Book 157: The House of Dolls by David Hewson
Book 157: The House of Dolls (Pieter Vos #1).
Author: David Hewson, 2014.
Genre: Police Procedural. Crime Fiction. Political Thriller.
Other Details: Hardback. 430 pages.
Anneliese Vos, sixteen-year-old daughter of Amsterdam detective, Pieter Vos, disappeared three years ago in mysterious circumstances. Her distraught father's desperate search reveals nothing and results in his departure from the police force. Pieter now lives in a broken down houseboat in the colourful Amsterdam neighbourhood of the Jordaan. One day, while Vos is wasting time at the Rijksmuseum staring at a doll's house that seems to be connected in some way to the case, Laura Bakker, a misfit trainee detective from the provinces, visits him. She's come to tell him that Katja Prins, daughter of an important local politician, has gone missing in circumstances similar to Anneliese. In the company of the intriguing and awkward Bakker Vos finds himself drawn back into the life of a detective. A life which he thought he had left behind. Hoping against hope that somewhere will lay a clue to the fate of Anneliese, the daughter he blames himself for losing . . . - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
Hewson uses the tried and tested formula of teaming a crusty battered-by-life police detective, in this case retired due to personal tragedy, with a misfit newcomer and alongside the case also explores the dynamics of the professional relationship between them.
This proved another highly engaging thriller from David Hewson. While it worked well as a stand alone I was pleased to read that it is the start of a new series. The storyline mixed politics with organised crime as well as the cold case involving Vos' daughter who had disappeared three years previously. Vos proved a likeable character as did Laura Bakker, and I look forward to more of their cases.
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.