Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron (USA 2023)

From the Publisher:
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...

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron. A Henri Castang Mystery. Early Bird Books / Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504090209 (December, 2023), eBook, 6347 KB (ca. 324 p.), $14.99.

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron (2001)

From the Publisher:
A rich aristocrat is found murdered and Henri Castang is called in to investigate. What he reveals is a startling series of discoveries. The murdered woman, Madame Lecat kept herself occupied with drink, cocaine and affairs of the heart. But what is more shocking is the corruption Castang finds swarming beneath the veneer of high society.

'Cold Iron is a triumph for Nicolas Freeling, a masterwork not to be missed' Stanley Ellin

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron. A Henri Castang Mystery. House of Stratus, ISBN: 1842328611 (July, 2001), 246 p., £6.99, $11.50.

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron (UK 1988)

From the Publisher:
Madame Lecat had a wide and varied circle of acquaintances -- one of them wanted her dead.
Her background was impeccably aristocratic; she was married to the richest (and most feared) businessman in town. And, like many wealthy, neglected wives, she pursued a variety of diversions -- cocaine, serious drinking, affairs with virile younger men. Castang's investigation of her murder reveals some startling things about how the rich really live, and exposes the very corrupt heart of society's inner circle.

"Freeling's whimsical and atmospheric style is here in force, along with his personal asides on the trivia of our existence... A rather special book" -- Patricia Highsmith

"Cold Iron is a triumph for Nicolas Freeling, a masterwork not to be missed." -- Stanley Ellin

Cover design by Irving Freeman

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron. A Henri Castang Mystery. Penguin, ISBN: 0140099840 (March, 1988), 238 p., £2.50.

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron (USA 1986)

From the Publisher:
When his boss suddenly retires, maverick cop Henri Castang is posted to an ugly and provincial area of northern France. His surroundings are foreign, but before long he is back in very familiar territory: a death pitches him into a murder inquiry; and suddenly Castang is caught up in a sinister vortex from which there seems to be no escape.

Madame Lecat, found asphyxiated in her luxurious villa, is not just the wife of a powerful business tycoon; she is also local gentry, and soon Castang's list of suspects branches out to include not only her servants and business associates, but her Army brother-in-law and autocratic sister as well. When a second killing throws the investigation into chaos, Castang knows he is facing his most difficult -- and dangerous -- test yet.

Freeling, a master of the cerebral mystery, has produced a brilliant commentary on crime and punishment, a dense and witty account of the nature of human nature. Cold Iron is a compelling account of passion in a little-known area of France, whose dingy towns and desolate marshlands make a chilling setting for this tale of corruption, greed, and death.

"Nicolas Freeling's new Henri Castang story, Cold Iron, is a powerhouse of a novel. Identification with Castang is immediate and intense, the view of his troubled and troublesome world made brilliantly vivid. And there is that unique writing style -- pure Freeling? pure Castang? -- that the author has honed to perfection as the instrument for getting into the marrow of every character he creates. Cold Iron is a triumph for Nicolas Freeling, a masterwork not to be missed." -- Stanley Ellin

"Nicolas Freeling entertains again, with Castang transported to little-known (to most of us) Northern France. Freeling's whimsical and atmospheric style is here in force, along with his personal asides on the trivia of our existence. A rather special book." -- Patricia Highsmith

Jacket Design by Irving Freeman

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron. A Henri Castang Mystery. Viking, ISBN: 0670811807 (November, 1986), 224 p., $15.95.

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron (UK 1986)

From the Publisher:
In Cold Iron, Nicolas Freeling's remarkable new novel, he has transported Castang from the city to a smaller town, in the North of France, but is this a promotion, or a kick upstairs? On his own, now that Richard has retired, Castang is still feeling his way when a death provokes an enquiry. The social and political intricacies of this land which is both France and Flanders turns it into a harsh test for his colleagues and himself.

For Madame Lecat, found asphyxiated on her bed in the luxurious villa protected by electronic gadgetry, is not just a business tycoon's wife: she is local gentry, and her horsey sister, her Army brother-in-law, and her alarmingly nubile niece could be as suspect as the servants or business associates. Castang and the reader together explore the underworld of the province's physique, and psychology.

All that was engaging in previous Castang novels has been preserved: the dense and witty mental life and a passionate irony. Stripping inessentials, refining new profundities, Freeling has added a compelling vision of the dingy and beautiful countryside of this area of France, too little known since the battlefields of 1914-18 have been forgotten. It makes a fine setting for this splendid story of corruption and death.

Nicolas Freeling: Cold Iron. Andre Deutsch, ISBN: 0233979697 (July, 1986), 225 p., £8.95.