This is my first experience with Banntjer and the DeKok series. It’s so engaging I can honestly say it won’t be my last. Inspector DeKok IS an irresistible detective. The series is a police procedural, but this particular novel had more of a cozy tone. DeKok (the Grey Detective) and his partner Vledder (the loyal, young sidekick) are likeable characters. Of course they answer to a moody, blustery Commissair. The detective introduces himself as Dekok, with a Kay-oh-kay. He has in irresistible grin, a determination to solve murders, and a mellow personality until pushed. As the author Banntjer was in real-life, DeKok is an Inspector Detective in Amsterdam. Although the novel is limited in descriptions of Amsterdam it has plenty of mystery and dialogue to fill the pages.

In this mystery Dekok receives a letter from Pierre Brassel who is writing to say he has decided to kill someone. The inspector doubts the seriousness of it, but decides to meet with the prospective murderer. When a body is found at a local hotel splayed out like a Harlequin, Dekok and Vledder work to solve this unusual case involving Brassel. There are moments of illumination and frustration but the partners don’t give up. Dekok is quite sure there’s “a goal, a motive, a purpose to this murder.” Dekok is a master at unraveling the clues and reading the suspects; and he does so with a charm all his own.

If you haven’t tried a Banntjer novel—as I have discovered—you are really missing out.  Kudos to Speck Press for the reprints!