Crime and corruption ooze from the dark corners of small towns and no one understands this more than Police Inspector van der Valk. But provincial town life isn?t Jan Rijk, a right-wing criminal whose connections with the underworld may be devastating to the lives of small-town people. What can van der Valk do to stop him?

Nicolas Freeling (March 3, 1927 ? July 20, 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the van der Valk series of detective novels. Freeling?s The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers? Association, and France?s Grand Prix de Litt?rature Polici?re. In 1968 his novel Love in Amsterdam was adapted as the film Amsterdam Affair directed by Gerry O?Hara and starring Wolfgang Kieling as van Der Valk.