Amsterdam police officers Grijpstra and De Gier find themselves dealing with a strange murder that took place whilst most of their colleagues were busy dealing with the famous Nieuwmarkt riots. The victim has a certain resemblance to the author, a clever young man who has dropped out of academic life to meditate philosophies of life and become a wheeler-dealer trader on the Albert Cuyp market. He seems to be well-loved, but not well enough to protect him from being murdered with an exotic weapon as he looks out of the window of a locked room.

As usual, the detectives spend more time discussing philosophy and history than actually investigating, and police life intervenes in random ways as well. And the mystery is solved in a bizarre Zen way that seems to break quite a few rules of the genre. But it’s all good fun, in a very laid-back seventies way. ( )

Amsterdam ist normalerweise ruhig, aber heute gibt es einen Aufstand auf dem Newmarket Square. Polizisten haben den ganzen Tag den Zugang zur angrenzenden Straight Tree Graben Road blockiert. Als die Leiche des "Königs" des örtlichen Straßenmarktes mit eingeschlagenem Kopf in einem Raum seines Hauses in dieser Straße gefunden wird, gibt es nur zwei Verdächtige: seine reizende Schwester oder die Nachbarin im Obergeschoss. Welcher von beiden ist der Mörder? Grijipstra und de Gier müssen die Identität des Mörders herausfinden, bevor ein weiteres Verbrechen begangen werden kann.

Tod eines Falkners ist der vierte in der international gefeierten Serie Amsterdam Cops.

I have enjoyed several of this strangely addictive series, mostly for the memories of a beautiful city, but also the craftsmanship of the author in creating and rounding-out his marvelous characters.
However, by this book, about number five or six, there seems to be a certain touch of casualness creeping into Van De Wetering’s strong writing. Perhaps, in his personal Zen philosophy the author is turning away from a created reality and enjoying his ability to enchant and amuse us, and is beginning instead to laugh at us, instead of with us?
It would be better if this is not your first read of the Amsterdam detective series … perhaps a gentler introduction to the moods and plot twisting, the practice of induced meditation and the spiky humour is needed with any of the earlier works.

It used to be said of modern jazz that it was music for the experienced listener ….

Zen what?: Do not make this the first van de Wetering book you read.It takes some getting used to, this mix of Buddhism, police procedural, Simenon-like psychonovel and bizarre imagination. In this book, those factors collide sharply. The solution the the pseudo-locked-room mystery is odd, at best. Mix in street riots and a strange interlude where police do a most unconvincing undercover act and the reader who expected something like the 87th Precinct transplanted to Amsterdam will be baffled by the strength of the cover blurbs. Praise for this? But if you've already become familiar with the characters, you know these books aren't so much about the plot as the people and the mood. Read a few others first (make sure you start with the good ones, the ones based in Amsterdam) and then move on.

There is rioting in Amsterdam and the police are out in force. A call comes in that a woman has discovered the dead body of her brother with his head smashed in. Grijpstra and De Gier are dispatched to investigate,but getting to the scene proves difficult,as they have to negotiate the rioting. When they do finally get there they find that not only has the weapon disappeared,but that it must have been something that they describe as a 'good-day' ! (a spiked ball) Their chief,the Commissaris joins them in their hunt for the killer,
As with most of the books in this series,it is the by-play between the three policemen and their home-life that is the most interesting part . There is the old Commissaris who suffers from terrible pains of rheumatics bought on by his imprisonment by the Nazis in the War. de Gier,who lives with his cat Oliver. Gripstra who,tries to escape his fat and snoring wife by working at every hour he can.
'Death of a Hawker' adds quite a few more facets to what is already known about these three characters and this tale is one of the best in the whole series. ( )