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59th out of 187 books
—
155 voters
Outsider in Amsterdam (Grijpstra & de Gier Mystery #1)
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 Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier of the Amsterdam police are sent to investigate what looks like a simple suicide, but they are immediately suspic...more
Paperback, 290 pages
Published
July 1st 2003
by Soho Press, Inc.
(first published 1975)
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If your pleasure is the action-driven thriller with cardboard characters, skip this review. Outsider in Amsterdam, the first in the 'Grijpstra and De Gier' series, is based on the characters of Adjutant Henk Grijpstra, weary from life with oppressing wife and children, and Sergeant Rinus De Gier, a young bachelor attached only to Oliver, his psychotic tomcat.
Although, like most 'mysteries', there is a murder to solve—the apparent suicide of the leader of a small semi-religious sect—the case take...more
Although, like most 'mysteries', there is a murder to solve—the apparent suicide of the leader of a small semi-religious sect—the case take...more
The first of the series that ended with >10 books involving the exploits of Amsterdam cops de Gier and Grijpstra. Good mystery, set in Amsterdam as the title implies, the city where the author spent at least a few years around the age of 30 on the police department after moving to London, South Africa and South America for a few years. The book evokes the richness of old town Amsterdam which is completely absorbing and all the more rich if you're seen it in person.
Van de Wettering who died re...more
Van de Wettering who died re...more
"Piet Verboom is found dangling from a beam in the Hindist Society he ran as a restaurant-commune in a quiet Amsterdam street. Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier of the Amsterdam police force are sent to investigate what looks like a simple suicide. "
This quirky mystery made me smile from beginning to end. This is the first book in this series of mystery crime books by Janwillem van de Wetering...all taking place in Amsterdam. Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier are...more
This quirky mystery made me smile from beginning to end. This is the first book in this series of mystery crime books by Janwillem van de Wetering...all taking place in Amsterdam. Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier are...more
This is the first in the Grijpstra and de Gier series. I have read maybe two others, out of order, over the years, and enjoyed them well enough but for whatever reason, I had not picked up the first one until I saw it recently at the library.
So, Grijpstra and de Gier are police detectives in Amsterdam, Grijpstra is the more senior (they go over the Dutch police ranking system about a million times in the series but I've never quite absorbed it) married, rumpled, slightly stout one, and his junio...more
So, Grijpstra and de Gier are police detectives in Amsterdam, Grijpstra is the more senior (they go over the Dutch police ranking system about a million times in the series but I've never quite absorbed it) married, rumpled, slightly stout one, and his junio...more
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 questi...more
Grijpstra and deGier are the lead detectives in questi...more
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Outsider in Amsterdam is the first in the Amsterdam Cops series by Janwillem van de Wetering. I enjoyed it very much. The two cops, Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier, reminded me of the Inspector Lewis series on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. They are both well-rounded characters. The story takes place in 1973 and involves a Papuan man from Dutch New Guninea, who has dual citizenship and now resides in Amsterdam. The author assumes to a certain extent that the reader understands tha...more
Janwillem van de Wetering is an acquired taste, a Dutch mystery writer who lives in Maine and who whose books were published in the 70s and 80s, I suspect. He has also written nonfiction and children's books.
This book is the first mystery in the Grijpstra and de Gier series. The two detectives have vastly different personalities and personal lives. It concerns a man found dead of an apparent suicide in a large house that is a restaurant/bar and something of a cult house. The house is run by a ma...more
This book is the first mystery in the Grijpstra and de Gier series. The two detectives have vastly different personalities and personal lives. It concerns a man found dead of an apparent suicide in a large house that is a restaurant/bar and something of a cult house. The house is run by a ma...more
Dec 28, 2012
Monica
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-and-or-evil,
reread
I enjoyed this book when I first read it over 30 years ago, and it's a real pleasure to see how well it has stood the test of time. Grijpstra, the adjutant, and his Sergeant de Gier are great characters - Grijpstra the middle aged family man (and drummer)and de Gier, the philosophical bachelor (and flute player) with the roaming eye and the homicidal Siamese cat.
Amsterdam is as much a character as the cops - the geography, the street life and the lingering influence of the Dutch colonial experie...more
Amsterdam is as much a character as the cops - the geography, the street life and the lingering influence of the Dutch colonial experie...more
Van de Wetering's novels are a delight to read. A cool experience - no psychological depths to plumb, some humor to enjoy, and just a lovely cerebral trip. This was his first novel where he introduces his famous characters Detective-Adjutant, Grijpstra, and Sargeant de Gier of the Amsterdam police. They are clever friends who have a philosophical bent to life which includes sorting out crimes by a pecking order of seriousness -- letting those that make no sense go by the wayside. This story was...more
Well, I'll admit up front a fondness for this quirky pair of Amsterdam cops, who don't seem well matched, but do very well together, thank you so much! Here they are sent to investigate the supposed suicide of a man who ran a Hindist commune of a sort, but though he's hanging from a beam, it develops that he was put there after he was dead and besides there's not much Hindist about the commune and it's losing members besides. I won't go on, but Grijpstra & De Grier do to much amusement and a...more
This mystery, set in Amsterdam with a Papuan suspect, was recommended to me by Sue Dallam. It struck me as a typical murder mystery. I don't read many. I generally find the stories engaging but don't get the point of reading "genre" fiction that follows formulas. Sue told me that she liked this one because the two detectives were so laid back, casual, and funny, where most mysteries are pretty intense. I guess I can see that, though I don't read enough of the "genre" to get that on my own. So, a...more
A very well written and translated foreign book is perhaps one of the most engrossing and satisfying things to read, as the reader is often given a taste of what it's like to be in the respected location. This book does all of this, plus has a engrossing mystery as it's foremost feature. But it's as if the mystery is back story, and the day-to-day life of two Dutch policemen in Amsterdam is the focus of the book. At first this can be pretty boring, but once you really get into the rhythm of thes...more
I liked Outsider in Amsterdam. In the beginning the two main characters, detectives and partners in the Amsterdam police force in the 1970s, had quite a bit of interior dialogue, revealing their characters with insight and humor. This settled down as the book went on and frankly I missed it. A good story overall, where the mystery is not deep, but getting to know the characters, Amsterdam, and working out a resolution are even more important. I will read more in this series when I find them.
Piet Verboom hat sich den Strick genommen – so sieht es jedenfalls aus, als Adjudant Grijpstra und Brigadier de Gier am Tatort eintreffen. Bei näherem Hinsehen hatten jedoch viele Menschen eine Rechnung mit dem Toten offen. Die beiden Ermittler machen es wie immer: Sie warten in aller Ruhe ab und machen dann einen entscheidenden Fehler, der sie einen großen Schritt weiter bringt.
I've never read Dutch detective stories before. And I have to say that I was quite impressed with my first experience! More importantly, the hilarious way of narrating the story is one of the best ways to present a detective story. Gripjstra and de Gier are flawed but adorable as a pair of Dutch policemen, making for some delightful reading indeed.
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...more
I liked this book because as an outsider who lived in Buitenveldert Amsterdam for a year during that same period it brought back many memories and images. The book started with good interest, was a little plodding in the middle and then the twist at the end with a sympathetic view of the perpetrator brought the story to a satisfying conclusion.
This book was alot of fun to read. The unique chemistry between detectives Grijpstra and de Gier is so humorous and clever. Mystery lovers should absolutely try to get started in this series.
The only negative quality about this book is the sexism that occasionally appears but really has to be forgiven since it was written about 30 years ago.
The only negative quality about this book is the sexism that occasionally appears but really has to be forgiven since it was written about 30 years ago.
Grijpstra and de Gier are an interesting duo, and Amsterdam is a fascinating and exotic setting for mysteries. An undercurrent of humor runs throughout the story. Equal parts introspection and detection reveal the quirks of these Dutch policemen as they work together to fight crime. I look forward to reading more of this series.
A really enjoyable book. The 2 detectives on the case Grijpstra and de Gier are well developed and interesting characters in this first book in the series. The book was written in the mid 70's so there are a lot of " outdated" references but the main story was well written enough that I would read another in the series.
I would never have heard of this series without the Daily Telegraph's "50 crime writers you should read before you die" list, but the write-up sounded intersting, so I decided to give it ago. It was a pretty good story, with two likeable main characters, plus an interesting supporting cast. I'll definitely read more of it.
A nearly perfect first novel in a series of great detective stories. It's about drugs and phony religions, about murder most fair. The detective team of Grijpstra and De Gier-- the former plodding, pudgy, and easily underestimated, the latter energetic, athletic, handsome, and vain-- are perhaps the only police team that solve murders while they improvise jazz on confiscated instruments.
This is a light read, but it manages to contain a wonderful panoply of Zen philosophy, humor, and police proce...more
This is a light read, but it manages to contain a wonderful panoply of Zen philosophy, humor, and police proce...more
Sadly, I wasn't impressed. I wanted to be. This series had been recommended to me, and, as a general rule, I find that books released under the Soho imprint are good. The Kindle version is full of typos, which certainly affected my enjoyment.
I loved this book - probably mostly because it occurs in Amsterdam in the 1970s and the two cops are constantly drinking coffee and orange juice and arguing. A fun and interesting read, though I did tire of the series after about three books.
Great Psychological Murder Mystery! It clearly portrayed many details of the Dutch mentality of that era. Witty and humorous with credible characters. I felt myself walking along the Amsterdam canals witnessing the events from the other side.
I was intrigued by the character of a man from the former Dutch colonial empire confronted to loss of status once he chooses to live in the "mother-country" after independence. Unfortunately, the rest of the plot is pretty routine.
The owner of a Hindist Society is found hanged and detectives Grijpstra and de Gier must find the murderer.
The dialog is very simple and not the most imaginative but the story gets more interesting as the book progresses.
The dialog is very simple and not the most imaginative but the story gets more interesting as the book progresses.
This is the first of 12 I think. I don't know if it's that the author is Dutch, maybe it was written in Dutch and then translated, mayb it was written in English by someone who speaks it as a second language, but one of my favorite aspects of this book and the second in the series (the two I've read to date) is the writing. It's just cute. This one was written/published in the 70's and the things that date the book also add to the charm. That's a good way to describe the book... charming. The st...more
A sound plot ruined by a fragmented style (although this may be down to the translation) and the sexist, racist, fat-shaming, mysogynistic views of the two protaganists,
I enjoyed this book. There is not very much action. What I enjoyed about this book is the interaction between the 2 detectives and the revelations of their character. They have a charming dialogue. It made the book more intimate.
In fact, the dialogue these 2 detectives develop with other characters are very entertaining, and plausible. They are very good talkers. The interaction between Detective de Grier and the beautiful single mother made me feel like a voyeur, and I liked that.
The descript...more
In fact, the dialogue these 2 detectives develop with other characters are very entertaining, and plausible. They are very good talkers. The interaction between Detective de Grier and the beautiful single mother made me feel like a voyeur, and I liked that.
The descript...more
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