Gil North, pseudonyme de Geoffrey Horne, est un écrivain britannique dont l'œuvre explore la vie et les dynamiques sociales au sein des colonies africaines. S'appuyant sur ses expériences en tant que fonctionnaire en Afrique, North crée des récits qui examinent avec sensibilité les complexités des relations interculturelles et les impacts du colonialisme. Son écriture se caractérise par un aperçu psychologique aigu de ses personnages et une représentation réaliste des décors, plongeant le lecteur dans des histoires humaines captivantes et des dilemmes moraux. À travers sa voix distinctive, North offre de profondes réflexions sur la condition humaine dans des circonstances difficiles.
When Detective-Sergeant Cluff, on the lookout as ever, overhears a conversation in Gunnarshaw concerning the Amblers' estate in Egilsby, he grows suspicious. But when Colonel Ambler is found dead at the riverside, Cluff - unorthodox as ever - promptly embarks on a fishing trip to investigate, much to the despair of Inspector Mole.
From the shadows of a ginnel, Cluff watches a young woman weeping in Gunnarshaw's busy high street - and wonders why. But when a dead body is discovered in a forest plantation, Cluff calls on his extensive knowledge of Gunnarshaw folk, as well as his instinctive perception of human nature, to uncover a trail of fateful and unrequited love.
An attractive young woman is found dead with a handbag of more money than she would've earned in wages. Sergeant Cluff is bought in to gradually find out the truth about the murder.
Amy Snowden, in middle age, has long since settled into a lonely life in the Yorkshire town of Gunnarshaw, until - to her neighbours' surprise - she suddenly marries a much younger man. Months later, Amy is found dead - apparently by her own hand - and her husband, Wright, has disappeared.
When the police are called to a crime scene at a Gunnarshaw grocer's shop, it looks to be a straightforward case of burglary - but not to Detective-Sergeant Cluff, whose subsequent investigations, following a boy's brutal discovery of a dismembered body on the moors, force him to confront the most gruesome murder he has ever faced.
Gunnarshaw is under siege. A peeping Tom prowls the streets and back yards, peering through windows, the police seemingly helpless to catch him. Then, a body is discovered in the garden of the local school's head teacher, much to the dismay of his well-heeled neighbours.