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geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'The Midas Murders' by Pieter Aspe is the second in the Van In series. These books take place in Bruges, and feature a world weary police inspector.
This time around there are a lot of plates spinning. There are a couple suspicious deaths that seem unrelated. One is a man found dead in the streets, and another is a friend of Van In who dies in a house fire. Then there is a bombing in a tourist area. To top matters off, Van In may lose his house to the bank. There are threads that lead to the Nazis. There is a monument climbing bomber. To top it off Hannelore is craving pickles which makes Van In even more anxious than normal.
I felt like the first book was more tightly plotted, and this one seemed a bit scattered, but when it was all said and done, I liked it. I did like that Hannelore spent more time with Van In this time around, but, overall, I think I preferred the first book in the series.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Open Road Integrated Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
This time around there are a lot of plates spinning. There are a couple suspicious deaths that seem unrelated. One is a man found dead in the streets, and another is a friend of Van In who dies in a house fire. Then there is a bombing in a tourist area. To top matters off, Van In may lose his house to the bank. There are threads that lead to the Nazis. There is a monument climbing bomber. To top it off Hannelore is craving pickles which makes Van In even more anxious than normal.
I felt like the first book was more tightly plotted, and this one seemed a bit scattered, but when it was all said and done, I liked it. I did like that Hannelore spent more time with Van In this time around, but, overall, I think I preferred the first book in the series.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Open Road Integrated Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
maryjf23's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
eserafina42's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. I don't know if it's in the original, but the translation has a bit too much sneering and smirking for my taste.
fictionfan's review against another edition
1.0
Dull and derogatory...
A German businessman is murdered after a night-out in Bruges, and a famous statue is blown up. Assistant Commissioner Pieter Van In is responsible for investigating both incidents and soon begins to wonder if there’s a connection.
This is the second book in the Van In series. The first, [b:The Square of Revenge|18471549|The Square of Revenge An Inspector Van in Mystery|Pieter Aspe|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381307472s/18471549.jpg|26138054], was a fairly light novel with lots of humour, and an enjoyable relationship between Van In and his girlfriend, deputy prosecutor Hannelore Martens. Unfortunately this one is quite different and the change is not for the better.
The plot is hackneyed (really, is there much more that can be got out of the Nazi gold saga?), confused (at least half of the time I hadn’t a clue how Van In was making his deductive leaps, and the other half I didn’t care) and unbelievable. The writing continues to have the clunkiness I mentioned in my review of the first book, and I still can’t determine whether this is a problem with the original or the translation.
Van In’s drinking has now become excessive, so we are treated to descriptions of drunkenness and hangovers, insubordination and inability to carry out his job. Very yawnworthy and not even done as ‘well’ as the many, many other drunken mavericks we’ve been bored to death by over the last few decades. We’re also treated to Van In using every corny and hackneyed insult about Germans that the author could dredge up – references to the Master Race and ‘Heil Hitler’ abound. It’s as if the book was written in the 50s rather than the 90s.
But the real problem with this book is not the poor writing, the confused plotting or even the tedious drunkenness. It’s in the attitude to women that the book really shows itself up to be an unpleasant piece of work. Van In (and presumably the author) never looks at a woman without commenting on her breasts, her rear, her legs or her availability in the most derogatory terms. Hannelore has descended from being a colleague to being an object for sexual fantasising – the biggest fantasy being that an intelligent, beautiful and successful woman would find anything remotely attractive in the drunken, sexist and shabby Van In. But the sex scenes with the willing (exceptionally willing) Hannelore are not enough for Van In’s voracious appetite so he has to turn to prostitutes for regular top-ups during working hours. I apologise in advance, but here are a few examples of the language that disgusted me throughout this throwback to an earlier and less pleasant age:
She was wearing a modest jersey blouse and, he presumed, a Wonderbra.
He turned his gaze away from her legs. When she stood, he remained seated like a paralysed vulture. “Have a good day, Commissioner.” “I genuinely hope so,” he responded indifferently. The bitch left him cold.
“Comfort him, sweetheart,” said Van In scathingly. “What else are secretaries for?”
Van In shrugged his shoulders indifferently. The thought of Veronique made him horny. What was he to do? His body reacted to the bitch like a hungry baby to a juicy breast.
If you enjoyed these quotes, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, do yourself a favour and skip it…the last Aspe I’ll be reading. (Extraordinarily, he has dedicated this book to his daughters! Saddening, isn’t it?)
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Open Road.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
A German businessman is murdered after a night-out in Bruges, and a famous statue is blown up. Assistant Commissioner Pieter Van In is responsible for investigating both incidents and soon begins to wonder if there’s a connection.
This is the second book in the Van In series. The first, [b:The Square of Revenge|18471549|The Square of Revenge An Inspector Van in Mystery|Pieter Aspe|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381307472s/18471549.jpg|26138054], was a fairly light novel with lots of humour, and an enjoyable relationship between Van In and his girlfriend, deputy prosecutor Hannelore Martens. Unfortunately this one is quite different and the change is not for the better.
The plot is hackneyed (really, is there much more that can be got out of the Nazi gold saga?), confused (at least half of the time I hadn’t a clue how Van In was making his deductive leaps, and the other half I didn’t care) and unbelievable. The writing continues to have the clunkiness I mentioned in my review of the first book, and I still can’t determine whether this is a problem with the original or the translation.
Van In’s drinking has now become excessive, so we are treated to descriptions of drunkenness and hangovers, insubordination and inability to carry out his job. Very yawnworthy and not even done as ‘well’ as the many, many other drunken mavericks we’ve been bored to death by over the last few decades. We’re also treated to Van In using every corny and hackneyed insult about Germans that the author could dredge up – references to the Master Race and ‘Heil Hitler’ abound. It’s as if the book was written in the 50s rather than the 90s.
But the real problem with this book is not the poor writing, the confused plotting or even the tedious drunkenness. It’s in the attitude to women that the book really shows itself up to be an unpleasant piece of work. Van In (and presumably the author) never looks at a woman without commenting on her breasts, her rear, her legs or her availability in the most derogatory terms. Hannelore has descended from being a colleague to being an object for sexual fantasising – the biggest fantasy being that an intelligent, beautiful and successful woman would find anything remotely attractive in the drunken, sexist and shabby Van In. But the sex scenes with the willing (exceptionally willing) Hannelore are not enough for Van In’s voracious appetite so he has to turn to prostitutes for regular top-ups during working hours. I apologise in advance, but here are a few examples of the language that disgusted me throughout this throwback to an earlier and less pleasant age:
She was wearing a modest jersey blouse and, he presumed, a Wonderbra.
He turned his gaze away from her legs. When she stood, he remained seated like a paralysed vulture. “Have a good day, Commissioner.” “I genuinely hope so,” he responded indifferently. The bitch left him cold.
“Comfort him, sweetheart,” said Van In scathingly. “What else are secretaries for?”
Van In shrugged his shoulders indifferently. The thought of Veronique made him horny. What was he to do? His body reacted to the bitch like a hungry baby to a juicy breast.
If you enjoyed these quotes, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, do yourself a favour and skip it…the last Aspe I’ll be reading. (Extraordinarily, he has dedicated this book to his daughters! Saddening, isn’t it?)
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Open Road.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
Had a bit of a hard time keeping all the characters straight. Lots going on and it didn't seem related for a long time. Commissioner Van In has a lot of self inflicted problems. He drinks too much which causes a lot of his problems. Versavel tries to keep him in line and covers up for him a lot and is also very helpful in the investigations. It is amazing that Van In is able to figure things out considering his shortcomings. It was nice to see that he did start to clean up his act towards the end. His girlfriend is trying to help him both on the job and off.
I'm unfamiliar with Bruges and its history and that of the tension between the Flemish and Walloons so that make it a bit hard to pick up some of what was happening. The bombing and murders were all about trying to gain economic control and it was a complicated way to go about it.
I'm unfamiliar with Bruges and its history and that of the tension between the Flemish and Walloons so that make it a bit hard to pick up some of what was happening. The bombing and murders were all about trying to gain economic control and it was a complicated way to go about it.
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