Nicolas Freeling was born in London but travelled widely, living in Brittany and Ireland throughout his childhood. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some veal from an Amsterdam restaurant in which he worked; the street-wise detective who interrogated him provided the inspiration for Van der Valk, one of his most famous characters. Freeling was deported back to Britain with Dutch wife Renée in tow, and it was here that he finished Love in Amsterdam, his first novel – published in 1962; its success caused Freeling to return to the Netherlands to garner local colour for further stories.

Having tired of his Dutch protagonist, Freeling killed him off in 1972, to the outrage of his fans. He refused to bring the detective back to life and wrote two novels where his widow Arlette was the detective. Then he embarked upon his second detective series - featuring French inspector, Henri Castang - ostensibly to revive his failing income. Many critics came to consider Castang superior to Van der Valk. His works won him the French Grand Prix de Roman Policier, the American Edgar Allen Poe Award and the British Crime Writers’ Golden Dagger.

Freeling died 20 July 2003 at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg.