Lloyd Miner

Secrets are heavy. And their weight threatens to sink those who hold them. Always dressed in all black, hair slicked back and dramatic black eyeliner drawing attention to her large eyes, Inez Weski looks more like the lead singer of a 1980s rock band than what she is: the most famous lawyer in the Netherlands. Last week, she was convicted of facilitating her former client’s vast, violent criminal network, refusing until the very end to divulge any secrets of his or hers that may have led to...

To understand a culture, study those who break its rules. The crime genre isn’t just entertainment; it’s a mirror, reflecting politics, society, technology and human relationships. If you love Luther, Roberto Saviano’s books and his film and TV series Gomorrah, Jo Nesbø, Ian Rankin, Åsa Larsson and Patricia Highsmith, then you’re in the right place. Think of this newsletter as your curated travelogue through Europe, told through the lens of crime storytelling. Each month, together we’ll...

The Netherlands is a narco state. That was the shocking conclusion Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, made in an opinion piece in The Guardian last year: “The illegal drugs trade [in the Netherlands] has become more lucrative, professional and ruthlessly violent. The effects have been disastrous. In the past decade, the port of Rotterdam—the largest in Europe—has become a global transit hub for cocaine.” Amsterdam’s image as an anything-goes financial powerhouse hides a darker truth. It’s a...