Chief Inspector George Bracke and police spokesperson Annemie Vervloet are looking forward to an overdue tango holiday in Buenos Aires. They need the escape more than either of them cares to admit. But someone is already watching—and knows exactly where to apply pressure.

In Ghent, an explosion exposes the remains of a woman who vanished more than thirty years ago. Then senior police officer Omer Verlinden is kidnapped, and the messages from his captor become disturbingly personal. Anonymous photographs, paid witnesses and carefully staged encounters threaten Bracke's career and his marriage. To draw their hidden enemy into the open, George and Annemie must convince everyone around them that the attack has succeeded.

The trail leads from Ghent's police headquarters to the tango halls and shadowed streets of Buenos Aires—and towards an adversary who has waited decades to settle the score.

Tango Mortale is the second novel in the George Bracke series: atmospheric European crime thrillers rooted in the historic Belgian city of Ghent, combining suspense, dry humour and the private lives of an experienced police team. Each investigation can be read on its own, while the characters and consequences continue across the series.

Born in 1963, Stefaan Van Laere is a Belgian author, journalist and publisher who has been publishing since 1988. He is the founder of Partizaan Publishers, contributes to Boomager, and writes fiction and nonfiction. His books are available in Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Italian.