De kinderen van Chronos
Crime
Pieter Aspe
Pieter Van In, Book # 3
Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
January 1, 1997
Paperback
336
Dutch; Flemish
Brian Doyle
January 25, 2023 January 29, 2023
10 Books in Translation in 2023, Cloak and Dagger, Finishing The Series, Mount TBR, Reading by the Numbers, The Backlist Reader, Translated Book Goals
Inspector Pieter Van In is begrudgingly finishing up a healthy lunch when he hears the news: While restoring their farmhouse, the Vermasts have found a skeleton in the backyard. Van In, who happens to be married to the deputy public prosecutor, is determined to solve the case in double-quick time and squeeze in one last vacation before the birth of his first child.
But this murder is trickier than it looks, and Van In soon finds himself in murky waters. The Vermasts’ land belonged to the most prominent businessman in West Flanders before it was suddenly handed over to a right-wing charity. The heavily endowed foundation appears to have no expenditures or investments. So who’s financing it—and why?
Before he knows it, Van In finds himself in the middle of a complex web—one that involves high-level officials, local law enforcement, and common thugs. The harder he tries to unravel the thread, the more difficult it becomes to uncover the secrets that the charity’s benefactors are trying to hide. This time Van In will have to risk lives to find out the truth.
About the book
A body is found in the garden of a house outside the city. The body looks like a man and has been underground since 1985, or so it seems. Van In finds himself investigating against politicians and men of power who would like to see the case covered up. Obviously he goes on and what he discovers is a truth that has been buried for more than 20 years.
What I think
The case is interesting, even the characters have improved (okay, Van In has improved a little less), but what didn’t convince me is that the case is solved in the end so simply. That is, the “solution” is practically explained by the perpetrator as a point of view and not with an investigation or interrogation. I don’t know, I’m not convinced by the author’s style. I also didn’t like the undercover case and how it ended.
The book is not that long and can be read very quickly and this is a plus, but this is at the expense of descriptions that I consider important.
I still have one book by the author, then I’ve finished the books I’ve already bought in the series, but I don’t know if I’ll continue after the fourth.
