Comments on Janwillem van de Wetering

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!