Death in the Red Light District

Book excerpt: AMSTERDAM 1980 A city in turmoil: rife with drug abuse, riots and terror threats in the run-up to the coronation of Queen Beatrix. As Amsterdam's police force is overwhelmed by the civil war between law enforcement and squatters, local neighbourhood policeman Piet Huizen is seconded from his hometown Alkmaar to this cauldron. It should be daunting but he feels strangely liberated from the responsibilities of home and everyday work. Together with his three colleagues from across the country, he's only there temporarily and can even laugh at his own provincial outlook. Until a student goes missing. AMSTERDAM NOW Detective Lotte Meerman doesn't want to hear about her father Piet Huizen's past because his month in Amsterdam in 1980 led directly to her parent's divorce. The less she knows, the better it is. Then two men die. Their deaths are not treated as suspicious but Lotte realises there is something that links the deceased men: they were both children of her father's former team-mates. And the more she investigates the circumstances of their deaths, the more Lotte comes to realise that she could be next on the list... Praise for Anja de Jager: 'Succeeds as a portrait of both a city and, in its heroine, a delightfully dysfunctional personality' Sunday Express 'Impressive' The Times