The Streetbird

Amsterdam Cops Mysteries #9

by Janwillem van de Wetering

The ninth Amsterdam Cops mystery

Sergeant de Gier spots a vulture at the scene of a murder in Amsterdam’s red light district. The victim, a despicable and widely hated pimp, is now only a police matter to be disposed of with typical Dutch tidiness. However, once Grijpstra, de Gier and the canny commissaris get involved, their search leads to a denouement infinitely more shocking than the crime itself.

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

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

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

Reviews

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound entertainment. I can imagine Kafka reading this and thinking, He gets it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

To begin with this review it is nice to know that the writer never had his books translated but he simply rewrote them in English for a different audience than the original Dutch. So the version of mine might be a wee bit different.
Another thing one needs to understand that in NO WAY the city of Amsterdam is a depiction of the Netherlands, the city is place on itself within the Netherlands.

It is 4 o'clock in the morning and three gentlemen in business-suits complete with their cases on roller skates are circling the Dam in Amsterdam.
In an ally lies a very dead pimp looked upon by a black cat while overhead a carrion-crow circles the ally.
Through the night a police-car carries Grijpstra & de Gier towards the crime scene, and one of them is sure he is still somewhat asleep.

The dead pimp turns out to be one of the powerful of his trade and as such his competition is of course the main suspects. The other women-flesh peddling gentleman are taken out of the equation and yet it does not deliver them the murderer. The more they learn about the dead pimp and the tall tales that make the man a legend and a threat to women and law and order.
Grijpstra & De Gier are added to the local branch in the Red light district to solve this murder while the commissaris (chief of police) takes his holiday. Even if this holiday is far closer than his people actually know.
A tale in which we meet Cardozo the smart young detective, Karate & ketchup the two overzealous uniformed police officers, Nellie the landlady of a bed & breakfast, uncle Wisi the local witch doctor and Opete a big bird whose origins lie in another continent.

The story is about racism, faith, women and such but mostly it is a tale about morality. If you like your police stories straight forward and black and white than this story is nothing for you. As van de Wetering does have this philosophical and Buddhist approach to his police stories.

Janwillem van de Wetering delivers a brilliant tale about people, difference in culture and faith. And this book is well worth your while if you enjoy a slightly different look upon crime and punishment Dutch style as it is.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like these books and the characters but the plots just get more and more peculiar. I do however hate the fact that Amsterdam places names like canals are translated into English - Gentleman's Canal - nooooo - it's the Herengracht. I don't remember this from previous books. I was interested to read in Wikipedia that "He usually wrote in Dutch and then in English; the two versions often differ considerably." I now want to know in what way they differ, don't think I have time to learn Dutch just to find out tho'. In this book he has two uniformed officers called Karate and Ketchup, surely a nod to Kvastmo and Kvant in the Martin Beck books. I also love the detail of the pet tortoise.

[Yoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek gaat over het verleden van Nederland met zijn kolonies en de slavernij. In de jaren 1980, toen dit boek geschreven is, waren er de problemen met de Surinaamse migranten. Er zijn passages met hun religie (voodoo) en we lezen ook over het racisme.
Het is een ietwat andere Grijpstra en De Gier want de commissaris gaat undercover. Hierdoor is Grijpstra iets minder aanwezig. Er is minder een echte enquête, meer een mysterie. Maar de enquête is er wel, en het mysterie wordt opgelost. De humor, de saillante details zijn weer aanwezig, en dat mag wel want soms is de realiteit hard. Suspens is er niet teveel, het lijkt soms een cosy mystery.
Ook nu nog altijd heel aangename lectuur.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aside from being racist and misogynistic, this book just isn't a very good mystery/crime story. Plot points are mashed together, side stories are abandoned and the overall story is not particularly suspenseful or compelling. The racism and misogyny could be seen as somewhat more reflective of their time (the book was written in the '80s) and there are some attempts to soften the racism by having a character comment on or apologize for generalized remarks, but it reads like a relic today, and a not very attractive one at that. The translation is often clunky, too.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intrigued enough to want to read more...but also deeply troubled. Cast of characters hard to understand--throughout. Interesting twists in Amsterdam (a made up one, it seems.). Banter between police sometimes funny, othertimes challenging to understand.

But racism and misogyny so blatant...not really sure why author believes this feeds his story--it makes his characters unattractive. It's the casualness of the racism/sexism that is most disturbing. Throw in a rape, throw in fantasies of white women giving ultrapowerful black pimps blow jobs. Really?

[Menno Beek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nummer 9, van de G&G saga. Ik begin al een beetje nostalgisch te worden omdat de dag dat ik de klassieke kern van de caonon, 11 delen, it heb, dichtbij komt. Dit deel, met een Gier boven amsterdam, een reisje naar de antillen en een meermalen beschreven erotisch incident op een brug over één van de onwelriekende kanalen van wat technisch gezien nog steeds onze hoofdstad is, zou misschien wel het beste deel zijn geweest als het niet een heel klein beetje verrommelde naar het eind toe. Wel mooi om mijn held Grijpstra steeds gelukkiger te zien.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, the 9th book in the Grijpstra & de Gier series, is a little different. It is not so much a book about solving a crime (although they do), but more about the mystical and bizarreness of Amsterdam's red light district and the people who are involved with it.

The commissaris goes "undercover" and Grijpstra is not in this one as much as in other books. Plus, it wouldn't be a true Grijpstra & de Gier book without de Gier getting all googly-eyed over some female, this time it is a policewoman, Adjutant Adèle.

As in some of the previous books in the series, there are a few odd names: Orang Utan (from Ambon Island), and once again Ketchup and Karate make an appearance.

A light, easy read. I love the humour that is thrown into the books. It makes for some good light-hearted reading.

[Lynne-marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dutch still have a protectorate or a colony, I don't know which, Curacao and many former colonies from which former slaves have immigrated to form a black society within Amsterdam. This book examines that sub-strata and the murder of an important heroin dealer within it. It delves into the religion of the slaves who brought their original religion from Africa to South American (Surinam) thence to Amsterdam. We learn in detail about a wisi and a luku and the magic ties that bind them and the curses that protect their bond. It makes for a very interesting read even without the mystery, which in itself is the usual high quality. Another winner, rather better than the average,

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a police procedural, though it starts as one. It seems to inhabit a mythical Amsterdam and involves the murder of an immigrant pimp. I love the commisari as a central character and Grijpstra & de Geir remain wise and comic at the same time. The story talks of the objectification of women in 70s culture, of race and immigration, and of religious identity. It is hardly didactic and I enjoyed it, loving the brief asides about meaning and about daily life. As a warning it is certainly not the place to begin with these detectives.

[Stuart Lutzenhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quirky mystery where a Surinamer pimp lord in the red light district is found shot. The murder brigade is brought in and they do eventually solve the case but perhaps without seeing justice done. I wonder what this says about the author and his idea of justice and crime. Still very enjoyable with interesting characters.

[Roxane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another wonderful la-la land type of story. The commissaris goes under cover while de Gier and Grjpstra handle the more public aspects of the murder of a pimp in Amsterdam's red light district. (Yes - the 'turtle' does make an appearance - and this time is joined by a vulture and a mystical cat.)

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still funny, still salient. The main characters who embody the zen life, their colleagues who are led by their reptile brains. The effects on Netherland society wrought by the upheavals of changing mores in the seventies.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this series of detective novels from Amsterdam - they are super fun - philosophy and detective stories at the same time.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the most complete of van de Wetering's novels that I have read. I like the way it blends his interest in the far east with the seamy atmosphere of Amsterdam's red light district

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series had been suggested to me but I found it simply awful.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this novel as accessible as others in the series.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a little hard to follow in parts. Overall, I did enjoy reading it,however.

[James Proctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love these books and this is the best one yet. Four more to go!

[Lynne Cosmano · Rating 2 out of 5]

liked this a lot less than the others I've read by this author