The Japanese Corpse: Amazon.ca: Janwillem van de Wetering: Books

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6 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars The case of the missing corpse., Jan 25 2003

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

The beautiful Joanne Andrews goes to the police looking for her missing boyfriend. The search for him takes Grijpstra and De Gier into the world of art dealers, Yazuka and Zen treasures.

_The Japanese Corpse_ is quite affecting to read. Van De Wetering is more emotionally extreme than usual as he leads De Gier into personal tragedy on his way to solving the mystery.

I've not read a Van de Wetering book that I didn't enjoy-- his ruminitive detectives are just my speed. I've enjoyed some of the others more (_Death of a Hawker_, _The Blond Baboon_), but still enjoyable reading.

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5.0 out of 5 stars An unorthodox mystery, good entertainment, Feb 3 2000

By	gidonb "gidonb" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

One of the best Amsterdam Cops mysteries by Janwillem van de Wetering. The author, once a monk in Japanese Zen monastry I visited while in Kyoto, relies heavily on his in-depth knowledge of Japanese culture and customs. Van de Wetering has an eye for detail without neglecting the plot.

In this fifth book of the Grijpstra en de Gier sequence, the commisaris plays a more central role than ever before. The character of commisaris - as the author tells us in one of his interviews - is a blend of his late Kyoto Zen master, his father, and the chief inspector of the Amsterdam police, when van de Wetering served as a cop in this force.

True, the book is a bit on the extreme. Especially the scenes with the Yakuza. But then again, if it were too realistic it wouldn't be a real van de Wetering or good entertainment for that matter. If you like unorthodox books, you will love this one. I most certainly did.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's mystery novel, April 6 1999

By A Customer

Yes, van de Wettering is a plodding writer. Yes, his detectives don't do much detecting in this book.

But give him credit for his strengths, including characterization, and for even attempting the bizarre marriage of Zen and the mystery novel.

If you want a Dutch-flavored detective, read Baantjer. In Van de Wettering's books, the cops are far too unearthly to be nailed down to a specific locale; the Netherlands is just as good a place as any to borrow street names from.

All that said, "The Japanese Corpse" is not his best effort. He does seem quite uncomfortable trying to navigate the Japanese scenes, and character motivation is either too blunt (girlfriend and cat die, therefore you punch out punks who are torturing another kitty) or essentially nonexistent.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars other reviewer must be a fan of Dr Seuss
It shocks and dismays me that the previous reviewer does not have the ability to analyze abstract novels. This is not a Tom Clancy book. Read more

Published on Jun 13 1998