Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
How do you prove a murder that's almost impossible to prove was a murder? An elusive homicide evades even the most decisive guile from a true master of criminal investigation, but Van der Valk won't let that stop him. A seemingly unintended death of a local restaurant owner might not be as accidental as some would like it to appear, and when the suspicions of the Commissaire are aroused, Van der Valk is called in to ask some very awkward questions. A fascinating thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat as Van der Valk probes the strangest of human behaviours.

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable. A Van der Valk Thriller. House of Stratus, ISBN: 184232845X (June, 2001), 194 p., $11.50.

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable (UK 1985)

From the Publisher:
Van der Valk finds small-town life a bore -- until the "accidental death" of the local innkeeper proves not accidental at all!
The White Horse, a convivial inn run by an extraordinarily handsome man and his very attractive wife, is the social center of Lisse. Inspector Van der Valk, convalescing in Lisse after being wounded in the line of duty, has passed many quiet hours there. But when the innkeeper is kicked to death at the local riding stable, Van der Valk finds out that country diversions can be just as deadly as those of the city...

"Nicolas Freeling is at it again, fashioning characterizations with such attentive care that he convinces me I've known the people all my life." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Brilliant, of course... all character and feeling and right up Van der Valk's alley" -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Van der Valk remains the most subtle, complex, and interesting of fictional police detectives." -- Edmund Crispin, Sunday Times (London)

Cover design and illustration by Irving Freeman

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable. A Van der Valk Mystery. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1985, ISBN: 0140030093, 175 p., £1.95, $3.50.

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable (UK 1969)

From the Publisher:
At first it looked as though Bernhard Fischer had died after a fall from a horse. The suggestion that he was kicked in the head seemed to satisfy everyone. Everyone, that is, except the local doctor, who wasn't certain a hoof was the blunt instrument of death. Commissaire Van der Valk soon proves the doctor right.

But that wasn't an answer. It was a question. Who really did kill Fischer? No one at the riding stables liked him. All had opportunity. None seemed sorry.

To find out 'who', Van der Valk has to sort through the dirty linen of a whole community.
He was surprised how much there was.

Cover design by Robert Hollingsworth

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable. When one man died Van der Valk found out how a whole community lived. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1985, ISBN: 0140030093, 175 p., 20p., 4/-.

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable (USA 1969)

From the Publisher:
NICOLAS FREELING continues to win the highest accolades from discerning readers everywhere, including the reviewers:

"Freeling continues to amaze with his subtle insights and lucid style." -- Book World
"Nicolas Freeling is at it again, fashioning characterizations with such attentive care that he convinces me I've known the people all my life." -- New York Times Book Review
"All character and feeling and right up Van de Valk's alley." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"... brilliant, amusing and top quality." -- Chicago News

BE SURE TO GET THIS AUTHOR'S OTHER WORKS, ALL AVAILABLE FROM BALLANTINE BOOKS

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable. New York: Ballantine Books, 1969, Ballatine Books #01605, 194 p., 60¢.

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable (USA 1968)

From the Publisher:
Stanley Ellin says: "A toast to Nicolas Freeling and to Strike Out Where Not Applicable, one of the finest of his always magnificently enlivening and enlightening Inspector Van der Valk stories."

And Ralph Lapp says: "Another fascinating view of Van der Valk's mind as he applies himself to a crime and a community."
Because Van der Valk of the Amsterdam police force had been wounded in line of duty and had to walk with a cane, he had been rewarded with a new title, Commissaire, and had been sent to the quiet, small town of Lisse in the tulip-growing countryside -- to a new job, supposedly easier for a convalescent. The local social center was the White Horse, the one good inn in town, run by Bernhard, a jovial, excellent host and a handsome hulk of a man, married to Marguerite, who spent a lot of time with Saskia, the housekeeper. Lesbian? Well, probably not, but in a town like Lisse, there's always a lot of gossip. Not much else to do. So little to do that Arlette, Van der Valk's wife, with time on her hands, took up horseback riding at the stables run by Francis La Touche, who was greatly admired by the local gentry -- especially the female gentry.

Then the plump innkeeper Bernhard died suddenly -- apparently he had been kicked by a horse. But the conscientious local doctor, a Dr. Maartens, wanted to talk to Van der Valk. He was a little worried about the "accident."

That started Van der Valk on the trail, this time aided by Arlette, who turned out (in her own way) to be an expert investigator not only of a possible murder but of a good many interesting relationships in the tight little community.

The combination of the Van der Valks and Dutch suburbia is a most interesting one -- and this is a most provocative novel.

Jacket design by Mary Neumuth

Nicolas Freeling: Strike Out Where not Applicable. A Harper Novel of Suspense. New York: Harper & Row, 1968, 230 p., $4.95.