Criminal Conversation

Van der Valk #5

by Nicolas Freeling

Working on an anonymous tip and his own intuition, Inspector Van der Valk investigates a murder that was cleverly disguised as heart failure

Genres: Mystery, Detective, British Literature

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Nicolas 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

Reviews

[Michael Flick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Van der Valk police procedural, the opening being his getting the case and the closing half being the prolonged detailed confession in writing by the criminal. Tawdry.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van der Valk never disappoints and Freeling has an incredible gift for dialogue, audible and interior. This book is written from Van der Valk's point of view and then from that of Dr. Van der Post, the "criminal," who under his carefully massaged facade turns out to be Van der Valk's "semblable et frère." It's a real page-turner until we get to Van der Post's letter to Van der Valk, which drags somewhat about halfway through (until then, this was 5 stars for me). Despite this, however, the letter sheds light on Van der Post's psyche and the ending is a cracking good one. Freeling's brush paints pretentiousness with a few quick sardonic strokes and gives us an excellent peephole into spotlessly stultifying Amsterdam society.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a whodunnit, it is more a psychological case study. Van der Valk gets a letter from a prominent banker accusing a well-known doctor – a neurologist - of murdering his tenant, an elderly, alcoholic painter with a penchant for young girls. The painter is buried, no police suspicions at the time of death. The banker wants any investigation to be anonymous so none of the women involved with the painter will be embarrassed. As it turns out, the doctor is a serial womanizer, picking his partners from his patient list, including at one point, the banker’s wife and daughter. The painter’s apartment overlooked the doctor’s courtyard, a perfect spot for spying, and perhaps a bit of blackmail.
Van der Valk presents himself to the doctor as a potential patient, symptoms non-specific, and they begin to interview each other. It is a pretty fascinating duel of wits, the urbane polished doctor versus the slightly scruffy, blunt cop. The second half of the book is in the form of a letter from the doctor to Van der Valk in which he explains his life, his history, his loss of status and prosperity in the colonies, his relationships with women including: his glacial wife, a socialite with artsy pretensions, the wife of the banker, and her daughter.
Dr. Van der Post is quite a character – convinced of his own superiority, yet coming to a grudging sense of Van der Valk as a worthy opponent. The mental duel between the two is stunning in its quiet way.

[Mark Lisac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps Freeling was already getting bored only about four years into his writing career, despite the success of his Van der Valk series. Perhaps he wanted to experiment. Whatever the reason, this foray into a crime novel that's third-person narrative in the first half and first-person narrative by a suspect in the last half too often leaves the impression of watching the writer play solitaire, or a chess game against himself; readers seem by far a secondary consideration. It has some stronger parts, and Freeling's cantankerous idiosyncrasy makes almost everything he wrote interesting. One of the characters in this one makes a remark about writers basing almost all the people in their stories on themselves. Was Freeling perhaps exploring Jekyll-and-Hyde sides of his own personality with this book? He would probably have regarded any such suggestion as odious. He probably would have bristled at the notion even if it had a grain of truth. Prickliness comes with the territory in his work; landscapes studded with cactus can often be appealing, too.

[Sue Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a who-dunnit, don't buy Nicolas Freeling. This is a slow, war of words about a suspected crime.

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You are accused of bringing his death about, of your own active agency, by hitherto undetermined means."

In "Criminal Conversation" (1965), the fifth novel in Nicolas Freeling's acclaimed Van der Valk series (and the twenty-sixth book of his that I have reviewed here), the author continues his experiment with having a character narrate the story, in this case a substantial part of it. Luckily, this time it is not the inspector who helps with the narration since such an attempt proved absolutely disastrous in the previous entry in the series, Double-Barrel . Here the results are encouraging and what we have is an interesting psychological crime novel.

The inspector receives a letter that accuses Dr. van der Post of "doing away with a certain Cabestan, an elderly alcoholic painter." It turns out that the author of the letter is Mr. Merckel, a merchant banker and one of the most powerful people in Holland. Van der Valk - unofficially supported by his boss, Commissaris Sampson - embarks on a quiet, private investigation. In the guise of a patient he visits the doctor, and a duel of wits ensues between the two. Their verbal fencing reveals that both are "expansive talkers", which is not a surprise, given that the author is known as an exceptional craftsman of expansive prose.

Part One is a relatively straightforward procedural, while Part Two is Dr. Post's memoir, in which he attempts to show off his top-notch intellect and unparalleled tactical skills. Taunting the inspector he even quotes a sentence that belongs to a police manual: "The characteristic, overriding, never-failing mark of the criminal, by which he can always be recognized, is his immense vanity." Vanity aside, the moving account of the doctor's coming-of-age years is a much better read than his arrogant superiority rants. The denouement will disappoint action-minded readers, but it does suit the overall pensive mood of the book.

For most other authors the novel would rank as an excellent psychological mystery, but it is just a tad below average quality for Mr. Freeling, considering his outstanding literary output.

Two and three quarter stars.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Van der Valk series, set in Amsterdam. Van der Valk has some appeal as a character, but I didn't find this book very interesting. It was, I think, trying to be a psycho-drama, and didn't quite make it. There is no mystery, only a rather sordid tangle of supposedly high-status people and a few low ones. The first half of the book is third person, mostly from Van der Valk's pov; the second half is first person by one of the characters. In this case I don't think the change of narrators worked very well. It seemed disjointed and incoherent.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've tried my hardest but after 4 days with 70/200 pages still to go I'm giving up. I suppose the title should have been a clue but there was too much talk and not enough action for me, which wasn't compelling. I made it to part 2 but the narrative voice is so meandering it just annoys me too much to keep reading.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't find the second half boring. For me it puts Freeling in the exclusive circle of crime writers who actually understand crime in its deep psychological or existential significance - a very small circle - Dostoyevsky and Simenon its most eminent members. It's not really a detective story, but it's a really interesting novel.

[Macha]

4 and a half stars. reread.