De Cock en de dood in gebed by A.C. Baantjer
A junk tells De Cock that his addicted girlfriend has promised fifty thousand euros to whoever kills her wealthy father. Soon that father is found dead in the canal.
A.C. Baantjer was a Dutch writer. He worked as a police detective in Amsterdam for almost forty years. He used that work to write the De Cock series, one of the most read crime series in the Netherlands.
A junk tells De Cock that his addicted girlfriend has promised fifty thousand euros to whoever kills her wealthy father. Soon that father is found dead in the canal.
In a heatwave, De Cock finds the body of an animal activist with six small dead dogs beside him. The motive is a puzzle.
A young woman reports her brother missing, and De Cock finds him dead at the clubhouse of a charity. The dead man held five hundred thousand euros and a dark secret.
De Cock and Vledder find fashion house director Verbruggen dead with a note pinned to his lapel. A jealous mistress and a rumoured merger both seem to matter.
Arendje van Nijmegen reports her husband missing, and he is soon found dead. When her lover dies too, De Cock stops believing in coincidence.
Soon after a young widow reports being stalked by a former lover, her new partner is found murdered. Money, blackmail and jealousy all seem to play a part.
A painter who is De Cock's friend fears for his life and asks him to lead the case if anything happens. Soon after, the man is shot dead while walking his dog.
On his last day before a forced holiday, De Cock hears of the murder of Alexander de Rijke, a charismatic leader with many followers, and people soon arrive asking for his help.
Jasper van de Gouwenaer is found dead in his flat with a dagger in his back, and a newspaper claims De Cock helped arrest him the day before.
A young man tells De Cock that his former girlfriend found her new lover dead, strangled and branded on the forehead. It is the start of a series of identical killings.
A young woman asks De Cock for help, but she is too late: her husband has hanged himself. It is the start of a grim case with no official support.
De Cock gives a newly widowed woman a well-meant piece of advice, and seems to set off a case in which three murders follow in quick succession.
A plastic surgeon vanishes from the Clinic of the Healing Masters. It is not his colleagues who call the police, but a woman who had grown close to him.
A young man is shot dead in his doorway in what looks like a criminal settling of scores. Before De Cock can act, a woman is strangled.
A young man reports that his wealthy, unmarried great-uncle has disappeared. A collection of small statues turns out to matter to the case.
A body with a dagger in its back is found in the basement of a house for sale. The murder seems linked to a secret group called the Brotherhood of the Cross.
A young woman reports that her boyfriend has gone missing. It looks like a simple break-up, but it turns into a far harder case.
The body of an Antwerp diamond dealer is found in a squat. There are no signs of crime, but valuable diamonds are missing. De Cock is asked to help.
A member of a drug gang has vanished and seems to have been killed and hidden with care. De Cock investigates whether it is a contract killing.
A young woman tells De Cock that a bronze sarcophagus has been stolen from her, and that a curse rests on it. He is sceptical at first, but the case soon turns serious.
A man with a limp comes to De Cock. He had sought help for chronic leg pain from a faith healer, but she has suddenly disappeared.
The body of a woman is found at the Westerdoksdijk. It would normally be a matter for the harbour police, but De Cock is drawn in once it becomes clear this is murder.
On a summer evening a young woman reports that her father is missing. The man is the president of the court.
De Cock and Vledder are drawn into a murder in the red light district. The crime happens on their own ground, but it proves to be a complicated case.
A woman wearing a heady perfume reports that her husband, who runs an export firm, has disappeared. De Cock and Vledder soon meet the hard reality of the crime.