First published 2001
Detective Van der Valk faces a puzzle that defies easy answers. A wealthy, attractive middle-aged millionaire has vanished alongside a naked woman, leaving behind no broken laws but plenty of questions. The case takes Van der Valk far from the wet streets that gave this story its fairy tale beginning. Instead of rain-soaked pavements, he finds himself on a parched Spanish hillside, mere hundreds of meters from a spot marked by violence. Blood stains the dry earth there, along with bone fragments, torn flesh, and the deadly track of a Mauser rifle bullet. The millionaire's disappearance seems clean on the surface, but Van der Valk must dig beneath the legal veneer to uncover the real motives. What drove a man of wealth and status to flee with his mysterious companion? The detective's investigation reveals that some stories that begin like fairy tales end in places far removed from their origins, where the truth lies buried in dust rather than washed clean by rain.
Genres: suspense, mystery, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, deception, puzzle
Setting: Spain, Rainy Country
Period: 20th-century
166 pages · Paperback · House of Stratus Ltd