Road trip through Bavaria
Last week my family and I headed out to Munich, Germany by car. We are glad we did drive because an unexpected heatwave had us heading to the forested Bavarian…
Panama-Costa Rica border crossing and Holiday Gone Wrong
Would you cross this bridge? Until recently, this was the border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama at Rio Sereno. One I had to cross over several times because of…
When Fiction is Perceived as Fact: Rituals of the Dead
My latest novel, Rituals of the Dead, came to be because I wanted to write a mystery about an Asmat bis pole. Considering the Asmat live in the Indonesian province…
World War II and Looted Art – inspirations for The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery
The Lover's Portrait: An Art Mystery is a dual timeline thriller set in WWII and present-day Amsterdam. The plot and several characters were inspired by university lectures and archival research…
Asmat art and artifacts in Dutch Museums: Inspirations for Rituals of the Dead
The art and carved objects created by the Asmat of Papua inspired my artifact mystery, Rituals of the Dead. Here are some photographs of the Missie (Mission) Museum Steyl's Papua…
The Colonial Origins of Ethnographic Museums and Rituals of the Dead
Since finishing Rituals of the Dead, I have noticed an influx in news reports about the restitution of ethnic artifacts – a topic central to my latest mystery. So we…
Asmat & Museum Steyl
Mission Museum Steyl
At the southernmost tip of the Netherlands is a hidden jewel unknown to most tourists and locals - the Monastery village of Steyl. It is situated on a bend in…
How Henri Matisse, Jan Sluijters, Edvard Munch, and Moos Cohen inspired The Lover’s Portrait
In my novel The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery, the character Lex Wederstein is a young, talented Jewish artist whose career is cut short by the Nazis occupation of the Netherlands.…
What is a Bis Pole and Why Were They Desired by Collectors?
The exhibition central to my latest novel, Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery, is based on an actual exhibition of Asmat art entitled Bis Poles: Sculptures from the Rain…
Amsterdam: the Perfect Setting for an Art Mystery
Amsterdam is the perfect setting for an art-related mystery, especially one in which the looting of artwork by the Nazis during World War Two plays a central role. My second…