Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. Murder of an Antwerp criminal with Amsterdam roots means DeKok has to solve an international crime. At the request of the Belgian police, Inspectors DeKok and Vledder attend the funeral of a murder victim. The body was fished out of Antwerp’s Scheldt River, but brought back to Amsterdam to be laid to rest there. During the service DeKok spies the face of a man long known to be dead. Further bodies are discovered, apparently they too were poisoned and dumped in the river. DeKok is forced to venture from his beloved Amsterdam and travel to Bloedberg (“Blood Mountain”), a notorious neighborhood in Antwerp, to continue his enquiries.

''There are touches of the 87th Precinct, Maigret and Janwillem de Wetering, but Baantjer is in a category all his own.'' - The Globe and Mail.... Although at first it seemed to be a case for the narcotics division, this latest crime soon evolves into a series of sinister and almost impossible murders. Never before have inspectors DeKok and his partner Vledder been so involved in a case whereby murder, drug smuggling, and child prostitution are almost daily occurrences. Blackmail enters the picture and bodies continue to be found. DeKok even finds himself allowing one of the suspects in the serial crimes to go free. In the past a single murder used to dominate the front pages of the newspapers for weeks, but now they get maybe four or six lines on page fourteen, third column, near the bottom. Death has become commonplace in the news, but never for DeKok.

A woman has disappeared without a trace from Hospital South in Amsterdam. Upon investigation, three more women seem to have disappeared in the same mysterious way. For the first time in his career, a hospital means more to DeKok than a place where wounded witnesses and criminals are interrogated.

Along with such peers as Ed McBain and Georges Simenon, [Baantjer] has created a long-running and uniformly engaging police series. -Mystery Scene..... Inspector DeKok and his partner Vledder are ordered to protect the eccentric Manfred Nettel...

Reviewers agree that this police procedural series is one of the strongest currently being published.

The enormous explosion of crime fiction over the last decade means that more people are looking for a good mystery than ever before. This dictionary of fictional detectives helps readers learn about the series in which their favorite detectives are featured. Included are alphabetically arranged entries on roughly 150 fictional detectives, which provide information about the works in which the detective appears, the locales in which the detective operates, the detective's investigative methods, and other important information. Helpful bibliographical citations direct the reader to other interesting works. The volume closes with a selected, general bibliography; various appendices; and an extensive index. The enormous explosion of crime fiction over the last decade means that more people are looking for a good mystery than ever before. Many of the most popular mystery books appear in series, and these series feature carefully developed detectives.