The Pieter Van In Mysteries — Pieter Aspe

Four gripping police procedurals set in Bruges, starring “a brusque cop with every bad habit you can think of” (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review).

Featuring the bad-tempered, libidinous, alcoholic but skilled police investigator Deputy Commissioner Pieter Van In, these four gritty crime novels from a #1 international bestselling author reveal the darker side of the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges.
 
The Square of Revenge: The perpetrators who broke into an elite jewelry store in Bruges stole nothing, but dissolved a fortune in priceless gems in jars of powerful acid -- a perplexing crime that entangles Deputy Commissioner Pieter Van In and his beautiful colleague, assistant district attorney Hannelore Martens, in a wealthy family's darkest, deadliest secrets.
 
The Midas Murders: Two suspicious deaths and an explosion at a popular tourist site lead Van In and Martens into the heart of a terrorist nightmare that could leave their beloved Bruges in ruins.
 
From Bruges with Love: The discovery of a thirty-year-old skeleton during the restoration of a farmhouse pits Van In against high-level Belgian officials determined to prevent the detective from digging too deeply into the house's sordid and terrible past.
 
The Fourth Figure: In this novel, nominated for a Hercule Poirot Award, Deputy Commissioner Van In's investigation of a young woman's bizarre death is a prelude to a massacre, and it places him in the rifle sights of a sinister satanic cult.
 
In the vein of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, “Aspe's writing is crisp and his characters memorable” (Booklist).