Book Report: Old Number Five

28. Castle Freeman, Old Number Five (2020) (10/18/2020)

Back in June, I read the first of Freeman's Sheriff Lucian Wing books, All That I Have.  I was positively impressed. I liked the laconic voice of Wing himself, the portrait he painted of the rural Vermont valleys he oversaw, the various permanent characters in his life—his troublesome wife, his former boss, his father-in-law. The book wasn't a mystery per se, though a crime does get solved. 

This second book in the series impressed me less. Wing is at once too passive—especially regarding that wife of his—and, let's just say, too reckless as he goes about solving a problem that would adversely affect some old-timers in his district. He maintains a hands-off approach, until he realizes that that won't work. It struck me as unrealistic, and although I'm willing to suspend disbelief if there's a reason, this novella is not a work of fantasy. Or, it shouldn't be. 

The story concerns some ne'er-do-wells who end up mysteriously, and badly, injured. Wing investigates—sort of. Mostly, he drives around, asks some questions, then leaves. And that's that. Until the "Chairman" comes along, a newly-arrived-in-the-district town council member who is, effectively, Wing's boss. And he wants answers. Which proves problematic.

Ultimately, there is a murder, which is attributed to "hunters in the area." Here, Wing and his father-in-law, Addison, talk about what happened, with some homespun philosophizing:

"You say 'they.' More than one you think?"
 "No idea."
 "No idea," Addison said. "There there's no real hope we'll ever know."
 "Sometimes that happens. More than a few times."
 "It's hard, though, isn't it? No explanation, no resolution. That's it: no resolution. No end to the story."
 "No end?"I said. "Sure there's an end. What I'm always saying: things get sorted out. They get settled. Things come to an end. Leave them alone, they always do."
 "That's been your experience, has it?" Addison asked me.
 "You bet," I said.
 "Well, but experience, don't you know, isn't the same as a resolution, is it? We were talking about a resolution. Weren't we?"
 "I ain't sure what we were talking about," I said.
 "Me either. Shall we have another boost [of whisky]?" . . .
 "You know?" I said. "Considering that I'm back home, me and the lass unparalleled, I believe I will."

There is also a rather confusing twist at the end regarding a long-ago friendship between Addison and Wing's own father—again, "new information" that I didn't buy, or at least make sense of. 

The book's title, by the way, refers to the Fifth Commandment: "Honor thy father and they mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12). The older generation steers several of the subplots, and revelations, in the book.

Will I read the third in the series? Probably not. Too bad. Because as I said, I like Wing's voice. Also, the fact that these books are nice and short.