Amsterdam Cops: Collected Stories

deWettering has a different voice but oh, so easy to get hooked. Well, not everyone says that, but if you like playful, literate, Zen (just here and there touches) and well thought out and written stories & novels, give his books a try.

Have been a fan of van de Wetering for a long time now but not being a fan of short stories I've never tried his. But one day I was desperate for something new to read and I came across Amsterdam Cops. I'm so very glad I did. These stories are every bit as fun, intelligent and laugh out loud hilarious as his full length novels. I only wish there were more......

For those who love The Amsterdam Cops series, this is the icing on the cake--especially for those who feel that the series lost something when retirements came around. Reading the other reviews, I can see that if you own the other books of short stories of Van de Wetering, you're not getting your money's worth, so to speak. I don't agree though that those stories previously unavailable or not translated are "one star." The entire book was enjoyable to me on many levels. I was also pleased to see that another reader found this to be a compelling introduction to the series. But I do think that it's much more fun to start at the beginning, with Outsider in Amsterdam, as the short stories presented here span two decades and a great deal of changes in the lives of the main characters. For those who wonder if Grijpstra and De Gier translate well to the short format, I believe the answer is yes. These are scenes that would be very much at home in the novels, but are still satisfying in the short format.Now if only Van de Wetering would give us the pleasure of more Commissaris stories...

June 2000: This was the first Grijpstra/De Gier book I'd read, and it hooked me (along with all my friends who've since borrowed it). The short stories provide a great introduction to the characters and give a tantalizing look into the Zen aspects of van de Wetering's writing. Very approachable. Very fun to read. I particularly enjoyed the artillery shell story. You'll have to read it to understand. :-) Update September 2005: I've since read the entire series (and all of his non-fiction Zen books); I stand by my review: this was a great introduction!