Arlette had made mayonnaise. She had hake, a lettuce salad, an early cucumber, spring onions, raw grated carrots, the famous tasteless Dutch tomatoes. They had a glass of white wine waiting for the boys, and he told her about the painter. She only said two things. One was, ‘Poor Janine. She’ll get over it. Do her good, maybe. Shall I invite them to dinner?’
The other was, ‘What a fertile, fruitful, months-long source of gossip this is going to provide for that awful Maggie Sebregt.’
A Note on the Author
Nicolas Freeling(1927–2003), born Nicolas Davidson, 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 the 1990s.
Freeling’sThe 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.
In 1968 his novel Love in Amsterdam was adapted as the film Amsterdam Affair directed by Gerry O’Hara and starring Wolfgang Kieling as Van Der Valk.
Discover books by Nicolas Freeling published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/NicholasFreeling
A Long Silence
Criminal Conversation
Double-Barrel
Over the High Side
One Damn Think After Another
Strike Out Where Not Applicable
The King of the Rainy Country
The Widow
Tsing-Boum
For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square,
London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 1967 by Victor Gollancz
Copyright © 1967 Nicolas Freeling
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The moral right of the author is asserted.
eISBN: 9781448214570
Visit www.bloomsburyreader.com to find out more about our authors and their books
You will find extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers.
Strike Out Where Not Applicable Page 22