DEKOK AND THE SOMBER NUDE by...

DEKOK AND THE SOMBER NUDE by Albert Cornelis Baantjer, translated from the Dutch by H.G. Smittenaar (New Amsterdam Publishing: $7.95; 232 pp . , paperback original). Baantjer ranks as the Netherlands’ most popular author: More than 3 million copies of his mysteries have been sold in a nation of 15 million people. It’s easy to understand the appeal of Amsterdam police detective DeKok; he hides his intelligence behind a phlegmatic demeanor, like an old dog that lazes by the fireplace and only shows his teeth when the house is threatened. “The Somber Nude” sends DeKok and his brash young assistant on a search for a mysterious young woman whose beauty masks an evil nature.