DeKok and the Dead Harlequin

It must be a practical joke Inspector DeKok might think when he receives a note stating the writer is planning to kill a man. He refuses to give other details. And he has the nerve to request a visit with DeKok to discuss the matter.

They learn the writer is a real person, respected in his profession with a family and good reputation. So they accept his request for a visit.

After his visit, the investigation is begun. A body is found sprawled on the floor like a harlequin of a hotel room, but their self proclamied suspect has an iron clad alibi.

The problem of how to link the note writer to the dead man is seemingly insurmountable, but DeKok is determined and accepts any clues that come to hand. False trails, red herrings and other suspects are found as he continues. The reader should remember that things are not always as they seem.

A well told tale that any crime enthusiast will enjoy. The translator H. G. Smittenaar has done a fine job of matching the two languages so the reader will enjoy talented author A. C. Baantjer’s tales of crime in the setting of Amsterdam.

I love to see the return of fine writers who have been long out of print. Speck Press is bringing out all the DeKok novels by the Dutch master Baantjer, and each one is a little gem. This one, in which a very precise and orderly man, ordinary in every possible way, informs DeKok that he's going to commit a murder, is a masterpiece of deduction. We follow along to unravel crime, motive, method and even victim in a plot that Arthur Conan Doyle would have adored. The best news is that Speck has 14 more Baantjers to come. Start the series with this one and read on.

If you haven't previously read any of the sixty books in A. C. Baantjer's series featuring Inspector Jurriaan DeKok, where have you been?

Known as the Dutch Conan Coyle, Baantjer is one of the most widely read authors in the Netherlands. A former detective inspector with the Amsterdam police, and knighted by the Dutch monarchy for his lifetime achievements, Baantjer offers readers some of the best police procedural mysteries that any reader could find anywhere in the world.

When DeKok and the Dead Harlequin begins, the world-weary policeman with the woolly caterpillar eyebrows and the duck-footed waddle is confronted by an extremely intelligent and thoroughly personable Pierre Brassel, a gentleman who seeks DeKok's advice - 'a complete recipe' - for how to commit the perfect crime.

Then, when the seemingly perfect crime is apparently committed, Brassel would seem to be the ideal suspect. However, Brassel has an air-tight alibi because he and DeKok were chatting at the time of the murder.

To solve the case and bring the murderer to justice, DeKok must 'look for a sinister joker' who committed a murder 'in a macabre way.' The indefatigable Dutch detective knows - or at least firmly believes - that 'murderers always make mistakes.' After all, says, DeKok, 'If I were suddenly to believe in the perfect crime, I would immediately resign from the force.'

With little in the way of clues, DeKok will, of course, avoid resignation by solving the mystery. However, along the way, the Amsterdam copper who always whistles off-key Christmas carols, regardless of the time of the year, will rediscover what he had already known but had forgotten: Justice can be a terrible word.

The bottom line is this: DeKok and the Dead Harlequin is one of the best mysteries you will have an opportunity to read this year (or any other). And fortunately for you (and for me), Speck Press is now offering superb English translations of Baantjer's novels. So, what are you waiting for?

Inspector DeKok, as he says, "with a 'kohk'," apparently is one of the longer-running mystery series, with at least 60 novels so far. It is among the more popular crime novels in The Netherlands and is the basis for a long-standing TV series as well. Speck Press, an imprint of Fulcrum Publishing, has stated that it is committed to printing the entire series for United States readers.

In this novel, DeKok and his foil/sidekick, Vledder, encounter a most unusual situation. An accountant writes to ask for an appointment, and when he arrives he requests that DeKok help him plan the perfect murder, since he is planning on killing someone. He, moreover, offers to admit to the murder after the fact.

Later, two murders take place in the same hotel room, but DeKok's visitor has an absolute alibi: he was in the Inspector's presence each time. Each victim was found lying on the floor, stretched out like a harlequin. From that point we are treated to a most unusual police procedure, following the somewhat incongruous lines of thought reflecting DeKok's mental processes.

The publisher is to be congratulated for bringing this gem of a series to the United States, and readers have much to look forward to in the future. Apparently, the next book will be in hardcover for a July publication date, entitled "DeKok and the Mask of Death."