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Henri Castang #6
Wolfnight
A Henri Castang Mystery - Replete with the volatile tensions of a political thriller, Freeling introduces the reader to the nebulous, frightening world of conspiracy. Henri Castang, renowned police inspector, is called in to investigate a car accident involving a French politician and his mistress. When Castang uncovers a top-level plot linking industrial and political leaders, he takes the law into his own hands with what turns out to be incredible consequences.
231 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
Nicolas Freeling
87 books60 followersNicolas Freeling born Nicolas Davidson, (March 3, 1927 - July 20, 2003) was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels which were adapted for transmission on the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s.
Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some food.[citation needed]
Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, and France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Van Der Valk
* Henri Castang
Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some food.[citation needed]
Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, and France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Van Der Valk
* Henri Castang
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 20, 2015
With "Wolfnight" (1982) my quest to read Nicolas Freeling's entire opus reaches about 40% mark. It is the sixth novel in the French series featuring Inspector Henri Castang, now promoted to Commissaire-Adjunct. Having read the six novels in order, I can appreciate how Mr. Freeling's prose gets better and better - meaning quirkier and quirkier - with each new installment. This idiosyncratic and intellectual prose is absolutely unique among the crime novel writers, and even most of the so-called serious writers should envy Mr. Freeling his unparalleled mastery of the literary craft. While reading the novel is a pleasure because of sharp characterizations and sparkling prose, plot-oriented readers might be severely disappointed: the plot is not that interesting, and - to me - the goings-on are not plausible enough.
A nationally-known politician appears in the Police Judiciaire office and tells Castang that he had an auto accident about sixteen hours ago and that a woman might be dead. He claims he is in a state of shock and does not know exactly what happened. When the police get to the scene of accident there is no body there and, what's more, the woman in question cannot be found at all.
It soon becomes obvious that the case is a part of a heavily political affair and perhaps even conspiracy. The local countess, Madame de Rubempré, seems to be somehow connected to the affair and soon she becomes one of the central characters in the novel. Right-wing and left-wing groups seem to be involved; even some ties exist with groups supporting Polish freedom (the plot takes place just after the imposition of martial law in Poland). Through his superior, Castang obtains clear instruction "to be unaggressive" in pursuit of the solution. The author's repulsion for politics and politicians comes across loud and clear, which is one of the major strengths of the novel. I love the passage where an idiot politician is extremely excited when giving orders to the commanding officer of a special forces squad. The politician undoubtedly has an erection while talking about "surgical strike" and "rapid assault".
As a sample of the superb prose, below the rating I am enclosing half of a phenomenally well-written paragraph that contrasts nuances of English, American, and French. The penultimate sentence of that fragment is one of the most delightful sentences I have ever read.
Three and a quarter stars.
"English is a language where intonation counts above almost anything. Such a phrase as 'I, um, don't feel quite convinced' is meaningless on paper, is viva voce worth a page of prose, and a prosy page at that. The American language is quite dissimilar. It will produce a single word like 'candyass' worth in itself a paragraph, embedded within volumes of such polysyllabic hermeticism, such thick, black, deathly-boring opacity as to make Henry James kneel and beat his pure marble brow howling against the dirty deck whence all but he had fled. The French, than whom - it's a very than-whom people all round - none can be more vacuously orotund, are (the same ones) obligingly terse. On occasion."
A nationally-known politician appears in the Police Judiciaire office and tells Castang that he had an auto accident about sixteen hours ago and that a woman might be dead. He claims he is in a state of shock and does not know exactly what happened. When the police get to the scene of accident there is no body there and, what's more, the woman in question cannot be found at all.
It soon becomes obvious that the case is a part of a heavily political affair and perhaps even conspiracy. The local countess, Madame de Rubempré, seems to be somehow connected to the affair and soon she becomes one of the central characters in the novel. Right-wing and left-wing groups seem to be involved; even some ties exist with groups supporting Polish freedom (the plot takes place just after the imposition of martial law in Poland). Through his superior, Castang obtains clear instruction "to be unaggressive" in pursuit of the solution. The author's repulsion for politics and politicians comes across loud and clear, which is one of the major strengths of the novel. I love the passage where an idiot politician is extremely excited when giving orders to the commanding officer of a special forces squad. The politician undoubtedly has an erection while talking about "surgical strike" and "rapid assault".
As a sample of the superb prose, below the rating I am enclosing half of a phenomenally well-written paragraph that contrasts nuances of English, American, and French. The penultimate sentence of that fragment is one of the most delightful sentences I have ever read.
Three and a quarter stars.
"English is a language where intonation counts above almost anything. Such a phrase as 'I, um, don't feel quite convinced' is meaningless on paper, is viva voce worth a page of prose, and a prosy page at that. The American language is quite dissimilar. It will produce a single word like 'candyass' worth in itself a paragraph, embedded within volumes of such polysyllabic hermeticism, such thick, black, deathly-boring opacity as to make Henry James kneel and beat his pure marble brow howling against the dirty deck whence all but he had fled. The French, than whom - it's a very than-whom people all round - none can be more vacuously orotund, are (the same ones) obligingly terse. On occasion."
September 24, 2015
Not as good as some of his others
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews