A Long Silence

A Long Silence is not technically the last Van der Valk mystery by Nicolas Freeling — there was one more, published in 1989, that resuscitated a detective that some readers were clamoring for — but it is the one in which Van der Valk is killed. That is no spoiler, at least for readers of my 1975 Penguin edition, which contains a memorial blurb on the back cover. Besides, there's the title. Freeling went on to create a French detective that some critics prefer to Van der Valk, and while I haven't read any of those, they would need to go a long way to match the humanity of the Dutch character. A Long Silence, like many in the series, isn't really a mystery as such; it is more an examination of human behavior. Like most good literary detectives, Van der Valk has seen a good deal, and like most good detective stories, including this one, justice is always provisional. Here, however, things are wrapped up with a tighter bow than some of the others, and that is a fitting sendoff for the commissaris.