Nicolas Freeling was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels. He published 37 works of fiction and four miscellaneous works. In addition to Van der Valk, the Amsterdam detective whom he rashly killed off in 1972, Freeling created a series of novels based on the more reflective provincial French Inspector Henri Castang.
Freeling won the three most prestigious awards for crime writing: the French Grand Prix de Roman Policier, the American Edgar Allan Poe Award and the British Crime Writers' Golden Dagger. 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.
