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De Cock #5
De Cock en het Sombere Naakt
Rechercheur De Cock en zijn jonge collega Vledder komen voor een ingewikkelde zaak te staan, wanneer een meisje aangifte doet van de vermissing van haar nichtje.
Er wordt gevreesd voor een ongeluk of een moord. Zij wordt uiteindelijk vermoord op een vuilstortplaats gevonden.
Verdachten zijn er genoeg. De kunst is natuurlijk de juiste er uit te pikken. Dat vergt van De Cock en Vledder het nodige recherchewerk.
Er wordt gevreesd voor een ongeluk of een moord. Zij wordt uiteindelijk vermoord op een vuilstortplaats gevonden.
Verdachten zijn er genoeg. De kunst is natuurlijk de juiste er uit te pikken. Dat vergt van De Cock en Vledder het nodige recherchewerk.
162 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1967
8 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
A.C. Baantjer
162 books70 followersAKA: Baantjer, Albert Cornelis Baantjer
ALBERT CORNELIS BAANTJER is the most widely read author in the Netherlands and has written more than fifty "De Kok" titles. He has also written other fiction and nonfiction and wrote a daily column in a Dutch newspaper. He was an inspector with the Amsterdam Police for thirty-eight years. Baantjer lived in Medemblik, Netherlands.
ALBERT CORNELIS BAANTJER is the most widely read author in the Netherlands and has written more than fifty "De Kok" titles. He has also written other fiction and nonfiction and wrote a daily column in a Dutch newspaper. He was an inspector with the Amsterdam Police for thirty-eight years. Baantjer lived in Medemblik, Netherlands.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 31, 2019
Another DeKok mystery, this time involving a nude painting and torso killings.
April 16, 2024
Recensie volgt op mn website
March 7, 2022
Ja, deze is weer een betere uit de begindagen van Baantjer.
September 22, 2024
Inspector DeKok investigates the disappearance of 19 year old Nanette Bogaard. A short mystery novel that does not overwhelm the reader with too many characters. Inspector DeKok is a realistic character with human attributes, feeling hot, cold, tired, anger, frustrated, etc. unlike so many detectives portrayed that go through an entire investigation with minimal emotion.
While the identity of the murderer may be easily figured out be some of the readers, there is a crispness in the writing style and pace of the story, that makes this a book that you don't want to put down, as you want to keep reading until you reach the end.
While the identity of the murderer may be easily figured out be some of the readers, there is a crispness in the writing style and pace of the story, that makes this a book that you don't want to put down, as you want to keep reading until you reach the end.
March 8, 2023
First I've read by this author and I'm looking forward to others in the series. There were a number of twists and surprises that kept me intrigued, even though I had a semi-solid idea about the perpetrator. I enjoy books written by authors in other countries; the perspective, local information, and dialogue are interesting -- I gather the Dutch language has its own verbal "tics" as the word "eh" appeared a lot, reminding me of my Canadian neighbors. I look forward to another story about Mr. DeKok!
March 29, 2022
This is a very popular series of books that has resulted in more than one TV series. I am not sur that I understand the fascination with the characters but this is the first one I have read, an the book does have its moments.
August 24, 2024
Hoewel ik me er best wel mee vermaakte weer wat tijd met de personages door te brengen - was vroeger een trouwe kijker van de serie - kan ik door het einde van het boek echt niet meer dan 2 sterren geven. Alsof hij het grootste deel van het verhaal gewoon heeft overgeslagen!
May 9, 2025
Het verhaal zelf steekt vrij goed in elkaar; tot het einde. Zonder details te onthullen, is het einde snel snel bij elkaar geschreven. Daardoor is het eigenlijk een vrij langdradig verhaal. De structuur had beter gekund.
June 14, 2017
love it as always
June 6, 2022
De beste Baantjer die ik tot nu toe heb gelezen. Tot laatste bladzijde was het spannend.
July 16, 2022
3 sterren omdat ik nog steeds met de. Vraag blijf wat Laurens er mee te maken heeft en dat het vrij lang duurde voordat er wat gebeurde
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2020
No, I could not figure the one out
But what a great read in spite of the fact that I didn't figure out who did it. And learned more about Amsterdam in the bargain.
But what a great read in spite of the fact that I didn't figure out who did it. And learned more about Amsterdam in the bargain.
January 2, 2020
Dit is een van de eerdere boeken (deel 5) uit de De Cock serie. Het eerste wat me dan ook opvalt is dat het boek dikker is en dus meer pagina's bevat. Dan lees ik de achterzijde van het boek en zie ik dat de tekst veel beknopter is dan bij de latere boeken uit de serie. Minder informatie, en eigenlijk zelfs gewoon een alinea uit het boek.
Tijdens het lezen valt het me op dat er méér verschillen zijn tussen de eerdere en latere delen uit de boeken serie. Zo is dit eerdere boek veel gedetailleerder geschreven. Verwijzingen naar andere boeken uit de reeks staan er nog niet in en ook lees ik een stuk minder (Latijnse) zinnen die elders op de pagina vertaald worden. Dit alles zorgt ervoor dat ik weer met een frisse blik deze boeken lees!
Tijdens het lezen valt het me op dat er méér verschillen zijn tussen de eerdere en latere delen uit de boeken serie. Zo is dit eerdere boek veel gedetailleerder geschreven. Verwijzingen naar andere boeken uit de reeks staan er nog niet in en ook lees ik een stuk minder (Latijnse) zinnen die elders op de pagina vertaald worden. Dit alles zorgt ervoor dat ik weer met een frisse blik deze boeken lees!
February 27, 2024
A good enough story to pass the time. But I did think this is one of Baantjers weaker stories.
The 3 suspects behave in a weird way and have sudden aggressive outbursts that don't really make sense (probably to cast some more suspicion onto them). And the solution is finally found in some near-magical way. Ahh well, the book isn't too long and we'll just keep on reading.
The 3 suspects behave in a weird way and have sudden aggressive outbursts that don't really make sense (probably to cast some more suspicion onto them). And the solution is finally found in some near-magical way. Ahh well, the book isn't too long and we'll just keep on reading.
June 13, 2016
This is my second Baantjer book, especially selected not only for its splendidly abstruse title (although not nearly as excellent as another one, which I was unable to locate: DeKok and the Geese of Death), and also for the fact that I was about to hop on a plane to Amsterdam. Having read two short novellas by Baantjer previously, I was looking forward to a little local color, a grim, but not overly vicious crime, and the off-balance detective team of the weathered, bemused, and surprisingly wise DeKok (a sort of Colombo figure), and his excitable, whipper-snapper of a partner. I wasn't disappointed.
As ever, the plot here hinges on locating motivations and rationales, uncovering secret spite and festering jealousies rather than any really dynamic police work. (If you can call the active investigating in most procedurals "dynamic," which I admit, I don't usually.) Anyhow, figuring out everyone's secrets is the main aim of our intrepid detectives, not really sussing out facts and reviewing hard evidence. I'm sure that Baantjer could have provided such plodding details should he have wanted to--he was a former policeman in Amsterdam--but it really isn't necessary in this sort of novel.
I had a few qualms, some of which were more pressing than others. As with the last Baantjer book I read in this series, I had the niggling feeling all the way through that the translation was not so sharp. The wording in places is strangely clunky and things like prepositions and conjunctions get mixed up in such a way that suggests a very little Babelfish-style translation. For the most part, this doesn't get in the way--it's my perception thus far that Baantjer was not perhaps much of a prose stylist. But it does get annoying and I wonder if the newer English editions (with much less fun pulpy covers than these lovely yellow ones, unfortunately) have improved upon the translation at all.
On the other hand, I think we can hold Baantjer responsible for his incorrigible repetitions. When he stumbles on to a characterization he likes, boy howdy, does he love to repeat it. He must mention DeKok's eyebrows (which move independently from the rest of his face in a comic fashion) and his winning smile (which is "his best characteristic") about a hundred times throughout the book. They are lovely observations to be sure--and ones which Baantjer could get away with mentioning in each different book--but certainly we don't need to be reminded of these qualities once every chapter or two.
As a tangential side note, however, i will say I got a huge kick when I read a passage explaining that a character was incredibly suspicious because he kept all the windows in his apartment closed--something which any self-respecting Amsterdammer, being 'excessively fond of interiors,' would never do. Walking around the streets of Amsterdam, we had noticed that hardly anyone ever closed their windows. In a flagrant invitation to Peeping Toms, ground floor apartments would have windows wide open, so that passersby could stop and watch the inhabitants watch TV, eat toast, sit at the computer, etc. It had seemed so strange to us, being edgy New Yorkers, that reading about this habit in the book really gave me a kick.
As ever, the plot here hinges on locating motivations and rationales, uncovering secret spite and festering jealousies rather than any really dynamic police work. (If you can call the active investigating in most procedurals "dynamic," which I admit, I don't usually.) Anyhow, figuring out everyone's secrets is the main aim of our intrepid detectives, not really sussing out facts and reviewing hard evidence. I'm sure that Baantjer could have provided such plodding details should he have wanted to--he was a former policeman in Amsterdam--but it really isn't necessary in this sort of novel.
I had a few qualms, some of which were more pressing than others. As with the last Baantjer book I read in this series, I had the niggling feeling all the way through that the translation was not so sharp. The wording in places is strangely clunky and things like prepositions and conjunctions get mixed up in such a way that suggests a very little Babelfish-style translation. For the most part, this doesn't get in the way--it's my perception thus far that Baantjer was not perhaps much of a prose stylist. But it does get annoying and I wonder if the newer English editions (with much less fun pulpy covers than these lovely yellow ones, unfortunately) have improved upon the translation at all.
On the other hand, I think we can hold Baantjer responsible for his incorrigible repetitions. When he stumbles on to a characterization he likes, boy howdy, does he love to repeat it. He must mention DeKok's eyebrows (which move independently from the rest of his face in a comic fashion) and his winning smile (which is "his best characteristic") about a hundred times throughout the book. They are lovely observations to be sure--and ones which Baantjer could get away with mentioning in each different book--but certainly we don't need to be reminded of these qualities once every chapter or two.
As a tangential side note, however, i will say I got a huge kick when I read a passage explaining that a character was incredibly suspicious because he kept all the windows in his apartment closed--something which any self-respecting Amsterdammer, being 'excessively fond of interiors,' would never do. Walking around the streets of Amsterdam, we had noticed that hardly anyone ever closed their windows. In a flagrant invitation to Peeping Toms, ground floor apartments would have windows wide open, so that passersby could stop and watch the inhabitants watch TV, eat toast, sit at the computer, etc. It had seemed so strange to us, being edgy New Yorkers, that reading about this habit in the book really gave me a kick.
August 7, 2013
The setting of the story is Amsterdam. When Kristel van Daalen reports that her cousin, Nanette Bogaard, has gone missing, Inspector DeKok and his young assistant, Vledder, don’t follow the normal police procedure of waiting a specified time to issue a request for an all points bulletin. Instead, contrary to procedure, DeKok begins to look into the disappearance right away with a sense of foreboding that he cannot quite explain.
The investigation turns up some strange information. Nanette has been supplying her cousin and Kristel’s brother, Frank, with morphine free of charge for more than a year. She’s also engaged to a well-to-do older man who is a stockbroker and whose son may have ample reason for wishing her out of the picture. Speaking of which, an artist has painted a nude picture of Nanette reclining on a red sofa, the favorite couch of the stockbroker’s dead wife.
DeKok and Vledder follow every promising lead. The main interest in the story is in watching their interaction. Vledder is impulsive, ready to arrest a new person every time a new clue comes into play. DeKok is more introspective and puts the puzzle together in a painstakingly logical way. Other than an overly abrupt ending, Baantjer does a nice job in putting in just enough twists and turns to fool the reader and create a convincing tale.
The investigation turns up some strange information. Nanette has been supplying her cousin and Kristel’s brother, Frank, with morphine free of charge for more than a year. She’s also engaged to a well-to-do older man who is a stockbroker and whose son may have ample reason for wishing her out of the picture. Speaking of which, an artist has painted a nude picture of Nanette reclining on a red sofa, the favorite couch of the stockbroker’s dead wife.
DeKok and Vledder follow every promising lead. The main interest in the story is in watching their interaction. Vledder is impulsive, ready to arrest a new person every time a new clue comes into play. DeKok is more introspective and puts the puzzle together in a painstakingly logical way. Other than an overly abrupt ending, Baantjer does a nice job in putting in just enough twists and turns to fool the reader and create a convincing tale.
January 3, 2015
I got through chapter 4 before putting this book down - permanently. I don't know if the problem is in the original or in the translation, but I found the writing at the pulp fiction level. Not as in Raymond Carver pulp fiction, but in the rest of the 99.9% of the pulp output level.
A girl's cousin has gone missing. She thinks something has happened to her. Why? "Call it female intuition, call it what you want. Laugh at my silly fears - it doesn't matter." The detective gets up and looks at her. "His sharp eyes, trained by years of experience, noted every reaction, even minuscule movements of her shoulders." Good job, Sherlock. Did I mention that the girl is blonde, beautiful and elegant? And that her missing cousin is blonde, beautiful, and.... you get the point. Stinker city - IMO.
A girl's cousin has gone missing. She thinks something has happened to her. Why? "Call it female intuition, call it what you want. Laugh at my silly fears - it doesn't matter." The detective gets up and looks at her. "His sharp eyes, trained by years of experience, noted every reaction, even minuscule movements of her shoulders." Good job, Sherlock. Did I mention that the girl is blonde, beautiful and elegant? And that her missing cousin is blonde, beautiful, and.... you get the point. Stinker city - IMO.
June 19, 2012
In general:
It's a shame this book has been translated into English, there are many better stories they could have picked instead! I don't recommend this book if you start reading the books from Baantjer.
The book itself:
An early book, in which Baantjer seems to hold on to the "rules" of writing too desperately. The result is a decent book with too much emphasis on everything. I couldn't get into the story because Baantjer left no room for it. Every feeling and action of the characters was too detailed and nothing has been left to the imagination of the reader. A decent book worth three stars, but because of the writing style I feel the persuasive need to subtract one star.
It's a shame this book has been translated into English, there are many better stories they could have picked instead! I don't recommend this book if you start reading the books from Baantjer.
The book itself:
An early book, in which Baantjer seems to hold on to the "rules" of writing too desperately. The result is a decent book with too much emphasis on everything. I couldn't get into the story because Baantjer left no room for it. Every feeling and action of the characters was too detailed and nothing has been left to the imagination of the reader. A decent book worth three stars, but because of the writing style I feel the persuasive need to subtract one star.
January 5, 2013
Another great author to fuel my weakness for detective thriller/mysteries. And 60 books in this series! DeKok is another great detective character based in Amsterdam's Warmoes Street Precinct, the oldest in the city in the old town of course (think red light disrict). Baantjer's style, for those familiar with the genre, is somewhere between Georges Simenon and Agatha Christie. Readers will find similarities between Simenon's Maigret and Christie's Poirot in following DeKok's methodological approach to crime-busting.
March 8, 2014
De Cock en het sombere naakt is een oude, vertrouwde De Cock. Alle gebruikelijke ingrediënten (Vledder die de draad kwijt is, slimme De Cock, aantal verdachtmakingen, smalle Lowietje etc.) zijn aanwezig. Verwacht -net als bij de andere boeken met De Cock in de hoofdrol- geen hoogstaand plot en mindblowing twists in de verhaallijn.
Deze versie betreft het hoorspel zoals dat ooit is uitgezonden in 1984. Enigzins gedateerd, maar daar 'hoor' (haha!) je weinig van. Erg leuk om naar te luisteren en een leuke manier om een boek tot je te nemen.
Deze versie betreft het hoorspel zoals dat ooit is uitgezonden in 1984. Enigzins gedateerd, maar daar 'hoor' (haha!) je weinig van. Erg leuk om naar te luisteren en een leuke manier om een boek tot je te nemen.
August 19, 2013
Four stars is a bit generous but I think it's better than three.
Dekok is a likeable character and the books are easy to read and not very challenging. Ideal for me after a long day at work. The atmosphere of Amsterdam is realistic even in the translation.
This one is a fairly straightforward police procedural with a sudden and slightly disappointing ending. Having said that, I almost read it in one go and did enjoy it.
Dekok is a likeable character and the books are easy to read and not very challenging. Ideal for me after a long day at work. The atmosphere of Amsterdam is realistic even in the translation.
This one is a fairly straightforward police procedural with a sudden and slightly disappointing ending. Having said that, I almost read it in one go and did enjoy it.
March 28, 2014
A beautiful young girl, three lovers, drug addiction, a mysterious painting and a brutal murder: the ingredients for a good who-dunnit.
Although the author uses the same setup, words, even complete sentences in these series, the plot in this one is exceptionally intriguing.
I've read this one at least five times. It may gather dust on my bookshelves for several years. Every time I enjoy this story.
Although the author uses the same setup, words, even complete sentences in these series, the plot in this one is exceptionally intriguing.
I've read this one at least five times. It may gather dust on my bookshelves for several years. Every time I enjoy this story.
July 18, 2011
Nice companion for yet another day tending to air-conditioning on the fritz: it was raining in Amsterdam!
June 18, 2012
To read my review go to my blog at:
http://maryslibrary.typepad.com/my_we...
February 11, 2014
Entertaining enough, but to properly enjoy it I should probably read it again once I'm not trying to find all proper names, locations and organisations in the book.
January 31, 2016
Een goed verhaal. Ik krijg plezier in Appie Baantjer.
March 27, 2017
DeKok is a character, but a smart one. Clever mystery!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews