Caleb Cluff: The Blindness of Sergeant Cluff

- Blurb -

"The Maigret of the Dales"' Gil North' s atmospheric writing shows the influence of Simenon, and Gunnarshaw' s finest, Sergeant Caleb Cluff, is a memorable detective - the Maigret of the Dales' Martin Edwards, CWA Diamond Dagger winner 2020 and author of Mortmain Hall. Detective-Sergeant Cluff is at home in the bleak, moorland market town of 1960s Gunnarshaw. A gruff and gloomy loner, he has spent a lifetime observing local folk - and knows their lives inside out. They know him, too - a bulky, macintoshed figure who watches from the shadows of Gunnarshaw' s ginnels as they go about their daily business, his dog Clive always at his side. But it' s not just criminals Cluff has to watch out for. Never satisfied with easy answers to cases, Cluff is a maverick and no flatterer to authority - much to the bemusement of Detective-Constable Barker, but much more so to the despair of thehapless Inspector Mole, who tries at every opportunity to outwit or contain Cluff' s singular methods of detection. But beneath Cluff' s dour exterior beats the heart of a truly compassionate man who possesses a deep understanding of human nature, in all its sordid and depraved details - details which frequently push Cluff to bend the rules in his pursuit of moraljustice. The Blindness of Sergeant Cluff: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. But Detective-Sergeant Cluff' s investigation drags him away from the rugged moorland market town of Gunnarshaw and his cosy cottage, to the run-down back streets of Liverpool, where ponces and prostitutes ply their trade. For once, however, Cluff' s judgement of Gunnarshaw folk, his once faultless perception of human nature, not to mention his compassion, are severely put to the test. And at what cost? Justice? What' s more, Inspector Mole is determined to trip him up. Is Cluff past his best?