Rating: 4/5
Review:
A very good crime novel
I enjoyed this book. I tried it because David Hewson was entrusted with writing the novels of the three TV series of The Killing and, while this wasn't as good as those excellent series, it turned out to be a well written and engaging police thriller.
In many ways this seems like a Killing clone to begin with: a missing teenager; a troubled ex-detective reluctantly drawn back into police work; political shennanigins in a fragile coalition and so on. It is also, to be honest, fairly well laced with clichés of the genre: the troubled ex-policeman brought back...etc (who also has a tragic personal involvement); the awkward, misfit partner; an arrogant colleague; political pressure on the investigation; a boss who wants the case closed but the detective Still Has Doubts...and so on. There is even a Stand-Off With A Killer climax. However, David Hewson writes very well and a handles all of this with real skill, so that it never felt tired or stale to me. I thought the characters very well-drawn, the story was involving and he generates a good sense of place in Amsterdam.
The book even has a quiet brilliance about it in places, I thought. For example, there is a little scene, just three pages long in which Bakker (the awkward new recruit) and Koeman (a minor character among the detectives) are talking in the canteen which seemed an utterly genuine exchange between two real people and which I found rather touching. Quite a lot of this underlies the book and lifts it well above the ordinary, I think.
This isn't fabuously original or any kind of literary masterpiece, but it's well plotted with a gripping story and has convincing characters and a good sense of place. I became very involved and will certainly look out for more books featuring Vos and Bakker. Recommended to anyone who likes a good crime novel.
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