The Laughing Cavalier (novel) The Laughing Cavalier (novel) The Laughing Cavalier is a 1913 adventure novel by Baroness Orczy, which revolves around Percy Blake, a foreign adventurer and ancestor of Orczy's famous character, the Scarlet Pimpernel. The story takes place in Holland in 1623/1624 and is partly inspired by Frans Hals' painting "The Laughing Cavalier": in the novel, Blake is Frans Hals' adopted son and the man who poses for the painting of the Laughing Cavalier. The sequel to this book, continuing the story of Percy Blake, is "The First Sir Percy". In March 1623, the Dutch nobleman Willem van Oldenbarnevelt, Lord of Stoutenburg,
The Laughing Policeman (novel) The Laughing Policeman (novel) The Laughing Policeman is a mystery novel by Swedish writers Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, originally published in Sweden in 1968 as "Den skrattande polisen". It is the fourth of ten novels featuring Detective Martin Beck. In 1971, "The Laughing Policeman" earned a 'Best Novel' Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The American police procedural film, "The Laughing Policeman" (1973), is a loose adaptation of the novel. It was translated into English in 1970. The novel's title, "The Laughing Policeman", derives from a 1922 British song of the same name. Detective Beck, ill for