Dekok and the Sorrowing Tomcat

DeKok and the Sorrowing Tomcat by C. Baantjer features several scalaways and worse in this Amsterdam mystery, guessing it takes place in the 70's. DeKok is a dinosaur by modern standards paired with the bright much younger Dick Vledder. Cunning Pete is "deader than a door nail" (or is it a doornail?) and B&G is missing 3+ million in cold hard cash. Will Dekok (with a kay-oh-kay) solve the mystery? Interesting story with many possibilities but too many of DeKok's mannerisms tend to get in the way of the action, too much eyebrow fluttering and lip curling for me. How many times do I have to read kay-oh-kay? And there are black cats sitting in every corner, it's a wonder he never tripped over one. Now Vledder I liked, DeKok was meh. Not once did Baantjer refer to Warmoes Street Station as just "the station," it made me feel as though the author assumed his readers were dull-witted. Sadly, the translation was not done well and the editing, I think Intercontinental Publishing was rushing to get the book on the market. I do hope Baantjer's other books are better than this one.

"DeKok and the Sorrowing Tomcat" is the second of DeKok books that I've read and I am now on a quest to find them all. The DeKok books are police procedural mysteries with an old world flavor to them since they take place in Amsterdam. If you enjoy the Maigret books by Simenon then you will enjoy the DeKok books. In fact, I liked this book better than many of the Maigret books that I have read. While investigating a murder and armored car robbery, DeKok has to deal both with criminals and persons in the world of high finance and is able handle all with aplomb. I like the relationship between DeKok and his underling Vledders, who, in the tradition of all the great sidekicks, can't always follow the thought processes of the great detective, but still manges to make his contributions to the investigation. The plot is tightly woven and the story is fast paced. In general, the translation by Smittenaar is very good. There is no stilted language as can sometimes happen with translations and there are occasional footnotes that help explain things such as the difference between Dutch and American police ranks. The one thing that I have a quibble with is that I think Smittenaar may have updated the technology used. They use desktop computers and fax machines, neither of which were in widespread use at the the time the original was written in the the early 1970's. It's a minor point since it really doesn't affect the flow of the story, but I'm kind of a stickler for maintaining the original story in translations and little changes like that make you wonder if the translator changed anything else. If you are looking for mystery series, give the DeKok books a try. There is a wide body of work and used editions seem to be readily available.

This was my first Dekok mystery, but I was never confused by the characters or their "unspoken history". However, it was evident throughout that the author was very comfortable in the character's skin. The novel read like an old friend, well plotted, quick moving, and yet not revealing itself until the last page. From this introduction, I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Dekok and his partner Vledder.