Lieneke Dijkzeul

An old man is walking his dog one rainy day in a park and finds a child’s bicycle and further away the lifeless body of six-year old Melissa Bosch. Inspector Paul Vegter is called to the scene and has to solve the case together with his team (Talsma, Renée and Brink). Unfortunately, there are almost no leads because the rain has removed all possible traces. But then an older man who lives in the girl’s neighbourhood is beaten up and an anonymous letter addressed to the police claims the action and accuses him of the murder. It only doesn’t make sense. A parallel storyline is that of a 15-year old boy’s point of view. He is mostly neglected by his mother and he wants nothing more than to be a member of a small group of juvenile delinquents. They take advantage of him and force him to participate in robberies of small local enterprises, stealing cigarettes and stuff. Since the neighbour was beaten up by several youngsters, Vegter wonders if they’re one and the same. Then Melissa’s former ballet teacher comes forward and tells the police about the strange behaviour of the man who drives a school bus and drops children off each day at the sports center. The police decides to shadow him and they have to confirm his strange behaviour. Vegter and his team question him because maybe he knew Melissa too from the school bus. This is the second thriller from children’s book author .. she cleverly weaves all the storylines together and it takes until the end of the book before the pieces fall together. It’s not so much a who-dunnit but more why is the other man involved and why was the old man beaten up. It all makes sense in the end. The story is interesting from beginning to end, I like her style and she also gives much background on all the characters which makes them three-dimensional.… (more)

Enjoyable, quick read.
I think most Dutch people know the story of Willem Barents: Barents wanted to find a way to China by sailing around the north of Scandinavia and Russia; unfortunately his ship got stuck in the ice and the crew had to spend the winteer on Nova Zembla.
The book follows the diaries that were kept by Gerrit de Veer, one of the crew members, but adds a fictional element in the discussion of the feelings and thoughts of the sailors, their conversations and their backgrounds. It gives a nice impression of what it was like for these men to spend the winter on Nova Zembla, and how they reacted to their situation.
A nice mixture of fact and fiction, and nice to read a bit more about Barents and his men.… (more)