Customer Reviews

DeKok and the Mask of Death (Inspector Dekok)

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In Amsterdam, hysterical Richard Netherwood explains to Warmoes Street station Inspectors DeKok and his overly aggressive (in DeKok's mind that is) protégé Vledder that his girlfriend Rosalind Evertsoord vanished. Somewhat calming down the incoherent young man, DeKok learns that Richard took Rosalind to Slotervaart Hospital for a neurology appointment, but she simply disappeared while he waited for her to finish her visit.

The two detectives soon learn of other women vanishing at the highly regarded Slotervaart. When they confront the hospital administrators, they are told nobody has vanished at the hospital; and in fact none of these women including Rosalind were ever there as no records exist of any of them. A horde of irate boyfriends say otherwise.

The latest translation of the deKok Dutch police procedural (see DEKOK AND THE MURDER IN BRONZE and DEKOK AND THE DEAD LOVER) is once again an excellent mystery. The investigation is super as the inquiry is loaded with unexpected twists and red herrings. However what makes this tale and the more recent entries even more delightful is the team up of opposites as the seasoned deliberate cop mentors his less experienced somewhat hotheaded junior partner.

Harriet Klausner

A.C. Baantjer certainly knows how to grab readers at the start of a novel. In the first chapter of DeKok and the Mask of Death, originally published in Dutch in 1987, Inspector DeKok of the Amsterdam police department meets a nervous young man who's lost his girlfriend. The woman had vague complaints of listlessness and was referred by her doctor to a neurologist at Slotervaart Hospital. Her boyfriend drove her to the appointment, waited for her after she was led away by a nurse, and never saw her again. Worse, the nurse subsequently denied ever having seen her, as did the attendant manning the admission desk.

DeKok and his younger partner Vledder ponder the seemingly insoluble case while the number of those disappearing within the hospital's walls increases. Vledder is oddly--not quite credibly--insistent that no one associated with the hospital can be involved in criminal activities. DeKok is more open to the possibility. And he of course figures everything out in time to reveal all to his wife and colleagues over cognac at book's end. The resolution, when it comes, is a little hard to swallow. That's my one substantial complaint about the book. A lesser complaint is that one character's dialogue is written in a horrible dialect--at least in the English translation--that is the literary equivalent of nails on a chalkboard: "Iffen youse gotta distant look inna yer glimmers, there is somethin' special goin'. Ain't I right?" Happily this particular character doesn't get a lot of lines.

In the author's description on the back of the book, Baantjer is described as the "Dutch Conan Doyle." I would disagree. DeKok isn't Sherlockian at all. He's a character more like Colin Dexter's Morse--believably human (unlike Sherlock), humane, given to going off alone to brood about work, but not tragically lonely in the way Morse is, nor elitist. I'm very happy to have discovered the DeKok series--happier still that it includes some sixty novels.

-- Debra Hamel

DeKok "...with a kay-oh-kay" is an amazing detective. He figured out things I never even saw.

Baantjer takes you on a ride filled with mystery and intrigue. DeKok along with his partner Vledder, find four murders and--to the untrained eyes--no suspects.

DeKock with his cognac and excellent deducing skills solves the case. From Richard Netherwood--who is looking for his beloved Rose, to Annie Scheepstra, all four women seem to simply disappear inside the Slotervaart Hospital in Amsterdam. After many twists and turns and missing his must anticipated "Operation Sail Amsterdam", DeKok eventually finds his way aboard the Neptune for a day on the water. But the story doesn't end there...If you like mystery, you'll love this book.

Inspector DeKok has appeared in at least 60 novels in The Netherlands, where the series is extremely popular, as well as in 100 episodes on Dutch television. This novel is the first in hardcover form in the United States, although the publisher has issued several in paperback. It is committed to publishing the entire series, for which it should be commended.

The graying, cerebral detective has a sidekick, Vledder, who serves as his assistant and foil, sort of a bumbling Dr. Watson. He is quick to jump to conclusions and is available to sit and listen to the musings and analyses of his mentor. About three days before Amsterdam Sail, a locally-held international sailing event which DeKok has been planning on attending with great anticipation, a man walks into the station and reports that his girlfriend is missing. It appears she was feeling ill and was referred to a hospital by a local physician. He accompanied her to the hospital and some time later he was told she was never there. The doctor denied he ever had a patient by her name or referred her to the hospital. The next day, another man reported his girlfriend disappeared from the hospital, and that same man was subsequently found murdered. Two more women soon disappear in similar fashion. Can DeKok solve the case?

The novels are written in a simple, straightforward style, with excellent translation. DeKok (who always responds to his name: "er, as in kay oh kay") is an unusual character, and Amsterdam is presented with the full flavor of the city and its famous Red Light District. The stories are deceptive, more complicated than their outwardly plain appearance, and the inspector is a lot deeper than his portrayal.

There are a lot of books in the series, something for which to be thankful. Recommended.