About to retire from the Amsterdam Police, the commissaris journeys to New York at the request of Johan Termeer, a volunteer cop, to investigate the death of Termeer's eccentric uncle, found dead under mysterious circumstances in Central Park.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"To sin or not to have sinned, that is the question" raised by the head of Amsterdam's Murder Brigade in this 13th installment of the series by Janwillem van de Wetering. A Buddhist mystic, the Murder Brigades leader is off to New York with an underling, the nihilist Sergeant de Gier, to solve the murder of a countryman who dies under horrible conditions in Central Park. Like its 12 predecessors, this is a Zen mystery, and simple questions of guilt and innocence sometimes take a back seat to deeper philosophical musings.
From Publishers Weekly
The 13th adventure for the Amsterdam cops (after Just a Corpse at Twilight) leaves Grijpstra at home and follows the ailing commissaris (the head of the force) and de Gier to Manhattan on the meandering trail of a Dutch national's death in Central Park. In Amsterdam, Johan Termeer, a hairdresser and civilian member of the auxiliary police, asks the commissaris to prod the NYPD investigation into the death of his uncle, Bert Termeer, who had operated a mail-order book business in New York. The elderly man's body had been found under some bushes in the park; an autopsy determined death by heart attack, and the police were suggesting that his body had been mutilated after death by raccoons. The elderly commissaris, troubled by a recurrent nightmare about a beautiful blonde bus driver with empty eyes, flies to New York for a police conference and checks in with his American colleagues. His messages home are confused enough to warrant de Gier's joining him, while Grijpstra does background checks in Amsterdam. De Gier has an encounter with a mounted policewoman; he and his elderly superior are puzzled by Bert's housemate in a Tribeca warehouse. Very little turns out as expected?not the cause of death of a high-living homosexual golfer in the Netherlands, nor the death (or the life) of Bert Termeer?in this leisurely tale whose shape declares itself as randomly as a waterstain on a ceiling?or the events of real lives.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Van de Wetering's strongest dose of Zen Buddhism yet.,
By Ed Sherman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hollow-Eyed Angel (Hardcover)
Van de Wetering continues his search for the true meaning of being and nothingness. The commissaris and Sergeant de Gier travel to New York to investigate the death of an uncle of a member of the Amsterdam Police Reserve. Throughout the course of their investigation, the Dutch detectives continue their own personal search for enlightenment. Van de Wetering has a talent for giving his readers more than a casual glimpse of the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, yet he manages to do so without preaching about it. As always, he makes us laugh along the way. This book did not feature as much interaction between Adjutant Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier as some of Van de Wetering's previous efforts, as Gripstra did not travel to Manhattan with his colleagues. The focus in this story was the commissaris, and his attempts to solve both the case, and the meaning of life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I am glad that the author has continued this unique mystery series after a long hiatus.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The commissaris goes to New York,
By
This review is from: The Hollow-Eyed Angel (Hardcover)
This 13th in van de Wetering's Amsterdam Police series continues the series' unique atmospheric mix of police procedure, quirky characters and Zen outlook.
The commissaris, whose health has been frail for some time, is on the verge of retirement when he is approached by Johan Termeer, a volunteer police constable, whose uncle has been found dead in Central Park in New York City. The New York police are calling it a heart attack, but Termeer is sure he has been murdered and asks the commissaris to look into it. Since the commissaris is going to New York for a police convention he reluctantly agrees. Feverish and haunted by a recurring dream of a leggy streetcar driver with hollow eye sockets, he turns up various oddities - the dead man, who was a prosperous, well-dressed bookseller, was seen cavorting in the park by Dutch tourists. They also witnessed him being kicked by a police horse. When found dead the next morning he was dressed in derelict rags and covered with a filthy blanket. With drum-playing Inspector Grijpstra and Jazz-loving bachelor Sergeant DeGier exploring the commissaris' theories and questioning the tourists and other background witnesses back in Amsterdam, the story proceeds in layers and parallels. Each encounter supplies something unexpected - a tangential approach, a stereotype revised, a small fact with large implications. De Wetering's blend of wry humor and Zen philosophy permeate the world inhabited by his tolerant, grumpy and engaging characters. His well-honed writing style transports the reader to that world.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and clever: murder Dutch-style,
This review is from: The Hollow-Eyed Angel (Soho Crime) (Paperback)
Janwillem van de Wetering is best known for his low-key tales of a pair of good-natured Amsterdam detectives. Amsterdam is the liberal capital of the world and van de Wetering's police officers look for ways to help and protect their often crazy charges. The last thing they want to do is arrest them.The Hollow-Eyed Angel is set partly in New York, but the New Yorkers in this story are as easy-going and philosophical as their Dutch visitors. In fact, it's the New Yorkers who are only too willing to assume that Uncle Bert, found partly eaten by racoons in the azalea bushes, died a natural death. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys the works of P D James, Colin Dexter or Tony Hillerman.
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