Dekok and Murder by Melody

As a former detective inspector with the Amsterdam police, A.C. Baantjer is one of the most respected and acclaimed authors in the Netherlands. His nearly forty year career has spawned sixty crime novels with Inspector Detective Dekok, a television series, and more than five million sales. Baantjer has been dubbed the "Dutch Conan Doyle." Jean-Paul Stappert and Erik Bavel are friends and share the distinction of having been ex-addicts. So it is particular confounding when they are both murdered on the same night by strangulation. Their irascible landlady is an ex-prostitute and is an old acquaintance for Inspector DeKok, who never gets over the sad spectacle that violent death presents. Jean-Paul was also un undeveloped musical genius, who found an unlikely mentor in Alex Waardenburg, an area classical musician who students were mostly garnered from the very rich. Yet it is Waardenburg who discovers the body of Erik Bavel: "'But there were other remarkable parts to his story. When Jean-Paul had not shown up by quarter past ten, the feelings, or lack of them, drove Waardenburg to the rooming house. There he found the corpse of Erik Bavel.' Dekok raised an index finger into the air. 'That's what Waardenburg told us...what he wants us to believe.' Vledder looked nonplussed." Baantjer uses his considerable expertise to develop Dekok's police procedural methods, With Vledder looking on as his sidekick. Dekok's a crusty yet soft cop who never loses his compassion for fellow human beings, even if it's the old prostitute, "Aunt" Mina Lyons, who runs the boardinghouse occupied by the two victims and who eventually becomes a victim herself. In fact, Dekok uses an extensive network of contacts and informers to eventually entrap the killer, in the most unlikely of places. DEKOK AND MURDER BY MELODY is a nice mix of a plot that confounds the reader, even as Dekok is plying his trade. Characters represent a cross-section of Amsterdam's society, and Baantjer uses irony to solve this entertaining imbroglio. Shelley Glodowski Senior Reviewer

In Amsterdam, Inspector DeKok looks into the murder of heroin addict Erik Bavel. The victim was strangled to death so the Inspector concludes the culprit had to have strong hands to do that to a twenty-five year old male. The boardinghouse keeper, uncooperative Mina Lyons, reacts as if the homicide was a personal affront to her and is more upset that Bavel broke the rules by making coffee in his room. A second strangulation victim surfaces identical to that of Bavel. The victim, Jean-Paul Stappert, was a young drug user too, but like Erik had no recent needle marks making it seem they also shared in common kicking the habit. DeKok talks with Mina about Erik only to learn by chance that Jean-Paul was a resident of her boardinghouse too. This time Mina faints. Music pedagogue Alex Waaredenberg gives testimony that he was Jean-Paul's teacher, but his New Age mumbo jumbo leads DeKok to think he knew Erik too but said nothing except seeing the corpse when he looked for his star pupil. The case turns cacophonous as the list of suspects grows connected to a musical arrangement. This translation of a Dutch police procedural is a fabulous investigative tale starring a delightful protagonist toiling to solve the double homicides. DeKok is a wonderful lead holding the who-done-it together with his interviews of suspects and follow up on clues that showcase the city. His protégé, junior partner Vledder, struggles to understand the logic of the inquiries until the lead cop explains afterward to him (and the audience) without interrupting the superior story line flow mindful of Holmes to Watson, but in a 1980s Holland context. Harriet Klausner

Baaantjer is a legend in The Netherlands for good reasons. This series is a superb police procedural series for fans of Simenon's Maigret, Ed McBain's 87th precinct, Christie's Poirot, Inspector Morse and Janwillem de Wetering. I look forward to each new translation of these books. The translations are very good. Thankfully there are still about 40 more that haven't been translated into English.