I have returned to the Amsterdam Cops series by Janwillem van de Wetering, with his first book Outsider In Amsterdam.
This introduces the team of Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier. Laid-back and quirky, they are as interesting as the case or the suspects.
Often ordinary people are providing and solving the clues, and when a culprit is caught, they remain or can become friends about the whole thing.
In Outsider, there has been a hanging at the Hindist Society. There are not many suspects in the house, which runs a restaurant, bar, gift shop and meditation centre. It could be a simple suicide, but there is missing money, so robbery is suspected, and then there are the shady imports from Japan or Pakistan. Besides the victim's mother, the only other person who lived in the house is Jan Karel Van Meteren, a Papuan ex-policeman who is now a traffic warden. He begins helping them with the investigation into the death and the society.
De Gier becomes involved with the widow, while Grijpstra looks into the financial side. They enjoy walking around Amsterdam. It's an intriguing mystery, slow and entertaining. There aren't many murders in Amsterdam, so there is pressure to get it solved, but maybe not today.
It's the wonderful characters that make it great. They are loveable with all their flaws, like real people you know. Grijpstra is always happy to be out working, well, at least to be away from Mrs. Grijpstra. De Gier enjoys his time with the widow Constanze, time with his cat Olivier, and if he isn't allowed a patrol car, he won't take the bus, he'll walk for hours. That'll show them.
I don't want to tell you too much about it, I want you to read it! But they do solve the case, and after sitting down to share a drink with the culprit, the story leaps into a second finale. They are suddenly in a car chase and then a boat chase with an apprehended yacht on a nearby lake. All very exciting.
Before writing these novels the author spent years in a Zen monastery, and the ideas flow into the writing in entertaining ways. When de Gier does not want to get out of bed, he practices a mindful dreaming technique, visualizing the suspects and scene. Not sleeping, not waking, but in an quietly aware space. When he is finished and gets up, his cat Olivier climbs into the warm sheets and does the same thing.
Interesting and complex, but the stories take a back seat to the characters.
I recommend them highly if you enjoy motive, psychology, walking around Amsterdam, and having a few drinks.
1975 / Tradeback / 290 pages
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