Soho Press 2013
Germany: Rowohlt
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Outsider in Amsterdam
On a quiet street in downtown Amsterdam, the founder of a new religious society/commune -- a group that calls itself "Hindist" and mixes elements of various "Eastern" traditions -- is found hanging from a ceiling beam. Detective-Adjutant Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier of the Amsterdam police are sent to investigate what looks like a simple suicide, but they are immediately suspicious of the circumstances.
This now-classic novel, first published in 1975, introduces Janwillem van de Wetering's lovable Amsterdam cop duo of portly, worldly-wise Gripstra and handsome, contemplative de Gier. With its unvarnished depiction of the legacy of Dutch colonialism and the darker facets of Amsterdam's free drug culture, this excellent procedural asks the question of whether a murder may ever be justly committed.
The first in the Amsterdam Cops series of internationally renowned mysteries, which has been published in 14 languages, Outsider in Amsterdam will be reissued in a special edition in summer 2013 by Soho Press. The other 13 books in the series will soon follow.
Time:
A superlative mystery writer.
The New York Times:
Mr. van de Wetering's policemen are just as likely to marvel at human nature as to shoot it down.
San Diego Union Tribune:
Van de Wetering's wry style might be compared to caviar...Once you're hooked, there's nothing like it.
John Leonard:
He is doing what Simenon might have done if Albert Camus had sublet his skull.
Washington Post:
What makes this series so engaging is that the policeman are as quirky and complicated and human as the criminals.
Los Angeles Times:
One of the masters of the mystery form.