The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan, reviewed by Sylvia Campbell, guest reviewer

Do you have a favourite piece of clothing? A wonderful old sweater say, warm and cozy – one that you ditch your stylish suits for the minute you walk in the door? One that you wear for comfort simply because it just feels so damn good?

Well ´A good thief´s guide to Amsterdam´ is a book just like this sweater. It is not a cutting edge police procedural, it is not laced with current fads like supernatural… it is not even terribly gritty. It is just a wonderful moreish good read – a book with the easy feel good factor so needed in our challenging times. A book that you pick the moment you walk in the door and one that you cozy up with on a wet afternoon. Actually you may even wish for a wet afternoon to have the slightly guilty pleasure of a good long read.

Charlie Howard, the good thief, has morals (at least some) and pretty fine lock-picking skills. But his sleuthing and deduction skills outshine the police and allow him to right some wrongs – without (of course) coming short on financial rewards himself. Amsterdam lies at the heart of this novel and Chris Ewan´s subtle but beautifully crafted picture of this city allows the reader to walk the streets without any hackneyed tourist office descriptions.

I am happy to leave the cutting edge and avant garde of the crime fiction scene to others. Find yourself a comfy chair, put on a cosy sweater, make a cup of tea and grab this book for a brilliantly relaxing afternoon and a great read. On to Paris! 

https://chrisewan.com/

ebook available at Amazon Kindle and The Book Depository

(Sylvia Campbell)