Hubertus van Bijl's family has a long and respected history in the Dutch flower trade. Now retired, Bert busies himself with a bit of puttering around the house and long walks in the Zandvoort dunes near the coast of Holland. His wife, Willy, is loyal and dutiful - always saying "bless you" when he sneezes - though Bert accepts that passion left the marriage long ago. But ripples of unease soon appear in the quietude: The local authorities are conducting a door-to-door investigation into the murder of Carla Zomerlust, a young student whose body is found along a dune path." "Through a diary-like narrative, the reader learns that Bert is not the docile botanist he - and everyone who knows him - considers himself to be.

Genre: Mystery