Meet Theo Capel: Crime, Comedy, and a Red Mercedes
An exclusive interview with Dutch author Theo Capel, whose story “The Red Mercedes” is featured in the upcoming international crime anthology Dutch Treats—available September 1
What’s next after Nordic Noir? According to Genius Book Publishing and award-winning editor Josh Pachter, the next wave of international crime fiction is headed straight from the Netherlands.
In the upcoming anthology Dutch Treats, twenty-one stories from top Dutch and Flemish crime writers offer mischief, malfeasance, and murder—with a twist of culture and wit. One such tale is “The Red Mercedes,” a slick skip-tracing story from Amsterdam-based author and crime-fiction critic Theo Capel.
We sat down with Theo to talk about his PI protagonist Hank Stammer, his love of American crime fiction, his comedy writing, and the one Amsterdam street tourists always miss.
Dutch Treats: Meet Theo Capel
• Tell our readers a little about yourself and “The Red Mercedes,” your contribution to Dutch Treats.
I’m a crime writer and crime-fiction critic from Amsterdam. “The Red Mercedes” is about Hank Stammer, owner of a one-man debt-collection agency and protagonist of a series of novels, of which Sterf Snel (Die Quickly) is the most recent. Hank works most often for a bank, which often leads to other, more delicate, assignments. In “The Red Mercedes,” he operates as a skip tracer.
• What are some of your favorite books by American writers, and why do you like them?
I’m a fan of the American PI tradition, and I also like the more burlesque version of American crime writers, such as Peter Abrahams, Robert Ferrigno, and spy novelist Robert Littell. And then I also appreciate the more straightforward authors, like Peter Blauner and T. Jefferson Parker, who write about real people in difficult and sometimes surreal situations.
• Do you have other work available in English? If so, where can interested readers find it?
So far, my novels have only been published in Dutch, but I contributed a short story, “Lucky Sevens,” to the anthology Amsterdam Noir. I also write comical stories, such as my new series, “Tales for a Smile,” which you can read in English at talesforasmile.substack.com.
• If American readers were to visit The Netherlands, what’s one thing you’d encourage them to see?
If you come to Amsterdam, go for a walk in the Galgenstraat (Gallows Street), a narrow street in the Westelijke Eilanden, just west of the Central Station and north of the railroad tracks, a bit off the tourist trail.
Preorder your copy (releases September 1, 2025).
