Een lijk wordt ontdekt in de tuin van De Love, een gerestaureerde boerderij in de omgeving van Brugge. Commissaris Van In komt erachter dat De Love destijds als lustoord fungeerde voor tal van prominente figuren. ( )

This is the first Van In, the Belgian Police Commissioner. He usually works with the deputy Prosecutor, who happens to be his wife. In this case a young girl finds a bone while playing in her backyard and it happens to be human. Good story line and interesting characters, it was fun finding out about the Belgian culture and hearing about the type of food they eat.

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review*** ( )

Really impressed with the true to life characterisation.
Fast paced but also has interesting details including Malta as well as Bruges!
All in all worthwhile reading. ( )

...murder and more!

Ah Perrier or Duvel., sparkling water or an ice cold Belgian beer.
Inspector Pieter Van is in the midst of an enforced diet and now a murder. Both are annoying!
Van In is a knockabout police detective who follows his own rules. He's kept somewhat in line by his wife Hannelore Martens, the deputy public prosecutor. I enjoyed both these characters and their interactions.
At this stage they are pregnant.
Van In's reflections on child rearing are interesting, particularly as he contemplates his own forthcoming event in this area,
'For Van In there was only one Spock. And with him at least he could hope— beam them up, Scotty.'
Ok a few dated phrases, but maybe it goes with the translation. When Hannelore reflects on becoming pregnant and the difference for men and women she uses the term 'wham bam, Thank you ma'am! (I thought good grief... I haven't heard that old chestnut for years! Is this a translation thing or does Aspe really write that in Belgian? That moment felt like a B grade movie excerpt.)
This mystery has it all, murder, corruption and worse in high places.
Van In's dubious methods of getting to the truth place at least one person in a diabolical situation.
For all that I did enjoy, I found the book's plot somewhat erratic, which is probably why I took so long to finish reading it.

A NetGalley ARC ( )

I have to tell you this, even though it has nothing to do with reviewing this book. Many years ago while I was traveling I picked up a crappy paperback mystery set in "Bruce, Belgium" a place that exists only in a spellchecked world.

"From Bruges with Love" is loads better than that awful book, although I would have hired a different translator.

Inspector Pieter Van In and his beautiful wife Hannelore Martens are well-known to readers of European mysteries. Pieter Aspe has written dozens of these books and they are the base for a very long running TV series.

In "De Kinderen van Chronos", which was published in 1997, Van In and Martens investigate a skeleton from 1986 and in the process uncover an unsavory group of politicians tied together by sex and perversion. It's not the nicest book you will read this month, but it is a good mystery.

The translation is not horrible, after all Brian Doyle seems to have translated the other Van In novels available in English, but really Mr. Doyle could have done much better. We all know that Belgium uses the metric system so why switch everything to Imperial? Was V8 drink really sold in Belgium in 1997? Black widow females are larger than the males, not the other way round. Is Mr. Aspe writing about a "yard" or a "garden" because they are different, especially if we are speaking British. Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" is famous, I think, not infamous. The big question, though, is how Aspe's title "De Kinderen van Chronos" becomes "From Bruges with Love."

I received a review copy of "From Bruges with Love" by Pieter Aspe translated by Brian Doyle (Open Road Integrated Media) through NetGalley.com. ( )