MURDER IN AMSTERDAM

Two more minimalist procedurals for Amsterdam manhunter Inspector DeKok (DeKok and the Somber Nude, p. 1089). In the first, ``DeKok and the Sunday Strangler'' (1965), the phlegmatic hero has to figure out who killed two prostitutes, and why, in time to save the life of a third—while also finding a few moments to pluck a longtime acquaintance from the streets and bring her back to her parents. In ``DeKok and the Corpse on Christmas Eve'' (1975), the contents of Ellen Vries's pockets after she's strangled and dumped into a canal reveal her identity, her romantic entanglements, and eventually her killer. The translation is telegraphic to a fault, though you may wonder if anybody would greet every development, as DeKok does, with ``Excellent, really excellent.'' Both stories, however short on ingenuity, are very easy to take. But DeKok is no Maigret. (The publisher has scheduled for 1993 some 14 other US editions of ``Baantjer/DeKok'' titles.)