Maigret (Inspector Maigret)

Maigret has a naive nephew who joined the police force in emulation of his clever uncle. Now the foolish young man has gotten himself framed for the murder of a shady character he was supposed to have been watching on a stakeout. Maigret, who has just retired, leaves his cozy country cottage for Paris to keep Philippe out of jail.The first Maigret novel was published in 1930, and this book appeared in 1934, which makes it pretty early. The series lived on till 1972. So we are going fast forward to a time when Maigret is tired out and feeling less effective. It's fascinating to watch him get himself going. As usual he has no ideas till he has one. And anyway, even in his senior years, Maigret is still a big burly man with a talent for lurking around looking formidable.Maigret's psychological sparing with the crooks is the main interest of the plot. There's not a lot of action, although Maigret does get to use his revolver to good effect at one point. Maigret's ability to keep functioning while consuming tremendous amounts of alcohol is as impressive as his keen power of perception.This book may not be as polished as other books in the series. But as a fanatical fan of Maigret, I'm delighted to have this reprint from Penguin.

Who can argue about tastes? This is not one of my favorite Maigret adventures. His ineffectual nephew begs his retired uncle to clean up a mess he's made by not following procedures. The young man's stupidity has left him open to a charge of murder. Maigret's successor regards him with suspicion, and his former colleagues cannot help him much. Maigret cultivates the acquaintance of a prostitute and sets his sights on a crime boss. The psychology is interesting but the climax disappoints.

You can't go wrong with Inspector Maigret. So far I've read about 35 of them and enjoyed every one. They have everything; entrancing settings, good mysteries, interesting characters and (best of all) really wonderful writing. I'm enjoying the old TV versions of some of them on MHz as well, but you really can't beat the books. There's nobody better than Simenon, though Andrea Camilleri and Fred Vargas might be almost as good.

I think readers who like a good quick read (or quick-study) will appreciate Simenon; I'd never read him but read a review in the LRB that grabbed my attention. The book itself did not grab me; I put it down after 20 pages. But, hey, that's just me.

G. Simenon wrote plain simple outstanding novels, His hero Maigret uses his head to find out the truth. Not your normal cops and robbers type story but one with more brain work and understanding people. This is number 19 understand there are 77, will read all of them and strongly recommend the entire series.

The Kindle edition is formatted well. No problems there. Having read many Maigrets over the years and enjoyed them all, this one struck me as contrived and implausible. Thankfully, it's not that long. Mildly entertaining, but overall forgettable.

I have never read a maigret that didn't warrent 5 stars and this one is no exception This new edition read by Gareth Armstrong is like meditation. Simenon is a true existential philosopher

I have not had it long enough to have read it!

I am crazy about Maigret stories.

This 1934 Maigret story sees the great detective pulled out of retirement to deal with a rather personal matter. His nephew has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and before he knows it, Maigret is back in Paris and trying to unravel gang-related murders and various criminal rackets being run in various nightclubs around the city. It's a strange book in some ways. Coming after the flurry of early titles, this was the only Maigret novel until 1942. It's hard to tell if Simenon planned this return to be more than a one book investigation, but what is apparent is the pared back, slightly less frenetic style of writing, and the Paris setting. One of Simenon's strengths as a writer was his observational skills of city life, especially in the bustle of the bars, clubs and seedier dwellings. These are central to this particular story, and would feature much more in his later, mature period, where the motivations and secret lives of his characters became increasingly important plot devices. Masterfully done at under 145 pages, this is lean but engrossing storytelling.

It started off well and draws you into the story.Maigret retired helping out his nephew who is way over his head trying to follow in his Uncles footsteps and only getting himself in trouble.There is a long section of the book where our sleuth does nothing but sit in a bar drinking, he’s plays on the minds of the suspects, but doesn’t really make riveting reading.

As we know at this time of Simenon's writing Maigret has retired; whether it was his intention to pension him off full time I'm glad he changed his mind eventually. Here however the former detective is in a difficult position. Called in by his sister-in-law to save his nephew from a murder charges, he still commands respect from his former colleagues but has no power and the criminals know he may still have a bark but he has no bite.The author therefore plays with this frustration and Maigret seems unable to break the case even though it is clear guilt lies elsewhere, no-one will grass within the criminal gang.Maigret's usual skills and methods are not helpful since he cannot question directly; his intuition wasted as he cannot get the proof he requires to exonerate his relation.This is a very interesting book, seeing Magret almost a comic figure, impotent to change events. He tries to get involved with the main players but they keep him on the outside, away from the truth, so that he is no better than a spectator.How Maigret finally understands his man is another great insight into his character and a must to read for all fans of these books.

Even though Maigret is retired in this book, he still manages to get involved somehow and solve the case.Not to spoil the plot but the chapter in which he sits in a bar for twelve hours, observing and playing mind games with his prey is both superb and typically Maigret.