Just a Corpse at Twilight

I've read little but good about van de Wetering, and have been meaning for ages to give him a try. I'm very glad that I've finally done so; I have more of his books on the to-be-read shelves, and they'll definitely get their turn.

De Wetering's series characters, the Amsterdam cops Grijpstra  and de Gier, have now left the force. Grijpstra is working as a P.I. in Amsterdam while de Gier is in a remote part of Maine, US, living off his half of the two cops' ill gotten proceeds from some shady business in a previous novel. One day Grijpstra gets a panicked transatlantic phone call from his erstwhile partner: the cops in Maine are accusing de Gier of having killed his girlfriend, and he was so blind drunk at the time that he can't claim show more with absolute certainty that he didn't. The only person he trusts to sort the whole mess out is his ol' buddy . . .

So, with a show of reluctance, Grijpstra sets off. What he finds is not just the answer to what happened to de Gier's girlfriend but also a nest of murderous corruption among the local law officers.

Just as with those of Nabokov's novels that he wrote in English, this book has the bracingly refreshing affect of being a translation, even though it isn't: English was van de Wetering's second language and, while he wrote it with more fluency and elegance than many a native speaker, still it shows. And his non-Anglo-Saxon origins show in the manner of the telling, too: the rambling of the narration, the frequent interruptions for backstory anecdotes, the quirkiness of the characters, the philosophical (and sometimes cod philosophical) musings — all of these elements, which might have been ruthlessly excised from the average homegrown mystery novel, are delights that just
about but don't quite overstay their welcome by book's end. The novel stops at exactly the right moment for it to be a perfectly satisfying concoction.

If it's straightforward suspense, thrill, horror or fisticuffs you're after, look elsewhere. Just a Corpse at Twilight has its own means of offering an absorbing journey. show less

The love affair begins: I love this series. Oddly, this was the first book that I read. It's not often that you have a fallible, real person as a detective. This intense story is both funny and thought provoking. The atmosphere provoked in this Maine setting is the best I've ever read, and in the back of my mind I picture the place as if it really existed. I theorize that all books are about escapism, and this detective team has a member who is all about escaping and finding the REAL meaning behind things. Quite a good read. In all, I would say that this is my favorite detective series because I don't feel as if I've eaten potato chips (metaphorically) after I've read it, but that I've furthered my mind along.

This Grijpstra/de Gier novel finds the two Amsterdam detectives, as well as the Commisaris (who is one of my favorite characters in this series), retired. Grijpstra is working as a private detective when he receives a phone call from de Gier, who has landed in Maine after first going to New Guinea. Ever seeking enlightenment, he is living on an island near a small fishing village filled with colorful characters, but he is in need of help because he thinks he may have killed a woman by pushing her off a rocky cliff on his island, but was too drunk/stoned/enlightened at the time to be sure; however, two of the colorful characters, who operate a boat, showed him what he believes to have been her corpse and are now blackmailing him. Of show more course, Grijpstra can't turn his request down, and of course, via long distance, the Comissaris is involved as well. This novel brings the characters back to a region also visited in The Maine Massacre As always with this series, the joy of this novel is in the characters, and the sense of place. This was a particularly philosophical mystery. show less

Gripstra and de Grier have retired from the Amsterdam police force. Gripstra is running a detective agency, while de Gier is travelling the world, trying to find himself. Gripstra receives a frantic phone call from de Grier, who thinks he may have just killed a woman in Maine.

While Gripstra and de Grier search for the truth in Maine, their old boss, the commisioner, directs the investigation from Amsterdam.

The eccentric characters and ironic tone make this an entertaining mystery. It's a series, so I'll keep an eye out for others.