This began in the early 1960s not long after the Antwerp-born Geeraerts returned home from an administrative post in the Congo. Greatly affected by his years in Africa, he changed professional course, studying Germanic languages in Brussels and writing his first book, Ik ben maar een neger (I’m just a Negro).

As the title might imply, Geeraerts faced controversy right from the beginning with his criticism of Belgian colonisation. Controversy grew into accusations of racism and pornography when he published his legendary Gangreen series in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Next to descriptions of Belgium’s military activities, the four tales recount the experiences of one administrator’s unbridled sexual exploits in the Belgian Congo. He didn’t even try to hide the autobiographical nature of the books: the main character’s name is Jef Geeraerts.

Geeraerts eventually turned his attention to crime fiction. His De zaak Alzheimer was made into a film in 2003 and was so successful that his book Dossier K, with the same police investigator duo, has also been made into a film, playing now across Flanders.

The Gangreen series has been translated into English, but no other Geeraerts novel has – until now. The Public Prosecutor is a translation of Geeraerts’ 1998 novel De PG. (In fact, the story is a follow up to the Albanian crime network plot in Dossier K.)

Albert Savelkoul is the aging, casually corrupt Antwerp public prosecutor, who must juggle his job, mistress and extravagant home life. As his radically religious wife works behind his back to hand over their personal fortune to Opus Dei, his mistress is cheating and blackmailers are making his professional life hell. Sounds like a good time to start an affair with his Polish maid, which he does with great relish.

Defying reason, Geeraerts manages to make Albert a sympathetic character; his descriptions of physical ailments and psychological naivety leave you rooting for the prosecutor when he finally decides to chuck it all and flee his complicated life.

The Public Prosecutor is a book that reads easily, includes much timely 1990s references to an inept justice system and is masterful at describing men who are desperate to keep hold of power, despite ever dwindling self confidence.