Outsider in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Cops Mysteries #1

by Janwillem van de Wetering

"[Van de Wetering] is doing what Simenon might have done if Albert Camus had sublet his skull." —John LeonardOn a quiet street in downtown Amsterdam, a man is found hanging from the ceiling beam of his bedroom, upstairs from the new religious society he a group that calls itself “Hindist” and supposedly mixes elements of various Eastern traditions. 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, 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.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Procedural, 20th Century

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Jan Willem Lincoln "Janwillem" van de Wetering was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a police procedural written and set in the 1970s Amsterdam. As a result, it carries some of the toe curling attitudes towards women and 'foreigners' prevalent at that the time. It captures Dutch colonial history and its consequences rather neatly. The author has skilfully created a strong sense of Amsterdam as a location which I appreciated as I love the city. Piet Verboom is the leader of a religious group/cult known as the Hindists who is discovered hanged. Detective-Adjutant Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier are on the case. What looks like a suicide arouses the suspicions of the police. As the case develops, it becomes clear that drugs are a big issue. In a story of twists, the question arises whether a murder can ever be justified. With interesting police officers who actually have a life such as playing music, this is a character driven story that engages the reader. Philosophical questions on life and society are discussed. This is an absorbing read. Thanks to Soho Press for an ARC.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and rate it 4.5 stars out of 5(rounded up to 5). I received it through NetGalley from Soho crime. Soho crime is celebrating 25 years of publishing international crime fiction with a reading challenge. I'm reading my way through Janwillem van de Wetering over the next two months.
This is book one in the Grijpstra and de Gier mystery series. Grijpstra is an adjutant and de Gier is a sergeant in the Dutch Amsterdam municipal police. They are called to the scene of a man found hanging from a roof beam. Their boss, a Chief Inspector tells them it is suicide, but they are not convinced and get his permission to continue investigating. I enjoyed the camaraderie between the two men and their somewhat unorthodox methods,i.e. having a beer with a suspect and chatting amiably. The plot has a few twists and turns, with more than one suspect. There is a drug smuggling connection. I liked the ending, which tied up all the threads.
Some quotes: "Bodies, suspended by the neck, are never quite still."
"Join the navy and see the sea, join the police and see the soul."
I recommend this book to mystery fans of the seventies
Once I was past the fourth chapter, it was hard to put down.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise.

First published in 1975 as Het link in de Haarlemmer Houttuinen, I received this new English translation, apparently translated by the author, and was introduced to his charismatic world of partner investigators Detective-Adjutant Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier. The two combine to form a yin and yang of Dutch detective cool.

What begins as a simple investigation of a probable suicide of an unlikeable and problematic young man leads to an outright murder investigation. While van de Wetering tells a fine murder mystery, the real attraction here is the duo of Gripstra and de Gier and the fascinatingly colorful depiction of Amsterdam.

Writer Janwillem van de Wetering’s prose is light and very approachable and while his characterization is somewhat stilted, the dialogue and group dynamic is worth the read alone. Exploring themes of drug culture, counter culture, colonialism and police procedure and civil rights in Holland. The philosophic discussions between the two were mesmerizing.

*** A free copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book makes me want to go and visit Amsterdam, in the summer, You know this is not your average police procedural when the main character play jazz, and actually have lives outside of work. I look forward to the next book in the series.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: 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 Grijpstra 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 Grijpstra 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.



This is the one with miso paste, white Liberty Harley (as Lisbeth Salander would say: "sweet"), vicious siamese cat, and a charming Papuan.



4* Outsider in Amsterdam
TR Tumbleweed

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE AND HER PEERS
1975
AROUND THE WORLD READATHON - NETHERLANDS
I grabbed this off the library shelf about an hour before my library closed (until further notice due to pandemic) last Thursday. I wanted to read new, to me, authors.
CAST - 4 stars: Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra ("...a member of Amsterdam's Special Constabulary [serves] the Queen in the uniform of a police officer: he has been recruited to serve in his spare time. He is married, over-weight, and wears poorly fitted suits. His side-kick, Sergeant de Gier, is more concerned about his appearance than his job: he wears a "highly trained coiffeur" of curls, is handsome and single. The story opens with the hanging body of Piet Verboom, the leader of a "Hindist" cult. Jan Karel van Meteren finds the body: he's now a Traffic Warden but is Papuan, speaks Dutch, and had been a 'real' policeman in New Guinea. Piet's mother, Miesje, is 83 and "not altogether sound in mind" apparently because of an ongoing addiction to opiates. Piet, Miesje, along with the beautiful Therese (20 and pregnant), Annetje (a younger girl), Johan and more make for an interesting and unusual cast.
ATMOSPHERE/PLACE - 4: The Hindist (some kind of Hinduism and Buddhism blend) Society is located at Haarlemmer Houttuinen #5, a massive, well-built house "designed in the seventeenth century for a gentleman-merchant" which is showing signs of age with a porch of cracked stones and support beams of the gabbled house sagging a bit. The structure houses a shop, restaurant, bar and a room dedicated to contemplation/worship. Much of the cast live and work here. A Buddha statue greets arrivals along with numerous glass jars with questionable contents. There is a lot going on in this house as Grijpstra and de Gier investigate. The publishers offer to us a menacing picture of a house on the cover: I liked this touch. And about this house, Van Meteren says, "...there is always another room." The author does a nice job creating this ominous place. And there is a great scene in which our detective pair play a flute and bongo drums. The author writes: "The flute came back, with a lovely round sound and the two little drums were with it." Surprisingly lovely.
CRIME - 3: Piet is found hanging and it appears he has killed himself. But there is a bump on his head: was it murder? Interesting but nothing particularly unusual.
INVESTIGATION - 4: I like that the investigation goes deep into the culture of Amsterdam as well as New Guinea. The part-time member of the team, Grijpstra, is the one most likely to ask agressive questions, his partner rather lax. The author takes us to canals and houseboats and to a character named Koopman, a dirty guy hooked on heroine, accepting his defeat by the world at large. Beuzekom and Ringma are a gay couple living large: they may be dealing drugs and at the center of the crime.
RESOLUTION - 3: No big surprises, no major twist. Just a solid and sensible solution.
SUMMARY - 3.6 overall. The atmosphere and cast takes this mystery novel to a level a cut above the genre. Janwillem van de Wetering is a very good writer, so much so that the classification of this as a 'mystery' is a bit misleading.

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny thriller, human policemen, a hindi meditation community with a "guru" who is not really a spiritual guy but a drug dealer who is found dead, a papuan ex-policeman who is a murderer and very much liked by the policemen. it is sort of all up-side down thriller and that is the fun of it. enjoyable.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel in the Grijpstra en de Gier series is a famous one because it was filmed with the brilliant Rutger Hauer, sans the mustache de Gier carries in the novels, and the equally brilliant Rijk de Gooyer ( who did play Grijpstra in another movie but sadly without Hauer). The movie breaths like the book by the Wetering the laidbackishness that is actually quite characteristically of most of the series. The books are less about the solving of crime but far more about the human interaction and their frailties.
Somebody is murdered and Grijpstra & de Gier arrive to take the matters in their detective hands, when they have time between their musical sessions where de Gier plays the flute and Grijpstra the percussion. In this 1st novel the commissaris does not feature as he will in the next novels so it is up to the two gents to solve the murder & whatnot. De Gier falls for a beautiful lady in more than one way, while Grijpstra detects.
The postcard they receive at the end of the book is kind of nice.

A brilliant first attempt by a writer that does not let his books be translated into English but simply rewrote them for an English reading audience.

The characters of van de Wetering have been used for a TV series from which some new books were born, albeit not written by their creator and it shows. They lack the characteristics and mood from van de Wetering.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Dutch mystery, perhaps my first Dutch novel. It begins with the arrival of the lead detectives at the Hindist Society, whose leader has been found hanging from a noose in his quarters. Of course there are questions without answers about the death, the Society, life and death itself,the presence of drugs in Amsterdam, cats--yes cats as there is one over active and somewhat diabolical, well-loved specimen involved in the story.

Grijpstra and deGier are the lead detectives in question in this first of a series novel. It was written in the 1970s and features no high tech devices but much thought about the meaning of it all---work, family, fighting crime, etc. While I enjoyed these characters and found the secondary characters well drawn, something seemed missing, something difficult to put my finger on. It may be the writing itself which seems quite utilitarian.

I may try another in the series in the future but I won't race to it.

Rating 3.5*

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

In het begin leek het een boek dat de tand des tijds niet had doorstaan, traag en meutig. Maar gaandeweg kwam er steeds meer vaart in en begon ik er plezier in te krijgen. Het is een klassieke Grijpstra en De Gier, die ik trouwens nooit op tv gevolgd heb.

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment for me. I am Dutch and have lived in and around Amsterdam, so imagine my anticipation of reading Wetering (a well known Dutch author), knowing it would be like coming home. But it didn't happen. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is with this book. Some of the Dutch humor does come through, the curious Dutch sensibility that lets any emotion come to the surface only after filtering it through a sobering, rational mind often does come through as funny. Perhaps it's a bad translation..I often found myself puzzled with the phrases I knew were translated from Dutch into English and found them wanting. Or perhaps the problem lies with the not-so-great mystery. I had the culprits figured out almost as soon as they were presented in the book. In any case, I could only give this book 2 stars.

[Jigar Brahmbhatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not awesome, but quirky. No wonder the series had a certain appeal for the flower-power folks.

The detective duo are worldly-wise and do not mind breaking into lengthy philosophical discussions. When they reach the crime scene for the first time they enter a Samuel Beckett kind of argument about who should ring the doorbell. It makes perfect sense when one of them convinces the other saying: "You have an elegant index finger!"

It is actually an amusing read, not overt or melodramatic. I'd check more books in the series if I were bestowed with infinite chronons of time in my life.

[Aj Sterkel]

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like police procedurals. This seems to be another detective novel where the cops have no personality. They do police stuff and ogle women. That's it. What about the rest of their lives? Do detectives only pop into existence when there are ladies or corpses around?

DNF after 60-something pages.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outsider in Amsterdam is the first book in The Amsterdam Cops series by Janwillem van de Wetering. The Amsterdam cops are partners Detective Grijpstra and Sgt de Gier. While on patrol both are sent to investigate a suicide in the building owned and operated by the Hindist Society. The body belongs to the owner, Piet Verboom. The question they must answer is whether it was a suicide or a murder.

Thus begins their investigation. It's an interesting story, somewhat disjointed and rambling. What I did like was how the characters, both the cops and the victim and witnesses are developed. There is a lot of music in the book; Grijpstra likes to play the drums and de Gier, the flute. There are some neat scenes featuring the two of them.

The other characters are also interesting, from the Chief Inspector, their listening post and also their guide on the investigation, to van Meteren, possibly the main suspect, a Papuan ex-policeman from Indonesia, who now lives and worked for Verboom. Even de Gier's cat, Oliver gets a starring role.

The investigation rambles as I mentioned as the cops explore the possible motives for the crime, if it was in fact a murder and often runs out of momentum. But the Amsterdam cops persist, with humor and philosophical discussion. It wasn't a perfect story by any means but it held my interest and made me want to further explore the series. I liked the locale of Amsterdam, a place I've never visited and it was well portrayed. Most enjoyable and worth trying (3.5 stars)

[Pia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's something missing for me in this book. I don't know if it's the translation or the writing, but after I read it, I felt that I enjoyed it, but did not grasp everything. It is not a complicated book, for certain. It's probably just a slow read and I was hoping for something else.

This book is a best seller/classic mystery from 1975. Cops Grijpstra and de Geer are called to a murder scene, that of the leader of an esoteric sect. There's any number of suspects, as he was not a well liked man: his ex-wife, a boarder, the people that worked for him in his sect/society/restaurant.

Maybe because it was written more than 40 years ago, there are some racist and mysoginist comments that would not be acceptable now, and it was difficult for me to place myself in the context of the time.

A good thriller, with a well written plot and interesting characters.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Gert De Bie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooit kwam ik in een Engelse gids over cultliteratuur een Nederlandse misdaadschrijver tegen. Ik vergat zijn naam te noteren, vond de referentie nergens meer terug (nog steeds niet) en zocht vruchteloos in tweedehandswinkels tot ik zijn naam en meteen het licht zou zien.
Tot ik de referentie terugvind, zal de twijfel blijven knagen, maar sinds ik de naam Janwillem van de Wetering zag opduiken in een tweedehandsboekhandel in Redu, zag ik het licht en ben ik ervan overtuigd dat ik mijn cultauteur gevonden heb.
Het onconventionele Amsterdamse politieduo Grijpstra & de Gier, dat de hoofdrol in dit boek speelt, versterkt mijn vermoeden.
Een hoofdinspecteur die dagelijks de omvang van zijn cactus meet, een agent die zich laveloos drinkt in het appartement van vermoedelijke drugsdealers, een sergeant die midden een onderzoek huiswaarts keert om zijn kat eten te geven of een hoofdverdachte om te knuffelen: Outsider in Amsterdam laat ze allemaal de revue passeren in een leuk opgebouwde detective, waarin je met de glimlach leuke of verrassende filosofietjes van beide inspecteurs meekrijgt. De plot werd goed uitgewerkt en heel het boek is doorspekt met een charmant soort humor en een verrassende lieftalligheid voor een misdaadverhaal. Outsider in Amsterdam kadert in een heerlijks sfeertje en is aangenaam verfrissend.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grijpstra and de Gier, two Dutch homicide detectives, are called out to the Hindist Society, whose leader has been found hanging from a noose in his quarters. Almost right away, there are questions about the death and they soon come to believe that it is not a suicide, but murder because the man is not disheveled (which seems particularly weak to me) and has a bruise on his forehead.

The investigation quickly delves into the society itself, especially its finances, and no one is surprised that it looks like there is more going on than what is perceived. And then there is the former police officer, now a traffic warden in Amsterdam, who lives at the Hindist Society but is not an employee nor a member... How is he involved?

While I enjoyed reading this book by Janwillem van de Watering, I have to say that there was something off and it may be just a matter of the translator. The conversations between the two main characters didn't always ring true and in a way, it made them seem a bit less professional — very contemplative. And the ending is very abrupt. But the mystery and how they went about solving the case worked well.

[miteypen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quirky little book about two police detectives in Amsterdam. It was published in 1975, and I'm assuming that the story's time period is the same, so it has a bit of an old-fashioned flavor to it. But it doesn't really feel outdated. I call it "quirky" because of the way the personalities of and interplay between the two detectives are described. There is a certain tongue-in-cheek wit in the writing which also contributes to the quirkiness.

These aren't your typical hard-boiled detectives, nor are they superstars. In some ways their approach could be called plodding, but they still manage to get the job done.

There are a lot of descriptions of Amsterdam itself--its architecture, its history, and some of its social problems--which add additional flavor to the story, as well as anecdotes about Papua, a province in Indonesia that was once under Dutch colonial rule.

[Jon Frum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't see a four-star rating for this book. It was pretty good, and I did finish it, but I can't say I was every really taken by the writing.

One criticism that doesn't impede the plot, but does subtract from the pleasure of reading the story is the behavior of the ex-wife of the murdered man. We have no reason to think of detective de Gier as anything other than an ordinary middle-aged man, but the beautiful (of course) ex-wife drags him to bed, and then days later is planning their future life together. Huh? Nothing motivates this behavior - it just seems to follow the PI meme of sexually alluring women throwing themselves at detectives. This tells me that the author is less interested in showing us how people interact with each other than just filling in the blanks in the genre writing method book.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good: sly humor, one of the two detectives is surprisingly attached to his cat, a look at the Netherlands, a country I don't know much about.

The bad: maybe it's a product of it's time (written in 1975) but it comes across as a bit sexist, racist, and homophobic. Also, the translation seemed particularly stilted which led to some really basic dialogue.

Decent mystery but not a series I'd like to continue.

[ania · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nature doesn't like gaps, it fills them up."

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an amusing fiction about two detectives in the Amsterdam police. Their characters are developed so that you become somewhat fond of them, even though they are the po-po. Here is a rather comic example:

There had been a murder in a house that was the headquarters for the Hindist Society, a kind of bullsh*t society that combined some aspects of Eastern religions with taking drugs. The founder had been found hung. It was not clear if it was suicide or murder. All the people who were in the house at the Time had been questioned, but no suspect had been found. The two detectives were in a room on one of the floors by themselves, with the door closed. They were laying down, one on the sofa, the other on some pillows he had arranged on the floor. Eventually, one of the detectives, Grijpstra, got up, and, finding some bongo drums on a shelf, began tapping on them. The other detective, de Gier, pulled out a little flute from his pocket, and proceeded to accompany him.

There are other amusing scenes throughout the book. I'm convinced that it's worthwhile to continue onto the next book in the series.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just discovered Janwillem van de Wetering by reading multiple praises from Goodreads groups. So I decided to venture onto the first of his Grijpstra and de Gier series - Outsider in Amsterdam.
I found both detectives charming, clever and realistic. They both have their faults and their feelings correct the wrongs of the world.
This novel was a breath of fresh air. Instead of violent shoot-outs, door-busting bad-tempered men filled with testosterone, the reader follows these policemen and their superiors while they methodically try to solve a murder staged to look like a suicide. Even the multiple suspects are charming and civilized.
There was a bit of sexism and racism in the book. But considering the book was written in the 1970s, a reader needs to pause before judging. those areas in the book made me squirm, but I quickly moved on to the actual story-line.

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripstra and de Gier are on the police force and are assigned to investigate a man found hanging in the Hindist Society who may not be a suicide. The crime is reported by a resident Van Meteren and much is amde of the fact that he is from new Guinea. The two officers definitely have some unorthodox police procedures including napping on the job and taste testing items to see if they are drugs. The whole investigation was rather slow and there is definitely some dated treatment of women. I did enjoy the descriptions of Amsterdam and its surroundings.

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of a detective murder mystery series set in Holland, written in 1975 by a Zen Buddhist author. It was interesting, but a slow read, centering on the Grijpstra and deGier of the Murder Brigade of the Amsterdam Municipal Police. They solve a case involving a suspicious death, and they have some unusual characteristics and habits in dealing with suspects.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You are in Holland, van Meteren. Cheese, butter and eggs. Tulips. Windmills keeping the swamps dry. Nice crumbly potatoes and thick gravy. Gray porridge, so thick that you can hardly stir it. But all right, if you like we will be sorcerers and witches. We'll catch the murderer by creating a vibration."

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Chrétien Breukers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herlezing. Wat een fijn boek. Mooi geschreven ook. Nu heb ik zin om ze weer allemaal te gaan lezen.

[Olle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lagom underhållande och mysig deckare. Man får lite Sjöwall/Wahlöö-känslor eftersom boken har snart 50 år på nacken. Dessutom kul att läsa något som utspelar sig i ett land som inte är Sverige, Storbritannien eller USA.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detective-Adjutant Gripstra, cynical and unhappily married, and Sergeant de Gier, a stylish ladies' man, are detectives working together in the Amsterdam police. When they are sent to investigate a report of a dead body, they encounter an apparent suicide that might also be murder of an idealistic spiritual leader who might also be a grifter.

This is the first in Janwillem van de Wetering's series of police procedurals and is an excellent introduction to this oddly charming series. Van de Wetering translated his novels into English himself and the books are written in a distinctive and witty style. The setting of Amsterdam in the seventies is another reason to give this series a try.