Ketchup, Karate und die Folgen.

Amsterdam Cops Mysteries #8

by Janwillem van de Wetering

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Procedural, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Suspense

183 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

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

Reviews

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit boek werd in 1980 als boekenweekgeschenk uitgegeven. Het Amsterdamse speurdersduo Grijpstra en de Gier raakt bij toeval betrokken bij een uit de hand gelopen caferuzie, waarbij een aantal vechtersbazen in een gracht belandt. De Gier duikt in het water om een man te redden. Er blijkt meer aan de hand dan de rechercheurs eerst dachten. De opgepakte drenkeling is Frits Verheugt die is getrouwd met Ria. Ria is nogal overspelig en heeft diverse relaties met dubieuze types uit de Amsterdamse onderwereld. Plotseling lijkt Ria van de aardbodem te zijn verdwenen. Is zij mogelijk vermoord? Een lijk wordt niet gevonden? Wat heeft Frits op zijn geweten? Pas in de laatste hoofdstukken wordt de clou duidelijk. Die is verrassend en ook wel geestig. Het boekje is vlot geschreven, je leest het in anderhalf uur. Het is vol Amsterdamse humor, niet al te fijnzinnig, maar wel beeldend geschreven, je kunt de filmbeelden er makkelijk bij verzinnen.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the story has been released as a stand alone story for celebrating the annual Dutch Book week, and was a present for those readers who spend an x-amount on books. And as such was my first time reading JW van de Wetering.

This story starts with the policemen Karate (nickname because of certain skills) & Ketchup (he did not mind his suspects bloodied) having thrown a poor man into the canal because he was misbehaving. And it proved to be quite a job to recover the man from the canal with a growing crowd cheering on the mad civilian having a water fight with a policeman. It needs the Gier and a busload of reinforcements to calm down the crowd and retrieving the man from the canal. In the mean time Grijpstra hears the story concerning the unhappy swimmer which boils down to his wife leaving him and leaving him with an empty apartment. And nobody knows where the good lady went or how she went. It takes half a copper of the size of Grijpstra to smell something crooked. And guess what even the commissaris, who never works on Saturday or if you believe the newspaper works ever at all or is in possession of even a brain also according the same paper, thinks that Grijpstra has a point. So G & G start their rechercher, which is French for detecting. A murder without a body to begin with.
And when the story ends de Gier is still not smoking because habits can be broken or so he claims and Grijpstra has a whole different theory, which started the story to begin with.

In the second part of the book they find a dead body in a stolen Mercedes and Grijpstra is convinced that there is no murder involved and that it is all a cosmic accident And de Gier is pleased that Cardozo has the flue as a beautiful policewoman will take his place and help them detecting. Grijpstra now worries about his partner when it comes to this particular member of the female species.The dead German turns out to have died of an ulcer, which leaves the question how the man ended up in the trunk of a stolen car.

Both stories belong together as the various characters do play their parts, there is crime, punishment & cigarettes in the end.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella was released for the national Book week in 1980, you received this novella for free when you buy a books for a certain amount. I did read it at that time for the first time and was my first time I read a Grijpstra & de Gier book.. The year before the movie had been released with Rutger Hauer playing sergeant de Gier which is still a lot of fun to watch which with its release on dvd I sometimes do.

This book is certain less laced with the Zen-Buddhism as some of the later books but the style of discussing material between both cops and or the Commisaris is one of the most attractive parts of Janwillem van de Weterings' series.
When Grijpstra & de Gier and drive in their battered car they come up on a small conflict somebody is swimming in a canal and is trying to hit the police-officer who is trying to save him. It is half of the police couple Karate & Ketchup, whom are responsible for the swimming party to begin with.
The victim Frits Verheugt is going through a tough time with his wife taking all the furniture from their apartment and having disappeared. Which leads "Adjudant" de Gier thinking that the suspect Verheugt might be responsible for his wife's disappearance . And so starts the story a possible murder without a corpse.

If you have read the Grijpstra & de Gier novels this might be an enjoyable experience, even if you have not it is an excellent start to read this one novella which contains the basis as used in most good Grijpstra & de Gier novels.

[Jason Paulios · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just wasn't into this one. A rare misstep from the series, the main 'crimes' just weren't interesting or big enough to carry an entire novel.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beelema's cafe is the place to meet colorful characters in the old section of Amsterdam. Police Adjutant Grijpstra and his aide Sergeant de Gier are looking for something to do over the weekend when they are attracted by a semi-riot. A man in the river is trying to hit a constable over the head with his crutch. By the time de Gier pulls him out of the river Grijpstra has learned that the seeming culprit bears the ironic name of Fortune, and there is a missing wife in the case. A fat German grumbles into the picture, disliking everything, especially the fact that a Columbian has died in the trunk of his car. Beelema, known in the neighborhood as "the second son of God," would rather straighten out everything himself, without police interference.

The staple characters of this series are captivating. Each has his own quirks and problems, which are presented with such humorous understatement that I would spend a lot of time chortling if I weren't so busy watching what was going on. If there is such a thing as spiritual existentialism, van de Wetering has found it. He uses it to bring his people to life.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these Amsterdam Cop mysteries. While the details of the mysteries themselves are always interesting, it is Grijpstra, de Gier, and the Commissaris who are the main attractions--which is not to say that each novel doesn't also feature any number of interesting minor characters. In "The Mind-Murders," we are presented with two cases: one involves a seeming murder but lacks a corpse, while the other involves a seeming murder despite the fact that the victim likely died of natural causes. The Amsterdam Cop stories, including this one, are inevitably wry, witty, whimsical, philosophical, funny, and sad all at once. Though the crimes described can be brutal, I inevitably come away from these novels with a good feeling and a renewed faith in humanity. I can't think of any other mystery author who wrote books quite like this. They are really quite unique and truly delightful.

[Marloes Baren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Als je je over de verschrikkelijk gedateerde cover kunt zetten, is het als Boekenweekgeschenkje de moeite waard. Tenminste, als je het net als ik leuk vind om een beeld te krijgen van hoe die collectie zich in de loop der jaren heeft ontwikkeld.
Dit boekje, uit 1980, heeft verder niet zoveel om het lijf al is het zeker niet zonder humor geschreven. Liefhebbers van de Grijpstra & De Gier serie zullen er vast meer plezier aan beleven, al maakt het mij niet heel benieuwd naar andere boeken dan deze schrijver.

[Janneke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vandaag in de trein gelezen. Ik ben niet in slaap gevallen. Teken dat het een spannend boek was. De plot was goed en de sfeer van het boek relaxed. Er zat ook behoorlijk wat humor in het verhaal. Al met al met plezier gelezen.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vermoeiend, flauw en regelmatig lastig te volgen.

[Bev · Rating 1 out of 5]

So....I've gone from a mystery with a headless corpse (see previous review) to a book with a headless teddy bear. Named Brom.Yeah, I didn't believe it either. The Mind-Murders (1981) by Janwillem van de Wetering reads like it was written while the author was on an acid trip. It's got hippies, dancing policemen, a couple of cops named Ketchup & Karate (I tell you I'm not making this up), and is written with a dream-like quality that makes you think of the Sixties and sex, drugs & rock-n-roll. The only mind that seems to be murdered is that of the poor reader who valiantly tries to follow the story line to its logical (?) ending. I would quote passages that would prove my point, but I don't want to melt your brain as well. Please pardon me if I seem to mindlessly babble....

The novel is actually two police cases in one. In the first, Adjutant-Detective Henk Grijpstra and Detective-Sergeant Rinus de Gier are drawn into what looks to be a murder without a corpse. It opens with Karate & Ketchup having flung an unruly man with a crutch into the canal in order to "calm him down." De Gier jumps in to help Karate rescue Frits Fortune before he drowns. Later, in the course of explaining the situation to their superiors, K & K happen to mention that Mrs. Fortune has disappeared--taking the entire contents of the house with her including Fortune's beloved poodle Babette. Grijpstra's stupendous detective abilities (of which I have seen no evidence to this point, but heavily implied by the author) immediately make him realize that Mrs. Fortune must be dead and her husband must have killed her and stashed the body somewhere. But where? Aha! says Gripstra. The road crews have been digging up the streets and filling in holes all over the place. Fortune must have dumped the body in one of the holes and the blind bulldozer operator didn't notice the very non-earthlike lump in the hole and just filled it right in so it could be covered with bricks. Obviously the thing to do is to plant a tail on Fortune and every time he twitches near a section of new road we'll have the road crew come back and dig it all up again. Anybody got a guess what we'll find? You got it--a big fat nothing. The police, you, and I will all be very surprised where Mrs. Fortune actually is....
(Oh...and the headless bear? Supposedly, when Fortune was a wee tot he beheaded his teddy bear named Brom and buried him in the garden. Proof positive that he's a murderer.)

And...in what seems to be an intermission we have another lead-back to my previous read....a dwarf! Yes, indeed. Here's the reference (de Gier is explaining why something--can't tell you what, it would be a spoiler--didn't make him suspicious):

I've seen worse in the city, perhaps my mind no longer registers abnormalities. All sorts of apparitions appear these days. There was a dwarf, for instance, dressed in a yellow cape. He rode a scooter, a monkey sat on the handlebars.

There is much banter back and forth between Grijpstra, de Gier and the Commissaris (their otherwise unnamed superior) with the chief observing that his previous boss had claimed "that the police are by definition stupid, because intelligent men will not apply for boring work at low wages. He said that stupidity hardly matters in our profession, provided our brainlessness is compensated by zeal." (Now there's a testimonial for police work....) The Commissaris also tells some pretty pointless stories. [end intermission]

Onward to weird-o case number two, which seems to be a little less psychedelic-feeling: This time round the case Grijpstra and de Gier become involved with what appears to be a corpse with no murder. And it's de Gier who insists they have a case rather than Grijpstra. An added bonus for their team is Astra a sexy, young policewoman who can seduce de Gier and take down a criminal all in the same night.

Despite the pathology report which tells them that Jim Boronski, a man who was found dead, covered in blood, in the trunk of a car, died from natural causes--a bleeding ulcer, de Gier is convinced that there is a murderer somewhere. Their investigation leads them to a sloppy, rude German (who made a brief appearance in the first case) and the possibility of drug-running. But the only evidence of "foul-play" they can find in connection with Boronski is a series of harassing events--the man's car was switched, there was trouble with his laundry, and a missing watch--but as their Commissaris points out, "You can't arrest anybody for harassment." (At least not this kind of harassment in the Netherlands in 1981). They do get to make an arrest and there is a nice sense of symmetry with the first case and it all ends happily with the Commissaris saying: "Everything is all right....Security will be restored."

I was just a teensy bit satisfied with the wrap-up of the second case. That pretty much sums up any good feelings I have about the book. The treatment of Asta (and other women) is VERY sexist--we get an opinion on Every. Single. Woman's. Breasts. Every single one. (All the women in Amsterdam apparently have perfect boobs. Or maybe the men whose point of view we're sharing aren't picky. Or they just love boobs and no matter what they look like, they're perfect.) At first I thought Asta was just along as eye-candy and to identify the entire outfit that one of the women concerned in the case was wearing--but she did get to kick some butt in a nice arrest scene. I'm still not sure whether that was thrown in just so de Gier could be duly impressed and lust after her a little more--after all what's better than perfect breasts? Perfect breasts in action.

The rumor mill on Goodreads tells me that this may not be the most spectacular example of van de Wetering's detective novelist talents. That may be so. But then there are also those who gave the thing four and five stars. I'm not sure that I'm brave enough to try another one. ★ and one-star only.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Howard Cincotta · Rating 2 out of 5]

A random read during a beach vacation, and while a wry police mystery set in Amsterdam sounds irresistible, The Mind-Murders has not aged particularly well.

Police Adjutant Grijpstra and his aide Sergeant de Gier engage in glib repartee, but the balancing act of “murder-without-body” against “corpse-without-a-murder” is more amusing in the abstract than in the execution. Even for the 1980s, moreover, the treatment of women is off-putting, especially that of police officer Astra, even given her intense attraction to de Grier.

Author Janwillem van de Wetering certainly knows how to exploit the Amsterdam demimonde, particularly Beelema's café and its cast of characters, and I have little doubt that I might enjoy other books in the Grijpstra / de Gier series. This one, less so.

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed the Amsterdam police series by van d Wetering with his Buddhist influences, but this one seemed out of sync with the other books. Two stories loosely joined with the plot and premise of 'how to murder your victim by driving them crazy'. Grijpstra and de Grier have their usual banter, the commissaris appears to tie up some dangling theories and it all improbably solved by karma in the end.

[Ken]

I couldn’t get interested in this one. I found the conversions confusing and the plot dull.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonkers as ever with some well dodgy gender politics but still worth reading.

[Rita Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these Janwillem mysteries. I wasn't totally crazy about this one - not much of a mystery really. Sort of more mystical. But still fun.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

We zijn het punt van de tijdsgeest gepasseerd. Laa lekker door, maar er werden ernstige dingen gezegd die nu echt niet meer kunnen.

[Maarten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik lees de verzameling boekenweekgeschenken, geërfd van mijn vader, van oud (1939) naar nu.

Boekenweekgeschenk 1980
Vlot geschreven en humoristische detective met Grijpstra en de Gier.

[Menno Beek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nummer 10, nog één te gaan, de helft van deze aflevering was ooit boekenweekgeschenk, geloof ik, maar die heb ik ooit haast allemaal opgeruimd - no great loss - dus dat kan ik nu niet op mijn planken nagaan.

Geestig idee, deze dubbelaanpak van de klassieke moord-inrtige, en men voelt wel aan, dat dit ene deel tien van 121 is, want de spanningen lopen hoger op. Overigens moet ik volgens mij wel wat herschikken want ik denk dat deze voor de Straatvogel speelt, en misschien zelfs voor 'Het werkbezoek'. Men kan zich afvragen of er niet een student Nederlands hier eens een diepgravende scriptie over kan schrijven, ik beloof haar, hem, in elk geval één zeer geintereseerde lezer.

Komt allemaal goed, in dit deel, ik bedoel, de schuldigen krijgen straf, is het niet van de politie, dan wel van de kosmos. Dan weet u dat.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Mr. Fortune is suspected of murdering his wife. Grijpstra and de Gier find a body but it's not Fortune's wife.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I'll start off by stating that this was my least favourite book in the Grijpstra & de Gier series so far. I'm not sure what was going on in Janwillem van de Wetering's life at the time he wrote this, but it seems like there may have been some hallucinogens involved.

The first part of this book is rather trippy. The second part is a little better but still unusual. Plus, the names of the characters in this book are unlike any in the other van de Wetering books I have read so far and they were odd, to say the least.

The story was just OK, not great. Still entertaining, but lacked something. I am still planning on reading all of the books in the Grijpstra & de Gier series, so time to start tracking down The Streetbird.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Destijds heb ik de hele serie Grijpstra & De Gier in één ruk uitgelezen. Ik kon er geen genoeg van krijgen. Om die reden hebben ze vele boekenkastopruimingen overleefd. Maar jemig, wat een ongein. Ik sta echt versteld. De verdachte Verheugt is echt nauwelijks te lezen. Een lange aaneenschakeling van flauwe grappen (Amsterdamse humor?) en een nagenoeg onbegrijpelijke en in elk geval onwaarschijnlijke plot. Het enige aardige is dat het me terugbracht bij de manier waarop eind jaren 70 over het politieapparaat werd gedacht. Lui, log, incompetent en corrupt. Dat kun je je nu toch niet meer voorstellen. Ook het kraakwezen en het heroIneprobleem uit die jaren maken deel uit van het dekor van het verhaal.

[Lynne-marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not, in my opinion, up to the usual level of this author's high level of performance. What I refer to is the disconnected and rather lackadaisical proceeding of the book. I must say that de Gier and Grijpstra don't always follow the straightest path to apprehending a criminal, but in this case the book itself seems to lack coherence. There are great parts, especially in the setting up of the crime and the perceiving it AS a crime, but the low comedy get in the way a lot and we are certainly in no way ready for the dénouement. I was somewhat disappointed in this one.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van de Wetering wrote a number of police procedurals based in the Netherlands and they are all wonderful. The two main police characters exemplify police attitudes everywhere in the world, I guess, but are endearing and fascinating. Also, you learn alot about Amsterdam neighborhoods and the hinterlands too. Some of his books are set in other countries, like Japan and the US (Maine) with the same main characters. They are all super.

[Karmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beelema's cafe is the place to meet colorful characters in the old section of Amsterdam. Police Adjutant Grijpstra and his aide Sergeant de Gier are looking for something to do over the weekend when they are attracted by a semi-riot. A man in the river is trying to hit a constable over the head with his crutch.



The two part story unfolds and presents wonderfully eccentric characters. The Fortunes; Titania; Zhaver ; Ásta, Karate and Ketchup and their boss. Of course then there is Beleema.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The previous Grijpstra and de Gier novels were excellent. However, this one was WAY too dreamlike for my liking. I'm aware that van de Wetering purposely used massive confusion as part of his style in Mind-Murders, but either he was unsuccessful, or I just didn't appreciate the effort. Won't stop me from reading the rest of the series though.

[Yooperprof · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed with this entry in the series. (I've read eleven, so I have a fairly good sense of what van de Wetering is capable of.) The writing was generally opaque, and occasionally it was quite difficult to figure out what actually was going on. The policemen don't have a whole lot to do, and the general tone is more negative than it usually is.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth of Wetering's Amsterdam cops books that I have read and this one is a comedy. While the characters remain the same, the feel here is lighter and even farcical at times. Still a delight to read though and clever enough as a mystery.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all the van de Wetering mysteries we could get our hands on, but in the pre-BookCrossing/Goodreads days. Really want to re-read, but need to get some jenever and herring in the house, first.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great scene early on with the Chief inspector telling a story, but overall, I'd agree with other reviews that this entry in the series is more disjointed than the others, and at times more a farce than a mystery.