Synopsis/blurb......
This was the end of
the story that had started 'Once upon a time, in a rainy country, there was a
king...' The end had not happened in a rainy country, but on a bone-dry Spanish
hillside, three hundred metres from where Van der Valk had left a lot of blood,
some splintered bone, a few fragments of gut, and a ten-seventy-five Mauser
rifle bullet.
No one had broken any
laws. But a handsome, middle-aged millionaire had disappeared with a naked
girl. And Van der Valk was given the job of finding out why.
 |
| Foster in Frenzy |
This was my first (and probably last) taste of this author.
The King of the Rainy Season is Freeling’s 6th mystery in his
Inspector Van der Valk series, which ran to 13 overall. I can dimly recall the
TV series from the 70’s starring Barry Foster as the lead character. Foster (as
a boring aside) seemed vaguely familiar to me when recently watching a
Hitchcock film Frenzy. After googling him, the penny dropped in respect of his
Van der Valk role.
Freeling was the recipient of the Edgar Award in 1967 for
this book. One of my mini-reading challenges for myself is a monthly read of an
Award winning book, so on that basis I hooked up with King of the Rainy
Country.
My overall verdict..........shortish at 157 pages long but
not a quick read; interesting and intelligent if a bit too pedestrian for my
liking. Van der Valk is conscientious, probing and curious, diligent in his
approach to his challenge and not easily diverted from his task despite
temptation. The puzzle or raison d’être for Jean-Claude Marschal’s disappearing
act and the limitations placed on his enquiry, added to the sense of mystery
and the suspense does build as our trusty inspector comes closer to solving the
puzzle.
I enjoyed the support cast of police characters and the
respect and cooperation Van der Valk received from his German and French
counterparts added to my enjoyment. At times we seemed to be on a road trip
through Europe in pursuit of Marschal, but it was more at a pace akin to
Driving Miss Daisy than Fast and Furious. Van der Valk has plenty of time for his philosophical musings along the way.
A bit of a change from my usual read and satisfying if not
quite setting off the buzzer labelled “super, fantastic, great!”
3 from 5
I obtained my copy by swapping with another member on the
Readitswapit website.
Col - I'm glad you gave this series a try. I like Van der Valk more than you do I think, but I agree that Freeling does a good job of developing other characters. It's good to hear you thought this one an enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteMargot, thanks, I don't regret trying it and it wasn't disagreeable, just not too much of my kind of book.
DeleteI hope I like Freeling's books more than you did, since I bought several at the book sale. It is possible I will since this is a police procedural. We will see.
ReplyDeleteWas this a Penguin edition that you had a hard time with the typeface, etc.?
Tracy, I hope so too.
DeleteYes, it was one of those pesky Penguins - but I don't think that clouded my thinking.
I read a lot of Nicholas Freeling back in the day, including this one - they seemed very grown-up when I was a teenager. I don't know what I'd think now, I should try one. I remember him as doing quite unusual things with his plots...
ReplyDeleteI suppose on balance I could perhaps try a 2nd of his, because this wasn't a typical police novel, insofar as for a lot of the book there was no evidence of any crime committed.
DeleteMaybe the unusual premise of the novel was usual for Freeling?