deal of anti-German sentiment. The dead man's son and daughter-in-law, Wilhelm and Trudi Schmeikel, are lying to the police about their whereabouts on the evening of Gunter's death. It also appears that Wilhelm is under investigation for embezzling funds from his father's business. As well, young Jimmy Hardyment may hold hard feelings against Gunter who had an affair with his mother. Meanwhile, Gently is concerned when he learns that Sgt. Bacchus is having money troubles. Written by

1Gently with the Innocents

Gently and Bacchus investigate when elderly Alfred Peachment is found murdered in the grounds of the large house where he lived alone, formerly a children's home which he superintended but now closed for several years. The house was being sold, against his wishes, by a committee headed by his ex-wife and her brother, the local doctor, to the seemingly callous property developer Cora Davidson. Harry, Alfred's mute, simple-minded gardener, is the chief suspect and he attacks Bacchus. Only overly helpful local copper Blacksmith seems able to communicate with the boy, causing Bacchus to resent him. A discussion with an old flame leads Gently to suspect that Peachment may have been a paedophile, abusing children in his care, and that any of the suspects may be acting alone or as a group of avengers, to punish him for past misdeeds. Written by

2Gently in the Night

Audrey Chadwick's corpse is found on a church altar and, whilst she told her parents and landlady she was a nurse, the not so happily married Bacchus recognizes her as a hostess at a Playboy-style drinking club he has used,called Rakes, run by brash American Patrick Donovan. Audrey had had an abortion - news to her volatile boyfriend - and the doctor who performed it tells Gently it was because she had been raped. Margaret Bishop, an anti-abortionist, heads a group picketing to close Rakes but her husband is Donovan's lawyer and very much at odds with Margaret's views. He admits intimacy with Audrey but denies rape, nonetheless making him the prime suspect. After the murderer has been unmasked the club is shut down and Gently, having earlier accused Bacchus of being out of condition for his youth, bizarrely takes him on in a charity boxing match. Written by

3Gently in the Blood

Following a tip-off Gently and Bacchus acquire a suitcase full of stolen passports dropped by petty crook Jimmy Cochran. Cochran's old flame Maggie Alderton worked in the office where they were issued and is found raped and strangled next day, the father of her child being identified as one Thomas Ali,for whom she was apparently trying to secure a passport. Cochran is in a turf war with some Arab boys ,also involved in dodgy passports and Maggie's transvestite boss is also less innocent than he first appears. However, facts prove Ali and Cochran to be father and son and neither has killed Maggie, a pawn in the whole scam. With the real murderer hanged, Gently, a veteran of the 1959 Notting Hill riots in London,nonetheless warns young Bacchus of the perils of racial intolerance. Written by

4Gently Through the Mill

Days before the 1964 General Election manager Patrick Fuller is found dead and the safe robbed at the flour mill he once owned but, financially strapped, he sold for a pittance to prospective Labour M.P. Geoffrey Pershore. Fuller's widow knows he was in an affair with a colleague's wife and the surly foreman, who blackmailed them, is the next corpse to be discovered. Bacchus discovers that Fuller was a Mason and infiltrates the local lodge to find a witness ,leading Gently and himself to not one but two killers. Written by

1Gently Evil

It's 1966 and the world is changing fast... Martin Shaw plays one of the unsung heroes of detective fiction, Inspector George Gently, whose passionate investigations reveal the dark underbelly of a society on the cusp of change. Set in an idyllic coastal village in Northumberland, 1966. When the body of a loose young woman is found murdered Gently and Bacchus find themselves investigating a family with unimaginable secrets. Initially it appears that the woman's estranged husband, and father of young daughter, is responsible for the killing. But as they further investigate this disturbed family they discover a far more alarming truth.

2Peace & Love

The year is 1966 and the football World Cup has come to England. With the USSR due to play at Roker Park and the fear of the 'Reds Under the Bed' exemplified by the upcoming Polaris submarine landing at the nearby Jarrow docks, tensions are running high. CND protesters, lead by radical students from Durham University, are the last thing the police need when the world media is on their doorstep awaiting the upcoming football match. Gently and Bacchus investigate the murder of a well know Lefty academic, found dead in the docks post a CND rally. This takes them onto the Durham University campus - an ancient temple of learning struggling to come to terms with the novel influx of students from the working class and brash, radical, academics. Sexual and Social rebellion is everywhere in the air and to the young and optimistic these forces seem inevitable and unstoppable. Bacchus is horrified yet fascinated by the promiscuity on display. Gently, a war veteran, more shrewdly recognises that Liberation is not always an unmixed blessing...

1Gently Upside Down

After missing teenager Mary Claverton is found murdered her parents tell Gently they believe she was about to run off with an older boyfriend. Married music teacher Logan is mentioned but he has an alibi for the murder. Mary and her school-friends were regular audience members at 'Upside Down',a local pop music TV show,hosted by the oily Tony,who also briefly met Mary when he tried to hit on her and was rejected. Another suspect is headmaster Peter Holdaway,father of Mary's best friend,who had an affair with another,literary-minded, school-girl years earlier and fathered a child. One of the suspects makes a confession but Gently believes that this is to protect the real killer.

2Goodbye China

1Gently Northern Soul

Dolores Kenny,a black girl,is murdered after visiting the Carlton disco. Her family have been subject to racial abuse,including a poison pen letter,traced to theatrical landlady Matilda Braithwaite. Dolores was pregnant and,as Bacchus goes undercover at the Carlton,learns that her boyfriend,white DJ Charlie Watts,fell foul of his drug dealing brother Gary and gangster father Bernie in dating her. Gary is stabbed in a brawl after Bernie's racist thugs invade Dolores' funeral. His killer believed him to be the murderer but in unmasking the real culprit Gently must prevent a man of honour from taking revenge.

2Gently with Class

Ellen Mallam is found dead in a submerged car belonging to Hector Blackstone,on whose estate her father Billy works. Bacchus is instantly hostile as Hector's spoilt son James is known for drunk driving and,whilst Hector is affable,his aristocratic wife Alethea is a dreadful snob with whom Bacchus crosses swords. James has a cut on his forehead and seems upset by the death but soon afterwards is found dead himself. Bacchus theorizes that he left Ellen to die and committed suicide out of remorse but Gently is less certain. One thing of which he is assured,however,is that the aristocracy will always hold sway.

3The Lost Child

Faith,the recently adopted baby daughter of Stephen and Frances Groves, is abducted in broad daylight,leading Gently and Bacchus to the home for unmarried mothers from where the couple got Faith. Mrs Dunwoody,the owner,tells them that Faith had a twin brother and the mother Susan Faulkner disappeared with him after Faith's adoption but,when traced,Susan is unable to help the enquiry. After a kidnap ransom demand proves to be a red herring Gently discovers that both Frances and Stephen have guilty secrets from the past,which,in one case,will solve the case. Bacchus meanwhile reconciles with his father after years of hostility.

4Gently in the Cathedral

1Gently Between the Lines

A year after the shooting incident which wounded them both Gently persuades a disillusioned Bacchus to accompany him to Newcastle where vagrant Simon Thomas has died in police custody. He was apparently part of a protest group demonstrating against the demolition of houses for building clearance, a demonstration which turned into a riot where policeman Ashton was fatally wounded. Resentful of the investigators the local police close ranks though all deny a revenge killing. When WPC Coles, who found Simon's corpse, is apparently forced to resign on grounds of negligence Gently believes she is taking the rap for her male colleagues. Discovering the true motive for Simon's death Bacchus regains his confidence as he helps Gently arrest the real killer.

2Blue for Bluebird

Rachel Coles is now working with Gently but Bacchus, already angry at the restrictive access ex-wife Lisa gives him to their daughter, is not exactly welcoming. The team is called in when the body of Megan Webb is found on a beach. Megan worked at the Bluebird holiday camp run by brother and sister Todd and Cherry Stretch, anxious to keep the camp their father opened in the family despite falling numbers of guests. Megan's correct mother Agnes was unsympathetic to her daughter's desire to become a performer but, having paid a secret visit to her and watched her sing, she admits to being proud of her . Bacchus takes a dislike to Gary Manners, Megan's boyfriend and self-styled ladies man who, on the night of the murder, was having sex with married Sylvia Ryan - for money. Indeed Gently realizes that many of the staff, male and female, were working as prostitutes to keep the camp afloat and that Megan's reluctance to take part ultimately would lead to her death. Not only does Gently solve the case but also persuades Lisa to let Bacchus see more of their daughter.

3Gently with Honour

Young Scott Tanner flees a gay Turkish bath after apparently killing a man for no reason and is found wandering, with no memory of what happened. Scott had been discharged from the army on mental health grounds and was seeing psychiatrist Stefan Lesley, who is murdered after speaking to Gently and whose will names six beneficiaries, including Scott, all soldiers. Stefan had previously worked at a sinister military establishment, Hopewood, where Gently finds himself stone-walled, but where Stefan had visited the day before his death. Eventually Gently learns from Hopewood psychiatrist Jennifer Bing that the six legatees had all been soldiers involved in drug trials as part of a Cold War experiment. They all had another secret which Stefan wanted to expose, resulting in his death at the hands of the person who brainwashed Scott and his friends.

4Gently Going Under

A suspicious death in the mine in Burnsend leads Gently and Bacchus to explore the tensions and relationships in a community whose seams have been ripped wide open by politics - and they discover grudges that date back to the Second World War.

1Gently with the Women

Bacchus is dismissive when prostitute Tina Hall reports a fortnight old rape but when another girl is sexually assaulted and killed Gently is appalled to learn that inspector Walter Nunn had deliberately been dissuading rape victims from pressing charges. Matters are complicated because Bacchus is having an affair with Nunn's wife, bringing personalities into the case. The dead girl is identified and meek bus station attendant Stuart MacMillan owns to murdering her but Gently is not convinced. He is certain that Nunn frequents brothels himself and has his own reasons for the lack of police action whilst constable Rachel pursues her own line of enquiry with a likely suspect.

2Breathe in the Air

Dr Valerie Cullen is found dead, holding a syringe, and colleague Dr Plant suggests suicide, telling Gently that she was depressed at the onset of motor neurone disease. Estranged husband Andrew, also a doctor, agrees but when he finds Valerie's office ransacked and her dog killed Gently suspects foul play with Andrew the likely culprit. Valerie was a popular visitor to Norman, an unofficial patient dying of emphysema contracted from working at an asbestos factory where Andrew was the medical officer. Given that other workers have also died Gently suspects that Valerie was attempting to expose criminal negligence at the factory and somebody was out to prevent her. At the same time Bacchus is thrilled to hear that he has been promoted to inspector but sad to learn that Gemma has gone back with Nunn and is moving to London with him.

3Gently Among Friends

Mouthy Scott Parker noisily toasts his friend Petey at Petey's fortieth birthday party and next day is found dead. He had heavy debts due to his wife Jo's gambling addiction but Gently discounts suicide as Scott had plans for building development in the city, which failed financially. Michael Woodruff, a union leader and old school-mate of Scott and Petey, was amongst those opposing the plans and had publicly fought with Scott whilst Petey was one of the men to whom Scott was in debt. Gently believes that a supposedly friendly fight among the three men following the party holds the key to Scott's death. Meanwhile Bacchus gets to see Gemma again but is concerned that Gently has a health problem he is keeping from him.

4Son of a Gun

On Christmas Eve an armed gang rob the Tyne and Wear bank with machine-guns and soon afterwards the female getaway driver is found dead. Information leads Gently to a rough club frequented by a skinhead gang led by the violent Jonjo Burden but with insufficient evidence Gently cannot charge them so Rachel goes undercover and gets close to Burden. She suspects that another robbery is being planned and she is right but the police are unable to prevent it and her cover is blown. For Gently, now forced to admit to Bacchus that he has multiple sclerosis, the involvement of a colleague's widow and her young son both complicates and helps him clear up the case.

1Gently Liberated

Gently and Bacchus become involved in an investigation that may be a miscarriage of justice.