Peter Hunt	Murder Among The Nudists

First published by The Vanguard Press, 1934 May 25.

All I know about author Peter Hunt comes from reading Murder Among the Nudists. It seems that Hunt wrote a series of detective adventures featuring amateur sleuth Alan Miller - who is the civilian Chief of Police in Totten Ferry, Connecticut. While the books were successful enough to justify there being a series, they weren't successful enough to get reprinted, or to spin-off TV or film versions, or to produce fan Websites.

The plot in Murder Among the Nudists unfolds in conventional fashion, with Miller being asked to lead a police investigation into a suspicious death. The crime scene is the laundry of a residential "nudist colony", Temple Garden Nature Camp. These nudists are from the hard-line wing of the movement, with clothing prohibited at all times. The very need for a laundry is queried by the police, until it becomes accepted that linen and towels have to be washed. However, being an essentially clothes-free area, there are fewer clues or means for concealing evidence than would otherwise be the case.

Inevitably, a whole range of inter-relationships, dislikes and peccadilloes come to light, and our hero finally pulls all the pieces together into a coherent picture of dastardly deeds, with various excursions and lucky escapes along the way. This is done competently enough, but Hunt is no Conan Doyle, and most of the developments are either easily predictable or strain credulity to some extent.

Where the book is commendable is in its treatment of naturism. None of the characters regards social nudity as perverse or sexually motivated, although entirely reasonable doubts are raised about the desirability of shunning clothes in all seasons and weathers, and it is clear that nudists are somewhat outside the ambit of gentile society. You can get a flavour of Hunt's writing from the extracts.

Ratings:

Nudity	Naturist nudity	A good read?

Last updated 2006 February 19.
 
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