Pieter Van In, assistant police commissioner in the Belgian city of Bruges, is a mess. He drinks to excess, smokes like a chimney and is about to lose his home to foreclosure. Despite everything, though, his detecting skills remain sharp. This comes in handy in The Midas Murders--Pieter Aspe's sequel to The Square of Revenge--when the bedraggled commissioner is called upon to investigate the death of a wealthy German businessman and the bombing of a beloved statue.
The bombing appears to be a terrorist act and Bruges, dependent on tourism, is in a state of panic when a letter threatens more attacks. Then, when the German's autopsy reveals abnormalities that point to murder, Van In suspects a connection between the cases. As his pursuit of justice leads him in dangerous directions, his trusty sidekick, Sergeant Guido Versavel, and Van In's girlfriend, prosecutor Hannelore Maartens, attempt to keep the self-destructive cop in one piece.
Some elements of The Midas Murders reflect its original 1996 publication date, like Versavel's "new" word processor--but the plot itself feels up-to-date, even when it delves back into Europe's history, as Aspe weaves the historic into the current for a complex and intriguing mystery. The true gold of the novel, however, is the development of the character's relationships. Alone, Pieter Van In would be an unremarkable detective--just another drunken loner. Through his interactions with Versavel and Maartens, a humorous, empathetic, flawed human emerges--one for whom readers can cheer. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts