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robshpprd's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. Decent mystery I guess. Ending wasn't terribly satisfying or interesting. Seems like it could make a better film than a novel; the characters are interesting. So I'm curious and hopeful about the Renoir adaptation.
ronanmcd's review against another edition
5.0
Tintin for grown ups. A very amusing, complex mystery in central France in the 1930s. Drenched in atmosphere
staticdisplay's review against another edition
3.0
the atmosphere in the house at the beginning was quite spectacular. the crimes goes a bit high drama which really shifted the tone of the story. most prominently, "the Italian Guido Ferrari" get out of here with that
srash's review against another edition
3.0
Revisiting Maigret after loving the stories as a teenager but being too far removed from reading them to remember what I had read. :)
I don't think I had read this one before, though it was my favorite episode of the Rowan Atkinson adaptation series. The book version is quite different, but that made reading this fun because I couldn't make educated guesses based on what I'd watched.
Captures what I like well about the series (the Continental tone--reminds me of Nordic Noir but less grim, the wry humor, the stellar opening scenes, refreshing lack of whimsy on the part of the detectives, an at times lyrical atmosphere that you don't often see in the genre while still being very pulpy and noirish), but it's still a fairly early work. I don't know that it's Simenon at his best, though it was fun.
This is, of course, an assumption on my part because, again, I can't remember for the life of me what I read years ago.
Still, I've resolved to read a Maigret every (other) day for the holidays, so more French murder awaits. . . .
I don't think I had read this one before, though it was my favorite episode of the Rowan Atkinson adaptation series. The book version is quite different, but that made reading this fun because I couldn't make educated guesses based on what I'd watched.
Captures what I like well about the series (the Continental tone--reminds me of Nordic Noir but less grim, the wry humor, the stellar opening scenes, refreshing lack of whimsy on the part of the detectives, an at times lyrical atmosphere that you don't often see in the genre while still being very pulpy and noirish), but it's still a fairly early work. I don't know that it's Simenon at his best, though it was fun.
This is, of course, an assumption on my part because, again, I can't remember for the life of me what I read years ago.
Still, I've resolved to read a Maigret every (other) day for the holidays, so more French murder awaits. . . .
frahorus's review against another edition
4.0
Stavolta il commissario Maigret dovrà affrontare uno strano caso in cui viene assassinato un ricettatore in un crocevia vicino a Parigi e dove in tale contrada ruotano le vite di una misteriosa famiglia danese, un assicuratore con moglie e un troppo loquace carrozziere. Chi sarà il colpevole? E la bella Elsa c'entra qualcosa?
Maigret, con la sua incredibile calma, riesce lentamente a conoscere tutti i protagonisti del crocevia e riesce, tra una fumata di pipa e un'altra, a risolvere anche questo mistero.
Maigret, con la sua incredibile calma, riesce lentamente a conoscere tutti i protagonisti del crocevia e riesce, tra una fumata di pipa e un'altra, a risolvere anche questo mistero.
missymo55's review against another edition
4.0
I watched the drama of this book with Rowan Atkinson starring and loved it. The book was less embellished then the drama but that is Simenon’s writing style quick and to the point. Again Simenon’s twists and turns keeps the story interesting and it’s not until the last chapter it all starts making sense.
The romantic tension between Maigret and Else was there in the book but not as much as the drama which was missed and I would have liked to have known more about the murdered man! Wonder what toasted almonds taste like!
The romantic tension between Maigret and Else was there in the book but not as much as the drama which was missed and I would have liked to have known more about the murdered man! Wonder what toasted almonds taste like!
blueyorkie's review against another edition
4.0
The stove snores in Maigret's office. Outside, Parisian life flows over the seventeen hours of endless interrogation that Maigret and his colleague Lucas make the Danish Carl Andersen undergo.
As the mist on the Seine rises and gives way to daylight, the suspect is released. A man who irritates and surprises the commissioner by his ability to keep his distinction despite this trying interrogation.
This Dane lives with his sister at the crossroads of Trois-Veuve. Antwerp's diamond's corpse dealer found his neighbour's car in his garage on one of its seats. Only three houses stand on the edge of this crossroads: a villa from where a woman spies behind the curtains, a garage that seems somewhat shady and the house rented by the Dane, dark, disorderly and with an oppressive atmosphere.
A strange atmosphere, a cloudy, dense atmosphere;
many shots fired in this affair which exceeds and shakes up the legendary placidity of Maigret. Enigmatic characters that the commissioner is trying to uncover. A young Else with a professional, sensual, disturbing attitude.
Maigret even breaks the pipe of his pipe, so the danger rode and exceeded it.
A perfect intrigue conducted brilliantly immerses us in the middle of this crossroads while avoiding the gunfire!
As the mist on the Seine rises and gives way to daylight, the suspect is released. A man who irritates and surprises the commissioner by his ability to keep his distinction despite this trying interrogation.
This Dane lives with his sister at the crossroads of Trois-Veuve. Antwerp's diamond's corpse dealer found his neighbour's car in his garage on one of its seats. Only three houses stand on the edge of this crossroads: a villa from where a woman spies behind the curtains, a garage that seems somewhat shady and the house rented by the Dane, dark, disorderly and with an oppressive atmosphere.
A strange atmosphere, a cloudy, dense atmosphere;
many shots fired in this affair which exceeds and shakes up the legendary placidity of Maigret. Enigmatic characters that the commissioner is trying to uncover. A young Else with a professional, sensual, disturbing attitude.
Maigret even breaks the pipe of his pipe, so the danger rode and exceeded it.
A perfect intrigue conducted brilliantly immerses us in the middle of this crossroads while avoiding the gunfire!
geoffreyjen's review against another edition
5.0
This is Maigret #7 (and not #6 as sometimes stated), by now well into canon Maigret. As someone who writes, I know how one struggles to find ways to keep stories fresh, even when working within a pre-defined field. Simenon does this by varying venue, many of his stories take place outside Paris, but especially through the quirky characters he introduces into his stories. This novel is a brilliant example of Simenon's use of quirkiness, both in the apparent portrait of the crime committed as presented in the opening pages (introduced via an unusual interrogation, another device to vary the way the story is told), and the ultimate resolution of the crime via its diverse and equally quirky principal perpetrators. A first rate whodunnit.
peterlewenstein's review against another edition
5.0
During 2021 I read nine of the first ten Maigret books, which Simenon wrote in 1931 (ten books in one year!). Apart from the character, who dominates every page, the atmosphere in every book is spellbinding. The Night at the Crossroads was one of my favourites.