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Book review: A Cold Case in Amsterdam Central by Anja de Jager

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A Cold Case in Amsterdam Central by Anja de Jager (first published in 2016 by Constable Books)

Detective Lotte Meerman is back to work after four months of recovering from a gunshot wound. The circumstances of the wound were not her brightest moments, and she fought hard to get back to work.

Her first case, however, seems to be a cut and dried accident – a man fell to his death from a construction site. However, when the victim’s distraught widow later discovers a bag full of human bones in a locker that her husband had rented, Lotte is sure that the accident was more than likely a murder.

Unfortunately, she’s the only one on her team that thinks so. Not only do her colleagues see to disagree with her, but it looks like they don’t want her back at all.

While it seems that the skeleton is a World War Two relic, and thus ancient history and not a crime, it comes to light that some of the bones are far more recent, and Lotte’s team admits that she may be right – the search is on for a killer.

While Lotte and her team try to find the perpetrators of two possible killings, she must also face her past, as her investigations lead her back to a murder that took place in her childhood; her first unsolved crime. In addition, she needs to vanquish her colleagues’ scepticism and doubt, proving that she can solve the crime, and that she is as good a detective as ever.

A Cold Case in Amsterdam Central is part of a series, but reads perfectly as a stand-alone novel.

It is witty and fast-paced with a sense of excitement mounting as Lotte gets closer to the truth. A sprinkling of history and science makes this more than just a detective novel.

Complete with a strong and respectable female protagonist, Anja de Jager presents a thrilling whodunit that is bound to ensure the admiration of any reader. Welcome to Amsterdam.

Read more of Samantha's reviews on her book blog.

Purchase a copy of the book on takealot.com

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