Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering

303 Pages
Publisher: Soho Press, Soho Crime
Release Date: July 16, 2013

Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Amsterdam

Pete the leader of a religious society, Hindist, was found hanging in the society’s house. The police ae investigating but they are having tough time. Is it a suicide or murder? If it’s a murder, who could be the murderer? There are so many suspects to choose from.

Johan is a Papuian lives in the society house and works as a parking police officer. Constanze, Pete’s wife was living in France, but could have flown to Amsterdam. Sergeant deGier begins dating her to get closer and find out more about her.

The story had a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I liked the premise and it was a good beginning to a series but wish this book was a bit better.

This is a police procedural written in 1975. It is very thought provoking re: is murder ever justified? I liked the setting of Amsterdam and thought the mystery was good.
Many thanks to Soho Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Like the Martin Beck series from Sweden, this detective procedural from The Netherlands is a 1975 critique of Dutch culture--a sly satire of appropriated Eastern religion, the problems wrought by drug tourism, the good functioning of the social welfare system as well as its exploitation, and the long legacy of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. Van de Wetering captures the day to day bureaucracy of police work and the partnership of an odd couple pair of detectives.

Van de Wetering has written an intriguing who-done-it mystery that leaves the reader puzzling out the suspects and their roles until the end.
While this book has been around for some time, it still seems modern. I was shocked to hear this book had been published over four decades ago! References to gables and canals brings pictures of Amsterdam to minds. Its use of heroin and overdoses is very relevant to today's opioid epidemic. There are very few points in the books that reveal its 1970s setting.

It is a quick read and will make you feel like reading more of this series. I have never been to Amsterdam, but I loved the description. I like to read books with stories with a backdrop of different interesting cities. Right amount of intrigue and color.

I watch a lot of foreign tv shows and this book fits right in. Very descriptive with rich, colorful, quirky characters. I felt like I was there