MostlyFiction Book Reviews

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"Streetbird"

(Reviewed by Judi Clark FEB 10 1998)

A super pimp is murdered in the red light district and it is up to Amsterdam municipal police to close the case. This book is not an astounding literary piece, but it is entertaining, quirky and very Dutch.  I like it because it takes place in Amsterdam and it has a mystical twist. This is the 9th book in a series featuring Adjutant Henk Grypstra and Sergeant Rinus de Gier, otherwise known as the Zen Patrol. I'm hooked and need to read more in this series!

• Amazon reader rating: from 3 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

Amsterdam Cops series:

• Outsider in Amsterdam (1975)
• Tumbleweed (1976)
• The Corpse on the Dike (1976)
• Death of a Hawker (1977)
• The Japanese Corpse (1977)
• The Blond Baboon (1978)
• The Maine Massacre (1979)
• The Mind-Murders (1981)
• The Streetbird (1983)
• The Rattle-Rat (1986)
• Hard Rain (1986)
• Just a Corpse at Twilight (1994)
• The Hollow-Eyed Angel (1996)
• The Perfidious Parrot (1997)
• The Amsterdam Cops: Collected Stories (1999)
• Shootout at Jackass Junction

Other Fiction:

• The Butterfly Hunter (1982)
• Bliss and Bluster (1982)
• Murder by Remote Control (1986)
• Inspector Saito's Small Satori (1985)
• The Sergeant's Cat and Other Stories (1987)
• Seesaw Millions (1988)
• Mangrove Mama and Other Tropical Tales of Terror (1995)
• Judge Dee Plays His Lute: A Play and Selected Mystery Stories (1997)

Non Fiction:

• Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Monastery
• Glimpse of Nothingness: Experiences in an American Zen Community
• Afterzen: Experiences of a Zen Student Out on His Ear

 

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Book Marks:

• Janwillem Van de Wetering web site with photos
• Crime page on Janwillem van de Wetering (in Dutch)
• Web site featuring the Grypstra and de Gier novels

 

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About the Author:

Janwillem Van de Wetering was born in Rotterdam in 1931. The Germans bombed Rotterdam when he was still a young boy and occupied it for five years, sending all of his Jewish classmates to concentration camps. That wartime experience led to a truth-seeking journey that he continues today. After graduating from business college at age nineteen, Janwillem studied Zen in Daitoku-ji Monastery, Kyoto and philosophy in London, and lived  in Amsterdam, Cornwall, Capetown, Bogata, Lima and Brisbane. He eventually returned to the Netherlands where he managed an Amsterdam textile company and was a part-time cop. As a member of the Special Constabulary of the Amsterdam Municipal Police, he both patrolled the streets and trained to be an officer. In 1975 he settled in Surry, a small town on the coast of Maine, where he still lives with his wife Juanita.

Janwillem van de Wetering is the author of 37 books - even though he did not start writing until he was in his 40's.