Nicolas Freeling

Nicolas Freeling (born Nicolas Davidson; 3 March 1927 – 20 July 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the "Van der Valk" series of detective novels. A television series based on the character was produced for the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s, and revived in 1991–91 and again in 2020.

Biography

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 taking home some veal from a restaurant where he worked, though that was common practice in the restaurant trade.[1]

Freeling got bored with writing about his Amsterdam detective Van der Valk and killed him off in 1972, when he was shot while following up a rather unpromising lead. Freeling refused to bring the detective back to life and wrote two novels in which his widow Arlette is the detective. Then he started his second detective series, about a French police inspector, Henri Castang[2] to revive his failing income. Some have considered Castang superior to Van der Valk.

Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel.

Gun Before Butter won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and was a runner up for the UK Crime Writers' Association's 1963 Gold Dagger Award.

In 1968 Freeling's novel Love in Amsterdam was adapted as the film Amsterdam Affair directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Wolfgang Kieling as Van Der Valk.

A radio drama of his Henri Castang novel "The Night Lords" adapted by Michael Bakewell was made in 1990 starring Keith Barron, Richard Vernon, and Edita Brychta as part of the BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre series.

Works

Van der Valk series
  • Love in Amsterdam (1962), a.k.a. Death in Amsterdam[3]
  • Because of the Cats (1963) [4]
  • Gun Before Butter (1963), a.k.a. Question of Loyalty[5][6]
  • Double-Barrel (1964)[7]
  • Criminal Conversation (1965)[8]
  • The King of the Rainy Country (1966)[9]
  • Strike Out Where Not Applicable (1967)[10]
  • Tsing-Boum! (1969)[11]
  • Over the High Side (1971), a.k.a. The Lovely Ladies[12]
  • A Long Silence (1972), a.k.a. Auprès de ma Blonde[13]
  • Sand Castles (1989)[14]
Featuring Arlette Van der Valk
  • The Widow (1979)[15]
  • One Damn Thing After Another (1981), a.k.a. Arlette[16]

Henri Castang series
  • Dressing of Diamond (1974)[17]
  • What are the Bugles Blowing For? (1975),[18] a.k.a. The Bugles Blowing[19]
  • Lake Isle (1976),[20] a.k.a. Sabine[21]
  • The Night Lords (1978) [22]
  • Castang's City (1980) [23]
  • Wolfnight (1982) [24]
  • The Back of the North Wind (1983) [25]
  • No Part in Your Death (1984)[26]
  • Cold Iron (1986)[27]
  • Lady Macbeth (1988)[28]
  • Not as Far as Velma (1989)[29]
  • Those in Peril (1990)[30]
  • Flanders Sky (1992), a.k.a. The Pretty How Town
  • You Who Know (1994) [31]
  • The Seacoast of Bohemia (1994)[32]
  • A Dwarf Kingdom (1996)[33]

In 1990 Not as Far as Velma was adapted as a six-part BBC Radio serial starring Keith Barron as Castang.

Other novels
  • Valparaiso (1964, 1. edition as by F. R. E. Nicolas[34])[35]
  • The Dresden Green (1966)[36]
  • This is the Castle (1968)[37]
  • Gadget (1977) [38]
  • A City Solitary (1984) [39]
  • One More River (1998)[40]
  • Some Day Tomorrow (1999) [41]
  • The Janeites (2002)[42]

Non-fiction
  • The Kitchen (1970)
  • Cook Book (1972)
  • Criminal Convictions (1994)
  • The Village Book (2001) [43]
  • The Kitchen and the Cook (2002)[44]

References
  1. "Nicolas Freeling" Obituaries, Daily Telegraph 22 July 2003
  2. Rosemary., Herbert (1 January 2003). Whodunit? : a who's who in crime & mystery writing. Oxford University Press. pp. 29. ISBN 0195157613. OCLC 252700230.
  3. Freeling, Nicolas (1962), Love in Amsterdam, Gollancz, retrieved 27 September 2016
  4. Freeling, Nicolas (1963), Because of the cats, Gollancz, retrieved 27 September 2016
  5. Freeling, Nicolas (1963), Gun before butter, V. Gollancz, retrieved 27 September 2016
  6. Freeling, Nicolas (2013), Gun before butter ([2013 edition] ed.), Melbourne Penguin Group (Australia), ISBN 978-0-14-356978-7
  7. Freeling, Nicolas (2013), Double-barrel, London Bloomsbury Reader, ISBN 978-1-4482-0701-5
  8. Freeling, Nicolas (1975), Criminal conversation, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-002761-7
  9. Freeling, Nicolas (1968), The king of the rainy country, Penguin, retrieved 28 September 2016
  10. Freeling, Nicolas (1975), Strike out where not applicable, Penguin, retrieved 28 September 2016
  11. Freeling, Nicolas (1969), Tsing-boum : a novel, Hamilton, ISBN 978-0-241-01696-1
  12. Freeling, Nicolas (2001), Over the high side, House of Stratus, ISBN 978-1-84232-848-4
  13. Freeling, Nicolas (1972), A long silence : a novel, H. Hamilton, ISBN 978-0-241-02169-9
  14. Freeling, Nicolas (1990), Sand castles, Mysterious Press, retrieved 27 September 2016
  15. Freeling, Nicolas (1979), The widow, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27184-9
  16. Freeling, Nicolas (1981), One damn thing after another, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27186-3
  17. Freeling, Nicolas (1976), Dressing of diamond, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-004131-6
  18. Freeling, Nicolas (1975), What are the bugles blowing for?, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27180-1
  19. Freeling, Nicolas (1975), The bugles blowing (1st ed.), Harper & Row, ISBN 978-0-06-011354-4
  20. Freeling, Nicolas (1976), Lake isle, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27181-8
  21. Freeling, Nicolas (1977), Sabine (1st U.S. ed.), Harper & Row, ISBN 978-0-06-011356-8
  22. Freeling, Nicolas (1980), The night lords, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-005092-9
  23. Freeling, Nicolas (1980), Castang's city, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27185-6
  24. Freeling, Nicolas (1982), Wolfnight : a novel of suspense (1st American ed.), Pantheon Books, ISBN 978-0-394-52266-1
  25. Freeling, Nicolas (1984), The back of the north wind, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-006953-2
  26. Freeling, Nicolas (1984), No part in your death, Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-27189-4
  27. Freeling, Nicolas (1986), Cold iron, Deutsch, ISBN 978-0-233-97969-4
  28. Freeling, Nicolas (1989), Lady Macbeth, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-010547-6
  29. Freeling, Nicolas (1992), Not as far as Velma, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-016896-9
  30. Freeling, Nicolas (1990), Those in peril, Mysterious Press, ISBN 978-0-89296-412-3
  31. Freeling, Nicolas (1994), You who know, Little, Brown & co, ISBN 978-0-316-90686-9
  32. Freeling, Nicolas (1994), The seacoast of Bohemia, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 978-0-316-91082-8
  33. Freeling, Nicolas (1996), A dwarf kingdom, Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-316-87892-0
  34. Joseph F. Clarke (1977). Pseudonyms. BCA. p. 122.
  35. Freeling, Nicolas (1971), Valparaiso, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-003289-5
  36. Freeling, Nicolas (1975), The Dresden Green, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-002902-4
  37. Freeling, Nicolas (1971), This is the castle, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-003296-3
  38. Nicolas Freeling (1979), GadgetPaperback (New ed.), Penguin (Non-Classics), ISBN 978-0-14-004898-8
  39. Freeling, Nicolas (1986), A city solitary, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-008057-5
  40. Freeling, Nicolas (1998), One more river, Mysterious Press, ISBN 978-0-89296-616-5
  41. Freeling, Nicolas (2000), Some day tomorrow, Arcadia, ISBN 978-1-900850-35-3
  42. Freeling, Nicolas (2002), The Janeites, Arcadia, ISBN 978-1-900850-73-5
  43. Freeling, Nicolas (2001), The village book, Arcadia, ISBN 978-1-900850-63-6
  44. Freeling, Nicolas; Wing, Gary (2002), The kitchen and the cook ([New ed.] ed.), Big Cat, ISBN 978-0-9541974-1-4

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