Inspector George Gently

Embittered by the hit-and-run murder of his wife, Gently plans to collect his pension and fade into a lonely retirement. But after learning the whereabouts of his wife's killer -- the sadistic criminal mastermind Joe Webster -- Gently sets off for Northumbria, bent on justice.

Gently and Bacchus try to determine the identity of a body found in a wooded area, shot once through the head and then burned beyond recognition. Their only clue is a gold ring inscribed with the name Wanda found in the victim's stomach.

Shot down over England and billeted with a kindly farm family during the war, pilot Gunter Schmeikel returns to Northumberland to visit his former captors, now his friends. The joyous reunion turns tragic when Schmeikel's body is fished out of the harbor.

Real-estate developer Cora Davidson shows up at her newly purchased property and finds the reluctant seller murdered in his backyard. Gently and Bacchus focus on the mansion's mute gardener, but they soon learn that the house has a sordid history.

A beautiful young woman turns up brutally murdered on the altar of a Newcastle church. Delving into
the victim's past, Gently uncovers her connection to Rake's, a swinging gentleman's club that has
become a target for religious protesters.

The theft of expired passports -- and the subsequent murder of a female clerk -- expose potentially explosive ethnic hatred in a seaside town. The victim's boyfriend faces off against a gang of Arab toughs, with Gently and Bacchus caught in the middle.

Mill manager Patrick Fuller is found hanging from the rafters of his workplace. Was his death really a suicide -- or murder? The investigation uncovers adultery, embezzlement, and a connection to a secret society.

Called to a crime scene at a working-class boarding house, Gently and Bacchus find a woman horribly beaten to death, her eyes covered discreetly with a handkerchief. The victim also carried her daughter's birth certificate, with the name of the child's father crossed out.

When nuclear submarines plan to dock at the local naval base, young peace protesters from Durham University clash with the police. The next morning, the demonstrators' fiery leader, faculty member Fraser Baratt, turns up dead at the dockside.

The body of a missing teenager is found in a shallow grave. Gently quickly zeroes in on her relationship with two men: her schoolteacher and her violent, short-tempered father. The detective enters a confusing new world of pop culture as he tries to separate fact from fantasy.

Gently and Bacchus investigate the supposedly accidental death of China, who was one of the inspector's ex-informants and an old friend, but all they get are cover-ups and lies. Their inquiries expose a wider conspiracy.