Judge Dee Plays His Lute: A Play and Selected Mystery Stories

by Janwillem van de Wetering

Janwillem Van de Wetering was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands on February 12, 1931. He traveled extensively, both geographically and philosophically, his adventures ranging from being a motorcycle gang member to a Buddhist, a real estate salesman in Australia to an exporter in Holland. He was a police officer in Amsterdam from 1966 to 1975 and his crime novels featuring detectives Grijpstra and De Gier were based on his experiences. He also wrote a trilogy based on the time he spent at a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery and wrote children's books about a porcupine named Hugh Pine. In 1984, he received the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He died on July 4, 2008 at the age of 77.

190 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

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

Reviews

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Janwillem van de Wetering's Amsterdam Cops novels (except the last couple anti-thematic ones), and a fan of Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee stories, so a collection of van de Wetering stories, including an homage play to Van Gulik and Judge Dee naturally got on my reading list. I used to read an Amsterdam Cops book each Residency (Seton Hill WPF-MFA) until I used them all up, and then read Judge Dee books instead, until I used them all up. This volume sorta finishes off both sequences.

This appears to be a POD edition, a Wonderly Press imprint, which was connected to the Dunn & Powell Books operation in Bar Harbor, ME. I believe D&P may have moved to Connecticut, before finally shutting down. There are rather a lot of typos, (and 2 grimaces, for those who keep count), but since the stories are nowhere else collected, one can put up with that.

It is suggested that van de Wetering (who later wrote a biography of Van Gulik) attended Van Gulik's funeral, and the play is a symbolic fantasy of that event, with ghosts and spirits, including Judge Dee. Odd, but amusing.

The stories include some Amsterdam Cop stories, including one that seems to be a prototype, and an Inspector Saito story, a couple of Maine crime stories, and another Japan story ("Off Season") whose ending simply went over my head. A Florida story, too, "Happy Hermits".

The stories are a little uneven; it's clearly a remainder/scrap collection, but I enjoyed the ride. There is a certain wicked justice in several of them.

And, oh, yeah, if you haven't read them, I suggest skipping the funeral, cancelling the wedding, quitting the day job, and reading the Amsterdam Cops series from the beginning to almost the end. Not to have done so is to have lived in Error.

[John Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply give this 5 stars as I love Van de Wetering. I was fortunate to know him and visited his 'estate' in Maine. Other reviews are very true that his best was the Amsterdam cops series. I note in one review that they didn't like the last 2. These were Van De Wetering's favourite I think as they approached a true zen like feel. He was planning to write a final one with the Dutch detectives meting Inspector Saito. If you haven't read his Inspector Saito books they are must reads. I checked with his daughter and he did not leave any partially done work on this or even any notes.
He was also a very good artist and his paintings are prominent in an excellent local cafe where we went for breakfast. Wow, that was back when I had just finished my first book.
Also btw, as mentioned, read all of van Gulik's Judge Dee books. They are excellent fun.