Books Janwillem van de Wetering
posted by July 9 at 15:51 PM
onGalleyCat brings news that Dutch mystery author Janwillem van de Wetering has died. Van de Wetering is the author of the Amsterdam Cops series, of which there were fourteen installments. Soho Press was just about to reissue his books. A lot of my mystery-reading friends—people with really good taste—have recommended him to me. I haven’t read any of his books yet, but I have a couple at home waiting for me.
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He also wrote a series of great books about living in a Zen monastery in Japan and in Zen communities in the US. This is a theme that runs through his murder mysteries as well. Sad news
That is indeed sad news. His two main characters are morally conflicted, dope-smoking, koan-spouting, humanistic homicide cops in Amsterdam. I remember liking "Hard Rain" in particular. Chronologically, it comes late in the series, but as I remember it each book reads pretty well as a stand-alone novel. Last time I read him, mid-90s, some of his early novels felt a little dated. His nonfiction memoire "Empty Mirror" is required reading for any zen hippie wannabe who's thinking of hitchhiking to Asia and living in a monastery.
Oh no! He also wrote a wonderful children's book about a porcupine called Hugh Pine of which I have (or had as a child) an autographed copy. Boo!
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