Alluring, unstable, and frantically self-absorbed, Elsa de Charmoy was a dangerous woman, and now she's a dead one, shot with a gun bought by her former lover. Sulking in an Amsterdam jail, he swears it's been years since he saw Elsa, but Inspector Van der Valk isn't quite ready to be persuaded. Like Inspector Maigret (to whom he is often compared), Van der Valk tends to pick apart the details, ideally over a good meal. And while Van der Valk's ruminations may frustrate his more action-minded colleagues, they inevitably yield a surprising resolution.  (NTH101, $14.95)