|
Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets |
Unjustly, Simenon has dropped out of sight. One of the first Maigret stories. Has Maigret's humanity and insight, a gripping game of cat and mouse with the perpetrator of an unknown crime and Simenon's matchless economy in giving a sense of person and place. The green second-hand paperbacks slip perfectly into the pocket for a train journey. Smaller than a Kindle!
(Tony Pratt - bwl 59 Winter 2011) |
|
|
Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard |
Classic Maigret as the detective slowly homes in on what was going on in the life of a murder victim. Maigret's shrewd appreciation of the dark lives of people clinging on to modest status, or living on the raffish fringes of society, comes to the fore. All this and a vivid impression of mid-century everyday street life in Paris. All done with great economy.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 89 Summer 2018) |
|
|
The Blue Room |
An illicit love affair in a country district - something which is difficult to conceal when community members are well-known to each other. There is a disparity in the emotional commitment of the two lovers and things take a murderous turn. As investigation proceeds, attitudes and the nature of the crime itself emerge by degrees and there is a dramatic end.-A haunting and intense tale full of Simenon's cold realism and sense of place. A brief but gripping and superb read.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 95 Winter 2019) |
|
|
The Misty Harbour |
Maigret escorts an amnesiac from Paris to the fogbound Channel port where he is the harbour master. The amnesiac is promptly murdered. Rain sweeps constantly as his investigation is hampered by a conspiracy of silence, violent sailors and hostile local bourgeoisie. Simenon’s classic virtues are on display: sense of place, atmosphere, insight into how lives get complicated, humanity and economy. A mystery story - the mystery to me is why Simenon doesn’t seem to be more popular.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 108 Spring 2023) |
|
