Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. Is there an old feud in the Amsterdam underworld...? DEKOK AND THE LOST CHILD is a book in the DeKok series by the author Baantjer. This series is set in Amsterdam, around the Warmoesstreet police station. It is New Year’s Eve, and inspector DeKok’s relaxing evening with family and friends is interrupted by an unexpected visitor. At his front door stands a scruffy old man with a straggly beard who tells DeKok that two young men are out to murder him. DeKok suspects he may be one of the deranged people who haunt the streets of Amsterdam, and directs the man to the police station. A few days later the man is found dead on a bench on the Noordermarkt square. Murdered. The man is identified as Joop Koedam, a burglar whose name DeKok actually recognizes from long ago. When another member of Amsterdam’s faded underworld turns up dead just days later, DeKok is certain there has to be a link. But what is that link? And will he be able to find it before more deaths occur?

''Baantjer's laconic, rapid-fire storytelling has spun out a surprisingly complex web of mysteries.'' - Kirkus Reviews ''Baantjer seduces mystery lovers. Inspector DeKok is part Columbo, part Clouseau, part genius, and part imp.'' - West Coast Review of Books..... This latest page-turner in the best-selling Baantjer series delves into a grotesque double murder in a well-known Amsterdam hotel. Faced with murder victims found looking like macabre wooden harlequins, Inspector DeKok must unravel clues from two unexpected characters: a six-year-old girl who has trouble sleeping and a respected accountant who seeks DeKok's advice on committing the perfect crime. In a surprising twist, DeKok meets with the murderer and tries everything possible to prevent the man from giving himself up to the police. With Dead Harlequin, Baantjer has crafted yet another intelligent, absorbing tale.

Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. A young woman has gone missing, but she was hiding her own share of secrets... A beautiful, free-spirited young woman has gone missing, and those closest to her fear for her life. Inspector DeKok is soon called upon to find out her whereabouts. It quickly becomes clear that this Nanette may have harbored a dark side, one that embraced blackmail, emotional cruelty, and a wicked selfishness. The more DeKok learns of the beguiling Nanette, the more he feels that he is on the trail of a dead woman. DeKok’s suspicions are confirmed with a phone call: the dismembered body of a young woman has been found at the city dump. Now DeKok has to find the bloodied hands responsible for the somber-eyed woman’s murder.

Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. DeKok is faced with a gruesome kind of collector, who covets both objects and people... Inspector DeKok and his partner Vledder are ordered to protect the eccentric Manfred Nettelhorst’s art treasures, exhibited during a special showing in Amsterdam. But before the exhibition has come to a close, the two detectives are called away to a nearby apartment building to investigate the murder of a man handcuffed to a radiator, shot execution style. That same night, an exquisite silver ewer is stolen from the exhibition. Following the trail, DeKok stumbles across an invisible line between beauty and perfection, relating to the collection of both objects and people...

Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. Three murders are connected by a musical thread. Can DeKok find the killer before the grand finale? Inspector DeKok finds himself in the midst of outwardly disparate motives and personalities surrounding the deaths of two reformed junkies and their landlady, a former prostitute. However, there is one connection in the madness, because music threads its way among and around the list of suspects and victims. DeKok discovers that the trail leading to this melodious murderer is as long as a symphonic masterpiece.

Join inspector DeKok in his investigations in the DeKok series by Dutch bestselling author Baantjer. A clown is found dead, but what does his murder have to do with an antique jewel collection? Without the slightest trace, an antique jewel collection disappears from a house along one of the great canals in Amsterdam. Inspector DeKok feels compelled to help the victim of the theft, unknowingly signing up for a homicide case, as well. Soon after commencing his investigation into the robbery, DeKok and his partner Vledder are called to the foot of The Criers’ Tower. A clown lies dead along the canal with a large, shining knife protruding from his back, creating a blossom of blood around the murder weapon. After interviewing the clown’s variety troupe members, DeKok stumbles upon a connection between the two crimes...

How a modern-day mine disaster has turned a Pennsylvania community into a ghost town * For much of its history, Centralia, Pennsylvania, had a population of around 2,000. By 1981, this had dwindled to just over 1,000—not unusual for a onetime mining town. But as of 2007, Centralia had the unwelcome distinction of being the state’s tiniest municipality, with a population of nine. The reason: an underground fire that began in 1962 has decimated the town with smoke and toxic gases, and has since made history. Fire Underground is the completely updated classic account of the fire that has been raging under Centralia for decades. David DeKok tells the story of how the fire actually began and how government officials failed to take effective action. By 1981 the fire was spewing deadly gases into homes. A twelve-year-old boy dropped into a steaming hole as a congressman toured nearby. DeKok describes how the people of Centralia banded together to finally win relocation funds—and he reveals what has happened to the few remaining residents as the fiftieth anniversary of the fire’s beginning nears.