On a quiet street in downtown Amsterdam, the founder of a new religious society/commune—a group that calls itself “Hindist” and mixes elements of various “Eastern” traditions—is found hanging from a ceiling beam. Detective-Adjutant Gripstra and Sergeant de Gier of the Amsterdam police are sent to investigate what looks like a simple suicide, but they are immediately suspicious of the circumstances. 
 
This now-classic novel, first published in 1975, introduces Janwillem van de Wetering’s lovable Amsterdam cop duo of portly, worldly-wise Gripstra and handsome, contemplative de Gier. With its unvarnished depiction of the legacy of Dutch colonialism and the darker facets of Amsterdam’s free drug culture, this excellent procedural asks the question of whether a murder may ever be justly committed.

Praise for Janwillem van de Wetering

""Mr. Van de Wetering's policemen are just as likely to ... marvel at human nature as to shoot it down.""—The New York Times

""A superb storyteller.""—Chicago Tribune

""A superlative mystery writer.""—Time

""What makes this series so engaging is that the policemen are as quirky and complicated as the criminals""—The Washington Post

""[Van de Wetering] is doing what Simenon might have done if Albert Camus had sublet his skull.""—John Leonard