Van der Valk is back (having been killed off by Freeling some years prior) in another of Freeling's detective novels. In 'Sand Castles' he takes a break from his duties as a Police Inspector in Amsterdam, travelling north through the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. It is a stretch to imagine that he would stumble across, and solve, cases on the way, but Freeling's character is one to delve in dark corners. All of Freeling's work is elevated by his dialogue. It fractures and drifts in a wonderfully naturalistic fashion, and is a perfect counterpoint to the almost accidental narrative. All this of course is carefully crafted, and has echoes of Simenon and Len Deighton's early novels, and of course Janwillen van de Wetering's 'Grijpstra and de Gier' novels. Freeling was English, but has a perfect sympathy with Dutch and European character, suggesting not just how people live, but also how they think. A gentle, suspensful, sometimes dark, ironic, political and humanistic detective story. Possibly not the best of the van der Valk series, but in no way a disappointment. ( )