Madame Maigret's Own Case

If you don't know Maigret and you like detective stories, then you are in for a treat - or about 76 treats because that's how many Maigret novels the prolific Georges Simenon published. (I take this number from an excellent essay in the Times Literary Supplement about Simenon by Paul Theroux called "Georges Simenon, the existential hack". The essay is available online.) As with many of the Maigret stories, this one is also published under another name, Madame Maigret's Own Case. Most, if not all, of the books in this new series were previously published under a different title. Maigret is a seasoned French chief inspector of detectives with an eye for human foibles and a distinct humanism about his policing. Some lists include this title as one of the best of Maigret. Personally, I haven't found much to choose between them - as long as they are primarily set in Paris. Don't be put off by the title (either title). Madame Maigret's role, while key, is also collateral. She provides some crucial information, but Jules really does the work along with his crew of Lucas, Janvier and a very young La Pointe. Highly recommended.

Slightly jumbled in the outset as Simenon's arranges his puzzle pieces; all comes together near the end in a delicious contretemps between Maigret and the ambitious, scheming Maitre Liotard in the Chope du Negre. The dialogue sparkles. The atmospherics of Paris are, as always, real and entertaining. Maigret's relationship with Madame Maigret is more fully explored in this fine roman policier.

"The Friend of Madame Maigret" deals with body parts in a Marais shop furnace that somehow connect to an encounter by Chief Inspector Maigret's wife with a woman and a tot in a park on the Place d'Anvers. The geographic coordinates are no accident in this story or any other by Georges Simenon. The Parisian context and the individual streets, shops and cafes are all integral to these fine mystery tales. While a fine yarn, "The Friend..." is one of those mysteries where a great deal of information is sprung on the reader in the final pages--the good Chief Inspector having figured it all out in his head previously. This story stays just on the acceptable side of witholding for my taste, but the zig-zagging through the world's greatest city to get to the solution is so enjoyable, who can complain. "The Friend of Madame Maigret" is one of the old/new, mini-sized Maigret mysteries published in 2007 by Penguin. Bless them for re-issuing these classics.

In this fast-paced engaging Parisian tale, the great Chief Inspector Maigret's wife innocently finds herself in the center of a murder case that's sent Paris into a media frenzy. The case involves the usual array of quirky and interesting characters who live on the fringes of society. And once again, Simenon displays a marvelous ear for dialog, for description, and for the class and social structures around him. This reader was thoroughly bollixed and without a clue as to what was going on, who did what, and how the whole wonderful concoction was going to resolve itself. But of course, Simenon wrapped up every loose thread into a satisfying bow, even as he wrote the very last sentence of this entertaining yarn. He was a true master of this genre. And the relationship between Maigret and his wife is such a wonderfully warm and loving one. It's always a pleasure to be a part of it in these books. Read and enjoy.

The book is good, but it was published years ago as "Madame Maigret's Own Case." So beware of duplication.