Maigret and the Spinster

Georges Simenon's Maigret books are often more about the characters than the mysteries (often murders). "Maigret and the Spinster" is no exception in its exploration of the trials and tribulations of the extended Pardon family, a group with a depressing and sordid past that leads to a double murder. One of those murdered is a young woman who has been attempting, without much success, to convince Chief Inspector Maigret of the Police Judiciare of Paris that serious trouble is brewing within her family. When the trouble comes--the two murders--Maigret is heartsick that he ignored the woman's entreaties and sets out to solve the murders to pay back a perceived debt to her. What Maigret gradually uncovers is a family history that is as base and sordid as some of Emile Zola's more unsavory characters (Therese Raquin comes to mind). "Maigret and the Spinster" is an entertaining story, evocative of Paris neighborhoods and middle-class life of the period (more or less the 1930s). Enjoyable and recommended.

I'd tried reading Maigret before, and wondered what was so great about him. Now the light has dawned. It's not just Maigret who makes the story. It's the characters, such subtle schemers, so French, and all out to bamboozle Maigret, consciously or not. The oddly young spinster who foolishly makes Maigret her hero. The cagey concierge with the crooked neck. The lawyer with his old-man smell who can't keep his hands off young girls. And so on. Maigret wanders around amidst these characters until he somehow gets an idea of what's afoot. So this is a winner, and I'm off to explore more Maigret.

Maigret enjoyed his pipe and the first fog of the year. Interestingly he had a whole collection of pipes on his desk. The name of the spinster of the title is Cecile. She is only twenty-eight. She claims an intruder has been entering her apartment. The claim is mysterious since lately her apartment has been under police watch and nothing unusual has been discovered. Maigret goes to Cecile Pardon's flat. He learns that Cedile is dead. Cecile's aunt is dead, too. Maigret feels guilty because he did not interview Cecile right away. She was considered a nuisance, a joke, at the police station. Madam Boynet had lived quite alone with Cecile. One of the tenants in the building was a former lawyer from the provinces whom Maigret recognized. The man had been involved in a case of the corruption of minors. Cecile was killed because she knew the identity of the murderer, Maigret surmised. A nephew is discovered to have a key to Juliette Boynet's apartment. (She was a miser, distrusting banks, but no money has been found on the premises.) Gerard claims that Cecile had wanted him to check up on what was going on in the flat since the police couldn't ascertain the cause of the disturbance of the objects in the flat. Feeling overwhelmed, Maigret goes to watch a movie. Although everyone has been looking for a single murderer, it is possible there are two. Maigret can be intolerably superior, even with his wife. There is always in a Maigret novel a sense of claustrophobia. This is noticeable particularly as Maigret nears a solution to the case at hand. Finally, the money is located in a footstool in the flat. The victim's papers have vanished and Maigret is required to work some more to solve this mystery in a very surprising manner. The Maigret books are variable in quality. This one is quite good.

Maigret and the Spinster was written in 1942, while Paris was occupied by the Germans. Although not dealing with the Occupation, Simenon paints a wonderful picture of a sordid apartment building and its creepy tenants. There is a wonderful noir feel to the book that would appeal to any fan of Alan Furst or Eric Ambler. In a Maigret novel, there is almost no gun play or car chases. It is just Chief Inspector Maigret doing what he does best, using his knowledge of human psychology to figure out a complex mystery. Picture in your mind Jules Maigret in a heavy coat and bowler hat wandering the streets of Paris puzzling out a mystery while he smokes his pipe. Georges Simenon wrote over 200 novels and more than 500 million copies of his books have been published worldwide. He was able to do this because like Alexandre Dumas he almost limitless imagination. If you have not read Simenon before, this is a good solid start.