The Maand van het Spannende Boek (June) is a Dutch theme month to promote literary genres of "exciting books" (detectives, thrillers) and is organized by the

Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek The Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek (CPNB, "Collective Promotion for the Dutch Book") is a Dutch organization that includes representatives of bookstores and publishers, whose goal is to promote Dutch literature. History and activi ...

Background

This promotion began with a name in 1989. In May 1989 the foundation CPNG garnered extra publicity for the genre of "the exciting book". This was done by promoting a book published by Tomas Ross, "Mode voor Moskou" ("Fashion for Moscow") that sold at a reduced price (4.95 gulden). The last chapter was left omitted, and there was a competition attached: "Who is the murderer?". The prize was a "Detective-weekend for two" in England valued at f 2499. The disclosure of the perpetrator and the announcement of the winner found a place in the NOS Television program TV 3 on May 23, 1989. The last chapter could then be collected by presenting a voucher to the booksellers. The

Gouden Strop The Gouden Strop (i.e. 'Golden Noose') is the annual award for the best crime novel in the Dutch language. The prize has been awarded since 1986. The winner receives € 10,000 and a statuette. Its Belgian equivalent is the Diamanten Kogel (i.e. ...

was also awarded in the same program. The action was a success, in the succeeding year there was a 'promotion-period' set between May 21 and June 1990. This time there was a prize in the same manner as

Boekenweek In the Netherlands, the Boekenweek (; English: Book Week) is an annual "week" of ten days dedicated to Dutch literature. It has been held in March annually since 1932. Each Boekenweek has a theme. The beginning of the Boekenweek is marked by the ' ...

and

Kinderboekenweek In the Netherlands, the Boekenweek (; English: Book Week) is an annual "week" of ten days dedicated to Dutch literature. It has been held in March annually since 1932. Each Boekenweek has a theme. The beginning of the Boekenweek is marked by the ...

. It was the booklet "and a Press Conference to lock...", a simple stapled edition of 32 pages. There was also a competition attached: "Who wrote this bloodcurdling football thriller?". This time the prize consisted of two tickets to the finale of the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

in Rome on July 8. Participants could choose from

David Endt David Endt (born 12 February 1954) is a Dutch sports journalist, author and columnist. From 1997 to June 2013 he was the team manager of Ajax before Technical Director Edwin van der Sar expressed that his services would no longer be required wi ...

(Press officer of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, writer of (among other works) "The Shadow of San Siro"),

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...

(ex-footballer, trainer),

Youp van 't Hek Joseph Jacobus Maria "Youp" van 't Hek (born 28 February 1954) is a Dutch comedian, author, columnist, singer-songwriter, playwright, and critic. Biography Van 't Hek was born and raised in the Gooi, an upper-class region to the southeast o ...

(comedian,

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

sports columnist),

Kees Jansma Kees or KEES may refer to: * Kees (given name) * Kees (surname) * KEES, an American AM radio station licensed to Gladewater, Texas See also * Cees (disambiguation) Cees () is a Dutch masculine given name, a short form of Cornelis. Since, as in ...

(head of NOS Studio Sport, Voetball International columnist), Theo Jockes (writer of (among others) "Murder in the Ridderzaal" and the novel "The Departure") and Jan Mulder (ex-footballer, sport columnist in

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

). The disclose of the name of the author and the announcement of the winner found a place on the Prime Time Show of RTL Véronique on June 28. In 1991 a fixed month (June) and name ("Maand van het Spannende Boek") were chosen. This event also selected a promotion-edition book for a reduced amount (f 5.-). "Broeinest" by

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...

was adapted for special by the CPNB Foundation and completed a deal in July 1991 for the new book "De Verrader", also translated as "The Deceiver". A booklet was supplied with discount coupons of f 5.- per piece for 19 other 'exciting books'. The idea of including a "competition" was abandoned. In 1992, 1993 en 1994 the 'Maand' was designed in the same manner: a booklet for a reduced price (5 gulden) and a booklet with discount coupons of f 5,- per piece in to be used with 20 other 'exciting books'. A definitive prize was chosen in 1995, with a minimum purchase of f 29.50 Dutch-language books. The first prize was "In de val" by

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on ''The New Y ...

. An attempt was then made in 1998 to also involve children in the promotion (The booklet "Het uur van de haan" by

Thea Dubelaar Thea may refer to: * Thea (name), a given name * Ancient Greek term for goddess, including an alternative spelling of Theia * ''Thea'', the former name of the tea plant genus, now included in ''Camellia'' * Thea, a village in the municipal unit M ...

, sold for one gulden) but this attempt was not repeated. In 2004 the minimum sales price was increased (to 13.45 euro - this was approximately the same as the old minimum of f 29.50 - 12.50 euros). In that year the

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

was also involved, with a (for library members) a free prize: "Plaatsen van misdaad. Fragmenten uit dertien topthrillers" ("Places of Crime: Excerpts from the top thirteen thrillers"). Prizes continued to be awarded in 2005 and 2006: "In eigen kring. Fragmenten uit tien topthrillers" ("In their own circle. Excerpts from the top ten thrillers") (2005) and "Goed fout. Fragmenten uit misdaadverhalen van bekroonde auteurs" ("Good Error. Excerpts from the crime stories by award-winning authors"). The prize was revived in 2011 with "Stille getuigen: sporen van misdaad in 25 verhalen van de beste thrillerauteurs van dit moment" ("Silent Witnesses: traces of crime in 25 stories from the best thriller writers of the moment"). Beginning in 2007 a special evening named Evening of the Exciting Book: The Power of Plots'' was arranged. The first evening was on June 20, 2007. In the following years the evening was shifted to the beginning of the month: June 3, 2008, June 2, 2009, June 1, 2010.

Prize books

In the Maand van het Spannende Boek, just as during the

, a prize book is given away when a certain amount was spent. These books were: * 2014: ''Incendio'',

Tess Gerritsen Tess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician. Early life Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. While grow ...

* 2013: ''Nooit alleen'',

Loes den Hollander Loes may refer to: Places *Loes Hundred, a Suffolk county division *Loes River, a river in East Timor Given name A Dutch feminine given name (pronounced ), a short form of Louise.