I just watched the latest season of the new Van Der Walk and got curious about the books that inspired it so got this one from the library. I knew it would be different but about the only things are the name and the city. I did not enjoy the book at all and won't bother to take more out. It took so many odd turns and I kept expecting some clever twists and then it just ended. The new TV series isn't fantastic but I follow it a bit more.

I have to be honest and say that this is a difficult novel to review and rate. The difficulties in discussing this novel begin straightaway because this is a crime novel but the bulk of it is really a psychological non-thriller. Definitely a very slow-burn, as they say. Being honest, there were plenty of points that I would have given this, just barely, a weak 2-star rating. My reaction immediately upon finishing the novel was that it was a 4-star novel, for sure, and certainly the author is underrated and incredibly talented.

I am giving this novel three stars. It could deserve four, to be honest. But the brutality on the reader of that middle historical section is a very muddy slog – I say that knowing that there really was not another method to plot this storyline. ( )

This book, about the murder of a woman artist, was Van der Valk's first outing. The portrayal of Dutch criminal procedure is quite interesting. Several mentions of Simenon and Maigret, and at least one Raymond Chandler quote. ( )

When we meet first Martin he has already been locked up for two weeks for allegedly murdering his ex-lover, Elsa.
In the first sections of Love in Amsterdam Inspector Van der Valk is an unusual cop with unorthodox methods of investigation. It is up to him to solve the crime and I have to admit, he is the most interesting part of the whole story. His philosophy this: it doesn't matter whether Martin says or believes he is innocent or if he is in fact guilty as all get out. Inspector Van der Valk is going to let Martin into his confidences and listen to every rambling theory. He is going to allow Martin in on every part of the detailed investigation because the more he and Martin spend together the more the truth will emerge. Sooner or later Inspector Van der Valk will get his man. It is an unusual way to go about solving a crime, allowing his best suspect to be an active part of the investigation, but it works.
The second part of Love in Amsterdam is all about Martin's past revealing motive for the murder: how he knew the victim, the subsequent relationship they had, and how it all fell apart in the end. Is this section supposed to cast doubt on Martin's innocence?
The final section is a frantic wrapping up of the case. The murderer is revealed and Inspector Van der Valk gets his man.
Stanley Ellin said it best when he described Love in Amsterdam as having "the sinister, spellbinding perfection of a cobra uncoiling." That is definitely true for the first part of the story. ( )

I read this in about 1977, so I only remember flashes --about an oddly intense romance. One bit I recall is the woman getting out of a car naked to open a door. ( )