Janwillem van de Wetering Books in Order
Janwillem van de Wetering has written 31 books, published between 1973 and 1999. The first book is The Empty Mirror (1973) and the newest is Amsterdam Cops (1999). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 31
- Published
- 1973–1999
- Pages on record
- 5,236 in 24 of 31 books
- Reading time
- 87–131 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,236 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 24 of 31 titles with a page count on record.
Janwillem van de Wetering (1931-2008) was a Dutch author who wrote in both Dutch and English across three separate lines: detective fiction, children's books and Zen philosophy. The Amsterdam Cops mysteries follow the police officers Henk Grijpstra and Rinus DeGier through the Netherlands, while the Hugh Pine books are children's fiction, with porcupines among the subjects. The Empty Mirror (1973) opens a catalogue of 31 titles that closes with Amsterdam Cops in 1999.
How many Janwillem van de Wetering books are there?
Janwillem van de Wetering has 31 books, released between 1973 and 1999. They include 2 series and 12 titles listed outside any series.
Janwillem van de Wetering Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 31 Janwillem van de Wetering books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Empty Mirror1973 · confirmed 1/41973–1/4
- 2A Glimpse of Nothingness1974 · confirmed 1/41974–1/4
- 319752901/4
- 419752151/4
- 519762321/4
- 619772621/4
- 71977–1/4
- 8Little Owl1978 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41978641/4
- 919782171/4
- 1019782311/4
- 111980–1/4
- 1219802231/4
- 13The Butterfly Hunter1982 · 218 pages · confirmed 1/419822181/4
- 14Bliss and Bluster, Or, How to Crack a Nut1982 · 106 pages · confirmed 1/419821061/4
- 1519832791/4
- 1619842931/4
- 17Inspector Saito's Small Satori1985 · 189 pages · confirmed 1/419851891/4
- 1819853131/4
- 191986–1/4
- 20Murder by Remote Control1986 · 96 pages · confirmed 1/41986961/4
- 211987–1/4
- 22Seesaw Millions1988 · 216 pages · confirmed 1/419882161/4
- 231989721/4
- 24Robert Van Gulik1992 · 149 pages · confirmed 1/419921491/4
- 2519942651/4
- 26Mangrove Mama1995 · 296 pages · confirmed 1/419952961/4
- 2719962881/4
- 28Judge Dee Plays His Lute1997 · confirmed 1/41997–1/4
- 2919972881/4
- 30Afterzen1999 · 194 pages · confirmed 1/419991941/4
- 3119992401/4
Janwillem van de Wetering books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Amsterdam Cops Mysteries in order
16 books- 1. Outsider in Amsterdam
- 2. Tumbleweed
- 3. The Corpse on the Dike
- 4. Death of a Hawker
- 5. The Japanese Corpse
- 6. The Blond Baboon
- 7. The Maine Massacre
- 8. The Mind-Murders
- 9. The Streetbird
- 10. The Rattle-Rat
- 11. Hard Rain
- 12. The Sergeant's Cat & Other Stories
- and 4 more in the table above
Hugh Pine in order
3 booksStandalone books
12 books12 Janwillem van de Wetering titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Janwillem van de Wetering books in order?
You only need to read Janwillem van de Wetering books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Janwillem van de Wetering
Start with The Empty Mirror (1973), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Janwillem van de Wetering book?
Amsterdam Cops (1999) is the newest Janwillem van de Wetering book released so far.
Is there a new Janwillem van de Wetering book coming?
No next Janwillem van de Wetering book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Janwillem van de Wetering has won
Wikidata records 1 award for Janwillem van de Wetering. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1984Wonfor The Maine massacre
Janwillem van de Wetering at a glance
- Died
- Janwillem van de Wetering died in 2008, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Janwillem van de Wetering on record dates from 1999.
- Release pace
- Janwillem van de Wetering books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,236 pages across the 24 of 31 books with a recorded length, a median of 227 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Janwillem van de Wetering books, 13 of 31, were published in the 1980s.
What the Janwillem van de Wetering books are about
29 of the 31 Janwillem van de Wetering books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 13 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 13 of 29 books
- Henk Grijpstra (Fictitious character) 12 of 29 books
- Rinus DeGier (Fictitious character) 12 of 29 books
- Grijpstra, henk (fictitious character) 11 of 29 books
- Mystery & detective 11 of 29 books
- Netherlands 11 of 29 books
- De gier, rinus (fictitious character) 9 of 29 books
- Fiction in English 6 of 29 books
- Amsterdam (netherlands) 4 of 29 books
- Children's fiction 4 of 29 books
- Buddhism 3 of 29 books