The Henri Castang Mysteries Series

In France, a police detective hunts for an elusive killer in this novel by an award-winning author who “writes like no one else” (Los Angeles Times). In the tiny French town of Soulay, Inspector Henri Castang is dealing with a brutal robbery, a drugged teenager, and the sad delusions of a nervous old lady. But when a violent death suggests a mysterious connection to recent events in Paris Castang must untangle a mix of spiteful small-town gossip and big-city crime. This lively mystery comes from a winner of the Edgar and Gold Dagger Awards—“the most eccentric, the most idiosyncratic and the most European of crime writers” (Anita Brookner).

A French detective looks into a public figure’s murder—and discovers some private secrets—in a mystery by an author who is “a joy to read” (TheTimes Literary Supplement). When a local official is gunned down in the street, it looks like a cold-blooded political assassination. But as Inspector Henri Castang investigates—and questions the victim’s colleagues and family—it seems the motive might have been closer to home. The mystery only becomes more tangled when the official’s son turns up dead. What is this family involved in that has cost them two lives already? Castang must sort through secrets, blackmail, and lies to solve the case before another victim is targeted . . . Castang’s City is an atmospheric and suspenseful novel by a celebrated author who earned crime fiction’s three most prestigious prizes: the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, the Edgar Award, and the CWA Gold Dagger.

Unorthodox French detective Henri Castang investigates a kidnapping in this police procedural from an Edgar award–winning British crime novelist. When the daughter of a prominent official goes missing, Inspector Henri Castang is certain the abduction is an act of revenge against the child’s mother. Not only is Collette Delavigne one of France’s youngest judges, but as a magistrate of crimes involving children, Delavigne has certainly aroused a few enemies. But how to find the perpetrator in a sea of cases that could easily have inspired a vengeful kidnapping? All Castang knows for sure is that he needs to act fast, in case the kidnapper has murder on his mind . . . Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

A British judge and a naked corpse put French inspector Henri Castang on delicate, dangerous ground in this mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author. When a local businessman’s car is stolen, he’s more concerned about what’s inside—the body of his just-deceased grandmother. Then Parisian police Insp. Henri Castang is called to investigate the mysterious appearance of a woman’s body found in a car. But just when it seems like his latest case is about to solve itself, Henri discovers a baffling murder wrapped up in a simmering crisis of international relations. On holiday with his family in France, a British high court judge found a naked corpse in the boot of his Rolls Royce. Having made the discovery upon arriving for dinner at a three-star Michelin restaurant, more than a few reputations are on the line. Now Castang must unravel a web of grim coincidences, lies, and political intrigue before another victim gets the boot. This mystery from the author of the popular Inspector Van Der Valk novels combines “solid police work” with “the ever-surprising Freeling prose” for a cunning tale of crime detection set in the City of Light (Kirkus Reviews). “Freeling writes like no one else.” —Los Angeles Times “A joy to read.” —The Times Literary Supplement

From an Edgar Award–winning British crime novelist, this unsettling homicide investigation features the unorthodox French detective Henri Castang. On a sultry summer night in a French provincial city, Insp. Henri Castang is summoned from his office at the Police Judiciaire to the site of a triple murder. The killer? A husband who came home unexpectedly to discover his wife and daughter in bed with another man. A crime of passion? Perhaps. Except the murderer in question, wealthy financier Gilbert La Touche, is cool and remote. His confession is as factual and bloodless as the crime is violent and deeply disturbing. As a detective, Castang must play by the rules to protect himself. But for an unconventional cop like Castang, that is virtually impossible. After all, there’s more to murder than a few corpses and a killer, and Castang will follow every twist until he gets to the heart of the evil at hand. Praise for Nicolas Freeling “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly

The Edgar award–winning British crime writer’s latest Inspector Castang mystery “takes the international policier to high ground . . . and does the genre proud” (The New York Times). For Detective Castang, being asked to serve as an aid to a British jurist feels more like being fired than promoted, but relocating to Brussels with his wife is a nice perk. When his employer is charged with murder, Castang’s investigative skills are brought to the forefront once again. But the more he digs into the darkness, the more unsettled he becomes by the nature of evil, which appears to have no borders—and for which there is no true escape. “An insightful look at the human condition. Freeling is a treasure.” —Publishers Weekly “One of the better Castang tales, journeying into the maze of European politics, national characteristics, and combustible emotion. Thought-provoking and well told.” —Kirkus Reviews

Renowned French Detective Castang investigates a missing wife and her suspicious husband in this mystery from an Edgar award–winning British crime writer. Guy and Sibille Lebfevre had what most people would call a normal marriage—until they have an argument while on a road trip through the Vosges mountains. Enraged, Sibille gets out of the car, disappearing on the otherwise deserted road, never to be heard from again. Six months later, Guy has not even bothered to look for his wife. When Inspector Castang questions him, Guy claims his wife is too proud to come home. This does not sit right with Castang or anyone close to Sibille, as they all suspect her husband of murdering her. But as Castang soon realizes, no one really knows what happens—or doesn’t happen—between a husband and wife. . . . Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

From an Edgar award–winner, a shrewd French detective investigates murder in “a meditative, dark, ironic installment in the unconventional Castang series” (Kirkus Reviews). Two violent murders one after another in a provincial district in France is more than enough to agitate the astute mind of Inspector Henri Castang. Especially since the first was so gruesome—he suspects the corpse has been cannibalized. The second killing leads him to a teenage prostitute whose youth and beauty can hardly mask the evil within. Soon enough Castang is questioning human nature itself, even as his investigation opens into political intrigue—and corruption that strikes a little too close to home. Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

From an Edgar award–winning British crime novelist, an Inspector Castang thriller that “has it all—politics, sex, metaphysics” (The New York Times). It’s a quiet night at the Police Judiciare in Detective Castang’s provincial corner of France when a prominent politician stumbles in, claiming he was in a car accident he can barely recall, with a passenger who is his mistress—and is very likely dead. But when the unorthodox inspector’s astute investigation leads him straight into the heart of a political conspiracy, the stakes are suddenly higher for Castang—and for the fate of the French Republic. “Exhilaratingly rich in wit and humanity. Indignant at the right things.” —Detroit News

From an Edgar award winner, French Inspector Castang investigates cases close to his personal life in a mystery rich with “penetrating character sketches” (Kirkus Reviews). It seems there’s no escape from crime for Police Commissaire Henri Castang. While in Munich with his wife, he becomes embroiled in a child custody case that suddenly turns sinister. Once back at home, Castang is faced with the mysterious disappearance of a friend’s wife, along with what could be a romantic double suicide if it didn’t look suspiciously like murder. It’s all in a day’s work for Inspector Castang in these three interconnected mysteries—crimes which challenge even the enigmatic, brilliant mind of France’s renowned detective. . . . Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

“An acknowledged master . . . writes with heart and unfailing intelligence” in this meditative Inspector Castang mystery about sexual obsession and love (Publishers Weekly). When Inspector Henri Castang is asked to investigate the death of a colleague and friend, an Irishman whose erratic behavior raises questions about his involvement in the I.R.A., Castang travels through Europe in search of answers. What the detective discovers is a very different picture of the friend he once knew, a sordid tale of sexual obsession that plunges Castang into the world of organized crime, on the trail of a mystery that calls into question the very nature of the human heart. Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

The final Henri Castang mystery confirms the Edgar award–winning author’s “mastery of character and imagery in a superlative study of people and power (Publishers Weekly, starred review). After the murder of dear friends and an attack on his wife, Vera, Inspector Henri Castang is finished with life as an investigator. As the couple settles into an inherited cliff-top home in Biarritz, Castang is just starting to wonder if retirement suits him when his only grandchild is kidnapped, sending him on a terrifying chase that is all too personal. With the local police stunted by politics, it’s up to Castang to catch this perp—and he will. Even if it’s the last thing he ever does . . . Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

The ninth Inspector Castang murder mystery is “a heady pleasure” in which “learning the identity of the miscreant is only one of the delights” (Publishers Weekly). Recently promoted to Commissaire of a small province in northeastern France, Inspector Castang must tread lightly when the wife of a prominent wine merchant is murdered. Especially since the victim’s sister is very well-connected in political circles. Castang has his work cut out for him, especially when his lead suspect turns up dead. . . . Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times

“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

From an Edgar award–winning crime author, a mystery featuring unorthodox detective Henri Castang as he hunts for a kidnapper in the Czech Republic. It’s every mother’s nightmare—their child abducted. But for Anita Rogier, whose son has been missing for four years, a glimmer of hope shines into her dark world when she receives a call that convinces her he is alive. But with few believing her claims, she needs a detective who is able to take the leap into the unknown. She needs Henri Castang. The former French Inspector turned European Community crime expert agrees to investigate, traveling with his wife Vera across Europe on a case that will test his detective skills. Praise for Nicolas Freeling: “In depth of characterization, command of language and breadth of thought, Mr. Freeling has few peers when it comes to the international policier.” —The New York Times “Nicolas Freeling . . . liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzler into a critique of society and an investigation of character.” —The Daily Telegraph “Freeling rewards with his oblique, subtly comic style.” —Publishers Weekly “Freeling writes like no one. . . . He is one of the most literate and idiosyncratic of crime writers.” —Los Angeles Times