Many years ago I read pretty much all of the Inspector Van der Valk mysteries. Their style was very much in the vein of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, by which I mean that character was more important than mystery.
This episode felt very much like the style of the books. The "whys" of the mystery are more or less bonkers--as several reviewers have pointed out--but I found the suspects very intriguing to watch.
Several reviewers in this episode and previous ones have compared this show to Midsomer Murders. I don't see much similarity in the past episodes. But this episode, does have the "feel" of a Midsomer Murder mystery. There are three dead bodies, two of them definitely murder, one death is suspect. The fate of one other character is unclear, but likely alive. (The first murder, in particular, would fit right in with Midsomer Murders).
The Cuyper family, with their billions, are at the center of this mystery. As F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me".
The character of the Cuyper family, their "hangers-on", and their enemies make this an enjoyable episode for me--not the mystery of who did the killing and why. (That said, I would have given this episode a higher rating if the mystery itself made more sense).
Also, characterwise, the detective team is growing in maturity and depth--especially the character of Job, which is nice to see. Also nice is that there is no superior over the team and Van der Valk who is being stupid and oppressive to the work of the team--a particularly annoying feature of too many police procedurals.
This episode felt very much like the style of the books. The "whys" of the mystery are more or less bonkers--as several reviewers have pointed out--but I found the suspects very intriguing to watch.
Several reviewers in this episode and previous ones have compared this show to Midsomer Murders. I don't see much similarity in the past episodes. But this episode, does have the "feel" of a Midsomer Murder mystery. There are three dead bodies, two of them definitely murder, one death is suspect. The fate of one other character is unclear, but likely alive. (The first murder, in particular, would fit right in with Midsomer Murders).
The Cuyper family, with their billions, are at the center of this mystery. As F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me".
The character of the Cuyper family, their "hangers-on", and their enemies make this an enjoyable episode for me--not the mystery of who did the killing and why. (That said, I would have given this episode a higher rating if the mystery itself made more sense).
Also, characterwise, the detective team is growing in maturity and depth--especially the character of Job, which is nice to see. Also nice is that there is no superior over the team and Van der Valk who is being stupid and oppressive to the work of the team--a particularly annoying feature of too many police procedurals.