Janwillem van de Wetering, RIP

Though so far there’s nary a peep in the English-speaking world, the Literary Saloon gleans from Dutch reports that Janwillem van de Wetering, one of Holland’s greatest crime writers and the author of many police procedurals featuring detectives Grijpstra and de Gier, passed away in Maine on July 4. He was 77. More here from Radio Netherlands and an extensive appreciation site run by Dunn & Powell books. 2Blowhards also recently paid tribute to van de Wetering.

UPDATE, ⁷⁄₉: Soho Press has issued a press release on de Wetering’s death:

Janwillem van de Wetering, one of Holland’s most acclaimed crime

writers and author of the Amsterdam Cops series, died on July 4, 2008,

following a struggle with cancer. He was 77.

Van de Wetering was born in Rotterdam in 1931. After living in

Amsterdam, Cornwall, Capetown, Bogota, Lima, and Brisbane, he finally

settled on the coast of Maine with his wife in 1975. He is the author

of numerous works in Dutch and English, including the Amsterdam Cops

mystery series, a children series featuring the porcupine Hugh Pine,

non-fiction books, and dozens of short stories. His work often

incorporated his experiences as a one-time Zen Buddhist monk and the

time he served with the Amsterdam Reserve Constabulary. van de Wetering

was awarded the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1984.

Soho Press published fourteen books by van de Wetering, featuring

adjutant Henrik Grijpstra and Sergeant Rinus de Gier. Critical acclaim

was unanimously enthusiastic in publications such as the New York

Times, Time, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Boston

Globe, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Soho Press will be reissuing all of van de Wetering’s Soho Crime novels in paperback, beginning in the fall of 2008.