Blond Baboon [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Janwillem Van De Wetering (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 1979

While in the neighborhood investigating a pet poisoner, Grijpstra and de Gier of the Amsterdam police are called to the home of a wealthy, middle-aged woman, the former lover of a man known only as "The Baboon," when her body turns up in her garden.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janwillem van de Wetering (1931–2008) was born and raised in Rotterdam, but lived most recently in Surry, Maine. He served as a member of the Amsterdam Special Constabulary and was once a Zen Buddhist monk. He is renowned for his detective fiction, including Outsider in Amsterdam, The Corpse on the Dike, The Japanese Corpse, and eleven other books in the Grijpstra and de Gier series. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Imprint unknown; Large type edition edition (March 26, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860433218
• ISBN-13: 978-0860433217
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death of a Chanteuse, January 17, 2003

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Blond Baboon: A Grijpstra and De Gier Mystery (Paperback)

A wild storm rocks Amsterdam and at the end of the storm the body of Elaine Carnet, successful businesswoman and former Paris torch singer, is found with a broken neck at the foot of her garden steps. Was she killed by a gust of wind? If so, who was smoking the cigarettes that they found in her house?

Grijpstra and de Gier are called in to figure out who was behind the murder.

Van De Wetering's novels are always among the best mysteries around. His characters are meditative in a way that feels authentic. He manages to put a human face on brutality while still somehow underlying the brutality. Even sensational endings feel like inevitable parts of a story rather than a novelists trick. Well worth a read for people who don't know them.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific Amsterdam cops mystery, September 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Blond Baboon: A Grijpstra and De Gier Mystery (Paperback)

This is one of my favorites in this series. Terrific Amsterdam villians and weird introspective police abound, as always.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good book - but badly edited kindle version, February 12, 2011

By 

E-Reader - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blond Baboon (Amsterdam Cops) (Kindle Edition)

I like the books of Janwillem van de Wetering and have read some of the print books. Unforunately the kindle version contains so many recurring spelling mistakes- e.g. "th" becomes "m", so "them" becomes "mem", Ms. Carnet becomes Ms. Camet and so on. I found an average of 3 spelling mistakes per page. I wonder if anybody has ever proofread the text before it got published. For a kindle book that costs $13.79 and is more expensive than any printed version I expect more value for money. This is the first time that I am realy disappointed by the quality of a kindle book - mind you, not by the author an his writing.