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Climate researcher disappeared: Mathijs Deen presents The Pilot!
Mathijs Deen presents his new crime novel "The Lotsin" at the Lüneburg Crime Festival, shedding light on the climate and personal fates.
Climate researcher disappeared: Mathijs Deen presents The Pilot!
The Dutch author Mathijs Deen presented his latest work “The Lotsin” as part of the Lüneburg Crime Festival. With around 150 listeners, the reading experienced a lively atmosphere, moderated in an entertaining manner by actor Sebastian Dunkelberg. In his fourth crime novel about the investigator Liewe Cupido, Deen highlights explosive topics in climate research and their implications for society.
The book is about the story of the American Dr. Iona Grimstedt-Tauber, a climate researcher from the Kiel GEOMAR Institute, who falls overboard a research ship under mysterious circumstances. Iona has disturbing insights into the future of the climate that she discovered in cores from the eternal ice. She is threatened by climate change deniers, which underlines the explosive political dimension of the novel. He tells us more about the background NDR.
A criminal case with surprises
In Deen's previous storytelling, solving crimes often takes a secondary role - the characters and their stories are in the foreground. This is also the case in “The Pilot”, where the chief inspector Liewe Cupido only appears late in the novel. Instead, his young colleague Xander takes on the main role in solving the case. Deen emphasizes that the murders in his work are merely “accessories” to highlight the development and challenges of Iona and her comrades-in-arms. For the novel, he conducted extensive research into the work of police at sea, based on his journalistic experience.
The exciting plot takes readers through various locations, including Kiel, Helgoland and Greenland, where the urgent dangers of climate change become tangible. Deen wants to use his storytelling style to raise awareness of the climate catastrophe. This is in line with a growing interest in literature that addresses climate challenges. Like that Literary Cafe reports, the genre “climate fiction” is enjoying great popularity and is finding increasing resonance on the bestseller lists.
Setting the course for the future
Excitingly, “The Pilot” is not just another crime story, but also part of a “trilogy in five parts”. Originally only three volumes were planned, but Deen recognized the need for additional stories due to the complex themes and interesting characters. The next and final case, “The Fisherman”, is scheduled to appear in German in early 2027 and will put Liewe Cupido more in focus again.
The book has 368 pages and costs 23 euros. With this series, Deen wants to avoid overworking the story and bring it to a careful conclusion. In addition, the title “The Pilot” has a metaphorical meaning that refers to guidance in stormy times. Anyone interested in the challenges and fascination of climate research will also get their money's worth in Deen's exciting and politically explosive crime novel.