Not As Far As Velma
Published on 5. December 2023
317 pages
978-1-5040-9027-8 (ISBN)
Description
"That artful master of the international
policier... delivers another one of his uncommonly intelligent procedurals with Inspector Henri Castang." -
The New York Times
When Police Commissaire Henri Castang is summoned to investigate a missing hotelier, he's not alarmed at the young widow's disappearance. Until a routine inquiry on the hotel's last guest reveals him to be a Jewish artist and concentration camp survivor who never checked in to a room. All clues seem to lead to a dead end, until a terrorist bombing of a church convent sends Castang in search of a mystery that will link back to the crimes buried deep in Europe's war-torn past.
"[A] rich and savory ratatouille fans have come to expect from Freeling-ironical and humorous, sad, clever and insightful." - Publishers Weekly
"A dark vision of war then-and-now and of tangled loyalties-to God, to country, to man-with love overriding all." - Kirkus Reviews
When Police Commissaire Henri Castang is summoned to investigate a missing hotelier, he's not alarmed at the young widow's disappearance. Until a routine inquiry on the hotel's last guest reveals him to be a Jewish artist and concentration camp survivor who never checked in to a room. All clues seem to lead to a dead end, until a terrorist bombing of a church convent sends Castang in search of a mystery that will link back to the crimes buried deep in Europe's war-torn past.
"[A] rich and savory ratatouille fans have come to expect from Freeling-ironical and humorous, sad, clever and insightful." - Publishers Weekly
"A dark vision of war then-and-now and of tangled loyalties-to God, to country, to man-with love overriding all." - Kirkus Reviews
More details
Person
Nicolas Freeling (1927-2003) was a British crime novelist best known for the Van Der Valk detective series. After serving in the military and working as a hotel and restaurant cook throughout Europe, he began writing his first novel,
Love in Amsterdam. Freeling's novel
King of the Rainy Country received the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Among his other literary awards are the Gold Dagger from the British Crime Writers Association and France's Grand Prix de Roman Policier.
