Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering

Title: Outsider in Amsterdam
Author: Janwillem van de Wetering
ISBN: 1569470170, Soho Crime, 2003
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Grijpstra & de Gier mystery
Rating: B-

First Line: The Volkswagen was parked on the wide sidewalk of the Haarlemmer Houttuinen, opposite number 5, and it was parked the way it shouldn't be parked.

Piet Verboom is found hanging from a beam in his sixteenth-century gabled house on a quiet narrow street in Amsterdam. Verboom was the leader of something called the Hindist Society, and the house contains a shop, a bar and a restaurant. His staff were followers in the society and were paid nothing. Verboom was turning a tidy little profit and had quite the lifestyle for himself. Why would he throw a rope over a beam and hang himself? The two Dutch policemen assigned to the case, Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier, don't think he did. Fortunately a person renting space in the house, Jan Karel van Meteren, is very observant and very helpful. With van Meteren's aid, hopefully they will solve the case without putting too many miles on their Volkswagen:

"This road doesn't go to Aerdenhout," said Grijpstra.

"Ah yes. We'll take a turning to the left."

"There are no turnings on the left on this road."

"Then we'll turn around," de Gier said happily.

"You should watch where you're going."

"So should you."

They found the right road, they found Aerdenhout, but they didn't find the mental home. Eventually they found the police station and were shown the right way.

"If the civilians knew how silly their police are they would commit more crimes," Grijpstra said.

Originally published in 1975, Outsider in Amsterdam really didn't feel dated to me, although I do have to admit that my cell phone is seldom turned on which probably doesn't make me the best of judges. The pacing of the book seemed a bit ponderous, and it was difficult to pinpoint the reason. Van de Wetering lived in Maine for many years, so blaming a translator isn't feasible. Possibly the slowness could just be a case of an author thinking in one language and writing in another. Most readers can only dream of having a problem like this.

Whatever the cause, the slowness was only a minor annoyance because the author serves up a veritable feast: the city and culture of Amsterdam itself, two wonderful characters in Grijpstra and de Gier, and a likable villain. In this book, it's not so much a matter of "who" done it, but "how" he did it... and is he going to get away with it? Lately I've been reading of too many bad guys for whom I've only felt disgust. It was fun to read about one I came very close to admiring.

Outsider in Amsterdam is a good start to the adventures of Grijpstra and de Gier. I intend to follow the series to its end.

REVIEW: Voice of the Violin

Title: Voice of the Violin
Author: Andrea Camilleri
ISBN: 0142004456/Penguin Books
Protagonist: Inspector Salvo Montalbano
Setting: Sicily in 1997
Series: #4
Rating: B+

First Line: Inspector Montalbano could immediately tell that it was not going to be his day the moment he opened the shutters of his bedroom window.

It definitely wasn't his day. Being driven to an appointment by a police officer who puts the white in white-knuckle driving, Montalbano's car hits a car legally parked at the side of the road. No one answers the doorbell, Montalbano puts a note under the wiper blade of the other car and continues on his way. Returning along the same road late that night, the inspector notices that the car hasn't moved, the note under the wiper blade has been turned to mush by the rain, and there's still no answer at the house. Following his instincts, Montalbano breaks into the house and finds the nude body of a very beautiful--and very dead--woman. Now he's got to get an investigation going without letting his superiors know that he's the one who found the body. Once begun, the investigation gets even murkier, with a long list of suspects and the infuriating meddling of Montalbano's superior officers.

The first book in this series was almost my last. It seemed that Montalbano was all grump and very little else. A friend told me not to give up, and she was right. Yes, Montalbano is a grouch, but an endearing one, and I love the way his mind works. Only in Italy could you give a police officer an order to do something right away, have the officer respond that he'll do it after lunch--and have that be a totally acceptable reply. Perhaps the Italians know something the rest of us don't: things just run smoother after good food and proper digestion. If you like mysteries, don't pass by this series. The translation is top-notch, the writing flows like a clear mountain stream, the whodunit is more than satisfying, and the characters are brilliant.