In his view, despite lacking the gimmicks of fingerprints and photography, Chinese fictional detectives were in no way inferior to Sherlock Holmes in the meticulousness of their investigations and the marvelousness of their solutions.
為了不讓中國歷代公案小說家「含冤於九泉之下」，這位荷蘭漢學家遂慨然拔筆，以翻譯問世。在他看來，宋的「棠陰比事」、明代「龍圖案」、清季狄彭施李諸公奇案，雖然沒有指紋攝影之類的伎倆，但其訪案之細、破案之神，卻不亞於福爾摩斯。