Inspector Van Veeteren mysteries

When an ex-convict and then a wealthy real-estate tycoon fall victim to a violent attack by a possible ax-murderer, Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is called in to assist with the local investigation

Detective Van Veeteren and his associates are left bewildered by the curious murder of a man shot twice in the heart and twice below the belt. Revenge seems to be the motive, in this chilling novel filled with deception, blackmail, and murder.

Waldemar Leverkuhn, along with his three friends, have won the lottery and toast to their good luck with a celebratory dinner at their usual haunt. The day ends, however, with Leverkuhn drunk, stumbling, belligerent, and eventually dead in his bed, stabbed twenty-eight times in the chest with a carving knife. The case seems to have solved itself with his wife's confession, but when the Leverkuhn's formidable neighbor, Else Van Eck, goes missing and...