In my view…
This is already the 18th sequel of the Politieseries about police officer Roel Westland. I do not know the neighbourhood of Middelwatering in the Rotterdam area, so I was wondering: where would the story be about? This is a story based on real experience of the writer as a police officer and events that happened years ago in this neighbourhood in Capelle aan den IJssel.
This story has two sides: a violent side of several crimes that will be committed throughout the book and it also has a soft side. Not the violent crimes of course – and those crimes are not too much detailed so it is still a book that can be read by children or the youth. The soft part is about a group of people that live together because they are death or their hearing is limited. They use sign language to communicate. Through the story of the book you became more aware of this little different communicating in life. Life itself is – supposed to be – not that different. Everybody can live the same life, only being a bit more aware of your surroundings and communicating through sign language or lip reading.
Writing style / spelling
The story is nicely written: a good pace, a good variety between the thriller parts where the tension increases and the parts where normal life goes on. I had just found one grammar mistake in this print but that’s all.
Main characters
The main character of the series is of course Roel Westland. The detective who works in this sequel as a police officer, special team, not the uniform team anymore and so on. His wife Ingrid and their son of approximately six years old, Sander, and their younger daughter Anneloes, are getting a more important role too. The colleague Vargas and his new dog Biko are getting an important stage in the story as well as two police students and their mentor.
I gave it a score as 4 / 5 stars because I am wondering about the description of the crimes and crime scenes. The age for reading is set tot 12+ but in my opinion it could also be 9+, though it is the max then. If it really was 12+ it could have been a little bit more detailed, which is just once at the end of the book.
I hope you like the book too. It is worth to read it! I am not telling about the story too much– never do in my book reviews – you have to read the book yourself and make your own opinion.
Greetings by Sophie
Book Facts:
Title: Violence in Middelwatering
Author: Ben de Raaf
Genre: Fiction / Youth
ISBN: 9789059522749
NUR: 284 – Fiction 13-15 years
Publisher: Uitgeverij Mes
Year 1st edition & read edition: 2017
Year read: 2018
Original title & language: Geweldpleging in Middelwatering [NL]
Read language: Dutch
Pages: 211
Places: Capelle aan den IJssel / Rotterdam
Rating: 4 / 5
Series sequel: #18