Windows To The World

Dekok And The Disillusioned Corpse by A.C. Baantjer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars







On a windy damp March day in Amsterdam a body is fished out of a canal. There is no identification on the person and the only clue to his identity is the way he is dressed in black turtleneck,black jeans and new Keds. Detective-Inspector DeKok and his partner Vledder are quite surprised when the next day a beautiful young woman comes into the police station claiming she know the victim and they were in fact lovers. Unfortunately the little she knows about him doesn't include his real name.

Amsterdam is a city of canals in a system that is even more extensive than that of Venice, a little know fact that the citizens of the city are proud of. They are also proud of the fact that murder is somewhat of a rare happening in this beautiful. Death on the other hand is common because of wide spread drug addiction and alcoholism. In fact DeKok wants to rule out an accidental death in the current matter at hand but the post mortem reveals the fatal wound on the young man's face.


These two detectives have only one cryptic clue to start them on their search. The dead man was heard to say 'Can a dead person commit murder?' a day or so before his death.


The story is gripping, beautifully complex and a very good example of A. C. Baantjer's work. A subtle mix of psychology, history intuition make DeKok a sleuth many compare to Maigret. I like him a bit more. He is a maverick, a luddite and most of all compassionate man.