Flanders Sky (Henri Castang Mystery) - Hardcover

Freeling, Nicolas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892964928 ISBN 13: 9780892964925

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1992

Synopsis

For Inspector Castang, life in the cosmopolitan setting of Brussels proves more than either he or Vera bargained for. When his boss is arrested for murder and a child abuser becomes a crime statistic, Castang realizes that crime is universal--and his skills as an investigator are as revelevant in the corridors of power as in the back alleys of Paris.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Another reprimand, another transfer, finds Lille police Commissaire Henri Castang (Those in Peril, etc.) reassigned to Brussels, where he will push paper clips around as a minor functionary under Harold Claverhouse, head of Juridical Services. Meanwhile, Vera, Henri's Czech wife, and Harold's chic but difficult Anglo-Irish wife, Iris, become friends--and, later, it is to Henri and Vera that Harold appears, in shock, and announces the strangulation of his wife. What happened? Henri and Vera alternate in relating a saga that may have less to do with personal idiosyncracies than with the character of a country--here, the juxtaposition of England, Ireland, Belgium, France, all on a collision course with Flanders's innocence and East Germany's prying. Also converging: another murder, which comes to light during Henri and Vera's social work at AccŠs house, and which concerns two young runaways, whose incestuous papa was employed by the father of 19-year-old Marie, who was in love with Claverhouse. A lengthy trial sequence offers, if not quite justice, an explanation for both Claverhouse and the young runaways' motives. One of the better Castang tales, journeying into the maze of European politics, national characteristics, and combustible emotion. Thought-provoking and well told. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Freeling brightens the fall season with this sophisticated and introspective murder mystery, the 14th appearance of Inspector Henri Castang and his wife, Vera. Put out to pasture, Castang has been assigned as an aide to a British jurist, Harold Claverhouse, at European Community headquarters in Brussels. When Claverhouse is charged with the murder of his wife, Castang's police instincts and skills come to the fore. After the Berlin Wall is brought down, Vera visits her mother in Czechoslovakia, a journey that gives her insight into the comparable Irish background of the murder victim. While volunteering at a center for runaways, Henri becomes involved with two girls who are being abused both physically and sexually by their father; their tragedy becomes a central issue for the defense at Claverhouse's trial. The trial itself is fascinating and turns on a surprising statement from the accused; as the story unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Henri and Vera, Freeling comments on ethnic and nationalistic differences and the changing face of Europe. Neither whodunit nor mystery, this is an insightful look at the human condition. Freeling is a treasure.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0892964928
• ISBN 13: 9780892964925
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220