A. C. Baantjer
Encyclopedia
Albert Cornelis "Appie" Baantjer (September 16, 1923, Urk
, Flevoland
– August 29, 2010), often simply known as Baantjer, was a Dutch novelist of detective fiction
and a former police officer
.
He is mainly known for his large series of detective novels
revolving around police inspector De Cock and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. The name of the protagonist simply means "cook" in Dutch, but has an unusual spelling which is at the heart of a running gag
that involves De Cock spelling out his name every time he introduces himself to someone.
The novels have spin-offs in the form of a motion picture and a long-running TV-series. Both are named after the author, rather than the main character(s). This led to screenwriter
Berend Boudewijn's bitter statement in a Dutch TV guide (VPRO Gids, November 11, 2005) that "Baantjer is the only TV series in the world that is named after a writer, even though it is not written by him." (This is not entirely true: The Belgian TV series Aspe is also named after its writer, Pieter Aspe
, who wrote the first season but not the second.)
Baantjer's novels have made their way into the English language through the publishing house Speck Press. De Cock's name has been translated as DeKok. There are approximately 23 of the 60 published Baantjer titles available in English. His books have also been translated into Spanish, French, Russian and Korean and Estonian.
Urk
Urk is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands.Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the Almere, a lake that would become part of the Zuiderzee in the 13th century after a series of incursions...
, Flevoland
Flevoland
Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country, at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on January 1, 1986; the twelfth province of the country, with Lelystad as its capital...
– August 29, 2010), often simply known as Baantjer, was a Dutch novelist of detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
and a former police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
.
He is mainly known for his large series of detective novels
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
revolving around police inspector De Cock and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. The name of the protagonist simply means "cook" in Dutch, but has an unusual spelling which is at the heart of a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
that involves De Cock spelling out his name every time he introduces himself to someone.
The novels have spin-offs in the form of a motion picture and a long-running TV-series. Both are named after the author, rather than the main character(s). This led to screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Berend Boudewijn's bitter statement in a Dutch TV guide (VPRO Gids, November 11, 2005) that "Baantjer is the only TV series in the world that is named after a writer, even though it is not written by him." (This is not entirely true: The Belgian TV series Aspe is also named after its writer, Pieter Aspe
Pieter Aspe
Pieter Aspe is a Belgian/Flemish writer of a series of detective stories starring inspector Van In.-Novels:-See also:* Flemish literature...
, who wrote the first season but not the second.)
Baantjer's novels have made their way into the English language through the publishing house Speck Press. De Cock's name has been translated as DeKok. There are approximately 23 of the 60 published Baantjer titles available in English. His books have also been translated into Spanish, French, Russian and Korean and Estonian.