Strike Out Where Not Applicable finds Van der Valk newly installed as Commissioner of Police in the provincial town of Lisse, centre of the tulip growing region. The countryside is, ‘Nothing to look at. Flat like all of Holland.’ And the town? Walls white; painted, plastered, roughcast. Metal window-frames painted grey. Huge windows washed and … Continue reading Strike Out Where Not Applicable / Nicolas Freeling
Van der Valk
Double Barrel / Nicolas Freeling
Van der Valk is dispatched to the small town of Zwinderen in the north-east of Holland, where a series of poison pen letters have been sent to residents and two women have committed suicide. The local police are (of course) baffled. Freeling’s Amsterdam inspector is a close cousin of Simenon’s Maigret. Both detectives like to … Continue reading Double Barrel / Nicolas Freeling
Graeme Macrae Burnet 