A young couple are
restoring a badly deteriorated farm house when they discover a
skeleton in the backyard. Commissioner Van In and his wife, Deputy
Prosecutor Hannelore, get the case. At first it seems to be a
mysterious death, but when the skeleton is a murder victim the case
changes.
The farm was first
owned by one of the wealthiest men in Bruges. He donated it to
charity and from there it found it's way to the young couple.
Donation to a charity seems straight forward, but many of the
wealthiest men in Bruges were involved, and when one of them turns up
dead, the picture changes.
This is
straightforward detective fiction. There are no surprising twists
until the end, but even there it's fairly easy to see what's coming.
The story is carried by the main characters. Van In is gruff and
doesn't like a lot of people. Hannelore is young, beautiful and
pregnant with their first child. She is the more sympathetic
character.
I was disappointed
that there weren't more descriptions of Bruges. It's a fascinating
city. The other problem is the names. Many of them start with 'V' and
that makes it hard to remember who's who early in the novel. This is
a somewhat unfair criticism because this book is a translation.
However, it can make it difficult to enjoy the novel.
If you like detective fiction with engaging characters, you may like this one.
The plot is not original, but the characters are interesting and the
foreign atmosphere is a plus.
I reviewed this book
for Net Galley.
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