Whenever an author takes you on a journey to describe the landscape I always imagine a giant bird flying over the land. For the first few pages of Because of the Cats you get that same sensation. The reader looks down on the bigger picture of where the story takes place, this time in the small town of Bloemendaal. It is a simple place usually bereft of crime. Chief Inspector Piet Van der Valk is back on the case when a rash of burglaries escalates to rape in his jurisdiction. As Chief Inspector of the Morals and Children department his focus turns to a group of teens from Bloemendaal. This seems impossible as the town is virtually crime free and all of the suspects are rich. Why would they need to commit break-ins? Why? Because of the cats!
Because prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, law enforcement have a different relationship with the ladies of the night. Van der Valk allows Fedora to pick him up and bring him home for dinner. He even tells her, "You don't bother my morals" (p 17). Pay attention to this woman for she is essential to the case. ( )

(Spoiler warning) youth is murdered in the sea by the girls of his gang who act as enforcers for its older leader. Interesting attitude toward the leader --he sees himself as a seriously charismatic great leader type, but as Van der Valk sees him (and the author presents him), he is a pretentious type --this one murder is all he is able to arrange --his elaborate plans for the gang and the enforcement system are unrealistic. . ( )