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Van der Valk #9
Over the High Side
A respectable looking elderly man is stabbed in a busy street, and, despite being surrounded by people, no one seems to have seen anything. Van der Valk soon discovers that the victim was more of a rogue than he at first appeared, and is dragged into a world of dodgy deals and beautiful women. With five marriages under his belt and four beautiful daughters living in Ireland, Van der Valk feels strongly that Mr Martinez's death is somehow connected to them. His investigations bring him to Ireland, where there is something strange about the ladies of Belgrave Square, and the IRA looms over unfolding events.
First published in 1971, Over The High Side is an excellent detective story, filled with mystery, intrigue, and femme fatales.
First published in 1971, Over The High Side is an excellent detective story, filled with mystery, intrigue, and femme fatales.
- GenresMystery
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1971
7 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Nicolas Freeling
86 books59 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
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 24, 2021
Van der Valk, commissaire of the criminal brigade, crankily observes (no doubt speaking for the cranky and opinionated Freeling) modern manners at the Grote Markt in his provincial town in North Holland. An odd murder occurs nearby by means of a letter opener stuck in a colourful old man's back. Van der Valk pursues the twisting path to the core of the mystery via a long excursion to Ireland. The story consists less of the uncovering of who and why than the psychological portraits of the people he discovers along the way. Highly satisfying. Highly individualistic.
However, my wife read it later and objected to the middle-aged detective being so focused on the women's bodies that he completely misread their character; she also disliked the portrayal of the women, which at least one other Goodreads reviewer has noted as a weakness in Freeling's work. One can also comment that most of the characters speak in the highly elliptical and considered style of Van der Valk, which in turn sounds very much like Freeling's writing. And a number of the events in the story are highly improbable. Never mind. This book, like most (not all) of Freeling's others, has personality, which is more than can be said about many of the thousands of other mysteries/thrillers/detective novels that have been published since this one appeared in 1971. Aside from a couple of very minor cultural references it does not sound dated either.
However, my wife read it later and objected to the middle-aged detective being so focused on the women's bodies that he completely misread their character; she also disliked the portrayal of the women, which at least one other Goodreads reviewer has noted as a weakness in Freeling's work. One can also comment that most of the characters speak in the highly elliptical and considered style of Van der Valk, which in turn sounds very much like Freeling's writing. And a number of the events in the story are highly improbable. Never mind. This book, like most (not all) of Freeling's others, has personality, which is more than can be said about many of the thousands of other mysteries/thrillers/detective novels that have been published since this one appeared in 1971. Aside from a couple of very minor cultural references it does not sound dated either.
April 4, 2023
More Van der Valk, just as the others, an enigma wrapped in solving mystery.
February 6, 2020
It was in this book some forty years ago that I first ran across the wonderfully evocative phrase “go mataglap” (page 42 – “got assassinated by one of these maniacs we have about the place now—what is it they do – inject themselves with peanut butter or something. Go mataglap.”). It is also the only piece of crime fiction that I know that includes fascinating musing on the works of Konrad Lorenz and the parallels between geese and criminals.
An elderly man is stabbed in the street for no apparent reason, by person unknown. He was not wealthy, no known enemies, a much younger wife (his fifth, he was a serial husband, annulments each time, Catholic you know) who seems devoted. The only clue an unknown car seen parked outside their home for a couple of days. Some detecting turns up the fact that the car was a rental, signed out to the son of an Irish senator, a university student who has disappeared. The victim’s three adult daughters all live in Dublin –what is the Irish connection? Van der Valk is sent to Dublin to investigate, discreetly of course, no international incidents, no unfortunate political consequences. Van der Valk finds himself not quite unwillingly seduced by one of the daughters before the whole thing is put to bed. As it were.
An elderly man is stabbed in the street for no apparent reason, by person unknown. He was not wealthy, no known enemies, a much younger wife (his fifth, he was a serial husband, annulments each time, Catholic you know) who seems devoted. The only clue an unknown car seen parked outside their home for a couple of days. Some detecting turns up the fact that the car was a rental, signed out to the son of an Irish senator, a university student who has disappeared. The victim’s three adult daughters all live in Dublin –what is the Irish connection? Van der Valk is sent to Dublin to investigate, discreetly of course, no international incidents, no unfortunate political consequences. Van der Valk finds himself not quite unwillingly seduced by one of the daughters before the whole thing is put to bed. As it were.
July 15, 2020
This novel is younger than most Maigrets or Marlowes, but somehow Van der Valk manages to feel more dated. Some of that is due to Freeling’s writing, which is slightly less accomplished than Simenon’s or Chandler’s, even though that doesn’t make it at all dull or bad.
Of course mechanical typewriters, a lack of modern communication technology and other pieces of decoration are shared with other crime fiction. What sets van der Valk apart is the taste for makeshift sociological theory and philosophical reflection, at a slightly amateurish level. They are inserted as topoi but don’t shape the plot. Basic humanity transcends and prevails on theory in the end.
But the intellectual and cultural horizons of the personnel remains mid-20th century and is always present, be it in dialogue or inner monologue, of which there is plenty. It strikes a rather nostalgic chord with people at least as old as the novel. To younger readers it must look rather exotic these days.
Of course mechanical typewriters, a lack of modern communication technology and other pieces of decoration are shared with other crime fiction. What sets van der Valk apart is the taste for makeshift sociological theory and philosophical reflection, at a slightly amateurish level. They are inserted as topoi but don’t shape the plot. Basic humanity transcends and prevails on theory in the end.
But the intellectual and cultural horizons of the personnel remains mid-20th century and is always present, be it in dialogue or inner monologue, of which there is plenty. It strikes a rather nostalgic chord with people at least as old as the novel. To younger readers it must look rather exotic these days.
May 20, 2021
Not my favorite Freeling (Tsing-Boom, Apres De Ma Blonde, and Arlette rate higher) but a good one all the same. I do like Freeling's style, including opionated comments, middle aged complaints and all. He's like a fine wine, or a particular brand of vintage auto - something special to be enjoyed and cherished for what it is. His writing makes me think beyond the story - and has caused me to research into events I was only semi-aware of.
September 30, 2018
Somewhat disjointed. The plot is hard to follow.
September 22, 2015
"But there was the delightfully haphazard feeling that is so different from Holland; that things are no longer cut and dried; that one does not know quite what will happen next and neither do the Irish, but they will improvise and the improvisation will be brilliant; the sensation one has in France which is so agreeable, of a clown's nimble sloppiness.... He would like Ireland."
Nicolas Freeling paints a wonderfully vivid portrayal of Ireland and its people in "The Lovely Ladies" (1971), the ninth installment of the celebrated Van der Valk series. The Commissaire - who will famously get killed in the next novel, A Long Silence - is his own non-conformist self, and Mr. Freeling lets us vicariously enjoy the charms of Dublin locations in Van der Valk's company.
The plot begins in a provincial town in Holland where the good Commissaire supervises the criminal brigade. When an elderly man, Mr. Martínez, is stabbed in the street, Van der Valk rushes to the scene but manages to catch only the victim's dying words - "The girls...". Mr. Martínez 's three daughters live in Belgrave Square in Dublin, and the investigation reveals that one of the last people in contact with the victim was a young Irish man, the son of a powerful Irish senator. Van der Valk is sent to Ireland to exercise his tact in questioning the young man, and to prevent diplomatic repercussions. The young man is nowhere to be found, though, and once the Commissaire meets the lovely ladies, things do not go smoothly.
Alas, this is not a novel of the caliber I have learned to expect from Nicolas Freeling. While the depiction of Ireland and the Irish is first-rate and two or three sparkling passages of prose are breathtakingly captivating, the book also contains several long and insipid fragments, for example, the maritime adventures towards the end of the novel. The Van der Valk's "bebitchment" thread and his "sentimental seducation" ring awfully false to my ears. Maybe it is because the ladies do not come through as real people; their characters feel underdeveloped. The mystery of the Lovely Ladies fizzles.
Two stars.
Nicolas Freeling paints a wonderfully vivid portrayal of Ireland and its people in "The Lovely Ladies" (1971), the ninth installment of the celebrated Van der Valk series. The Commissaire - who will famously get killed in the next novel, A Long Silence - is his own non-conformist self, and Mr. Freeling lets us vicariously enjoy the charms of Dublin locations in Van der Valk's company.
The plot begins in a provincial town in Holland where the good Commissaire supervises the criminal brigade. When an elderly man, Mr. Martínez, is stabbed in the street, Van der Valk rushes to the scene but manages to catch only the victim's dying words - "The girls...". Mr. Martínez 's three daughters live in Belgrave Square in Dublin, and the investigation reveals that one of the last people in contact with the victim was a young Irish man, the son of a powerful Irish senator. Van der Valk is sent to Ireland to exercise his tact in questioning the young man, and to prevent diplomatic repercussions. The young man is nowhere to be found, though, and once the Commissaire meets the lovely ladies, things do not go smoothly.
Alas, this is not a novel of the caliber I have learned to expect from Nicolas Freeling. While the depiction of Ireland and the Irish is first-rate and two or three sparkling passages of prose are breathtakingly captivating, the book also contains several long and insipid fragments, for example, the maritime adventures towards the end of the novel. The Van der Valk's "bebitchment" thread and his "sentimental seducation" ring awfully false to my ears. Maybe it is because the ladies do not come through as real people; their characters feel underdeveloped. The mystery of the Lovely Ladies fizzles.
Two stars.
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July 29, 2009by Nichols Freeling
April 7, 2016
Lady might be lovely, the story not so much. It drags on A LOT
May 27, 2019
Enjoy all his books, the interactions and musings on people and cultures.
Not my favorite of his, but glad to find one I had not read.
Not my favorite of his, but glad to find one I had not read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews