This is an amusing fiction about two detectives in the Amsterdam police. Their characters are developed so that you become somewhat fond of them, even though they are the po-po. Here is a rather comic example:

There had been a murder in a house that was the headquarters for the Hindist Society, a kind of bullsh*t society that combined some aspects of Eastern religions with taking drugs. The founder had been found hung. It was not clear if it was suicide or murder. All the people who were in the house at the Time had been questioned, but no suspect had been found. The two detectives were in a room on one of the floors by themselves, with the door closed. They were laying down, one on the sofa, the other on some pillows he had arranged on the floor. Eventually, one of the detectives, Grijpstra, got up, and, finding some bongo drums on a shelf, began tapping on them. The other detective, de Gier, pulled out a little flute from his pocket, and proceeded to accompany him.

There are other amusing scenes throughout the book. I'm convinced that it's worthwhile to continue onto the next book in the series.

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Ooit kwam ik in een Engelse gids over cultliteratuur een Nederlandse misdaadschrijver tegen. Ik vergat zijn naam te noteren, vond de referentie nergens meer terug (nog steeds niet) en zocht vruchteloos in tweedehandswinkels tot ik zijn naam en meteen het licht zou zien.
Tot ik de referentie terugvind, zal de twijfel blijven knagen, maar sinds ik de naam Janwillem van de Wetering zag opduiken in een tweedehandsboekhandel in Redu, zag ik het licht en ben ik ervan overtuigd dat ik mijn cultauteur gevonden heb.
Het onconventionele Amsterdamse politieduo Grijpstra & de Gier, dat de hoofdrol in dit boek speelt, versterkt mijn vermoeden.
Een hoofdinspecteur die dagelijks de omvang van zijn cactus meet, een agent die zich laveloos drinkt in het appartement van vermoedelijke drugsdealers, een sergeant die midden een onderzoek huiswaarts keert om zijn kat eten te geven of een hoofdverdachte om te knuffelen: Outsider in Amsterdam laat ze allemaal de revue passeren in een leuk opgebouwde detective, waarin je met de glimlach leuke of verrassende filosofietjes van beide inspecteurs meekrijgt. De plot werd goed uitgewerkt en heel het boek is doorspekt met een charmant soort humor en een verrassende lieftalligheid voor een misdaadverhaal. Outsider in Amsterdam kadert in een heerlijks sfeertje en is aangenaam verfrissend. ( )

Outsider In Amsterdam (1975) (Grijpstra/de Gier #1) by Janwillem van de Wetering. The first in the police duo’s adventures on the streets of Amsterdam, this book didn’t live up to my expectations. It might have been the translation into English that caused the story to bog down. While the action was fine, the story itself being fine also, I found the dialog to be awkward. It appears that idioms do not smoothly transcend the changes in attitudes from the Netherlands to America.
The operator of the Handiest Society is discovered hanging from a beam within his quarters. The building is owned by him and he employs several people who also live in the large, three story structure. All are suspects. All have reasons to want him dead. His ex-wife also might very well want him dead.
Detective-Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier represent the local police in the investigation. There isn’t much to look into and they quickly have their suspicions as to the killer and their motive, but proof is hard to come by. Money is missing and drug trafficking is found to be the way the Society supported itself. Local dealers come into the mix as well as a pair of seedy users.
If you like your mysteries blood free this will pretty much fill the bill. The puzzle is good and you learn a lot about the two policemen, their quirks and their attitudes. In short, despite some clunky dialog along the way, this is a darn good read. ( )

Grijpstra and de Gier are detectives with the Amsterdam Police. They are called to the Hindist Society because Piet Verboom, the society’s proprietor, has been found hanging in his room. Initially it appears to be a suicide. Sergeant de Gier and Detective-Adjudant Grijpstra are determined to perform a complete investigation nevertheless. The two detectives make a great team but they are very different. Senior officer, de Gier, is a married family man and very set in his ways. Grijpstra is younger bachelor who and practices Buddhism and shares his home with a quirky Siamese cat named Oliver. Their method of investigation compliments both their strengths.

This is not an action packed series but a very character driven investigation. Both detectives have a great sense of sardonic humor. I learned a lot about Amsterdam and the Dutch culture which was fascinating. I thought it was a very engaging and well written mystery with interesting and well developed characters. I definitely plan to read another book in this series soon. ( )

The formatting of the ebook I was given was so horrible that the book was essentially unreadable. I lasted through one chapter and then decided my life was too short for this kind of crap. If people want me to provide free reviews, the least they can do is provide readable copies.

I'm pretty sure I read a dead-tree version of this book a number of years ago and liked it. But this version, from Soho Press was unreadable, entirely due to myriad formatting flaws.
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