Alan Hunter was an English author of crime fiction, writing 46 novels featuring Inspector George Gently.
Initially a farmer, he became an antiquarian bookseller before writing his first novel.
Hunter was born on June 25, 1922 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.
He married, in 1944, Adelaide Cubitt, who survived him with their 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.
He retired to Brundall in Norfolk where he continued his interests in local history, natural history, and sailing.
From 1955 to 1998 he published a George Gently detective novel nearly every year. The majority are set in Norfolk.
He died on February 26, 2005.
