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larsdradrach's review
4.0
Best in the series so far.
In this third novel Maigret is called to a classic closed room murder at a small hotel in a sleepy Holliday town, we get a far more personal and engaged Maigret as he slowly unravels the life of the victim, and the people around him.
We also see far more actual detective work as we follow his progress through the clues and misdirections, he even borrows a Sherlock Holmes solution for getting rid of a revolver.
In this third novel Maigret is called to a classic closed room murder at a small hotel in a sleepy Holliday town, we get a far more personal and engaged Maigret as he slowly unravels the life of the victim, and the people around him.
We also see far more actual detective work as we follow his progress through the clues and misdirections, he even borrows a Sherlock Holmes solution for getting rid of a revolver.
jdcorley's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This, the second Maigret mystery, is finding its feet. A truly strange series of events, Maigret puts himself in the center and slowly, through his eyes, we take in all the details, and hear all the developments of emotion and relationships that make the crime not only understandable but, ultimately, clear and emotionally resonant. Its still just a little too technical for a reader but the core of Maigret's greatness.
saareman's review
4.0
Confusingly Complex Conclusion
Review of the Penguin Classics paperback (2013) of a new translation by [a:Anthea Bell|25355|Anthea Bell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1338742712p2/25355.jpg] from the French language original [b:M. Gallet, Décédé|13569361| M. Gallet, Décédé|Georges Simenon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|1043556] (1931)
In order to confound the completists, this is Maigret #2 in the Penguin Classics series of new translations (2013-2019) of the Inspector Maigret novels and short stories, but it is considered #3 according to the previous standard Maigret Series Listopia as listed on Goodreads.
Trivia and Links
The Late Monsieur Gallet, under its original French title Monsieur Gallet, décédé, was adapted for French television in 1987 as Episode 72 of Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (The Investigations of Commissioner Maigret) (1967-1990) with Jean Richard as Inspector Maigret.
There is an article about the Penguin Classics re-translations of the Inspector Maigret novels at Maigret, the Enduring Appeal of the Parisian Sleuth by Paddy Kehoe, RTE, August 17, 2019.
Review of the Penguin Classics paperback (2013) of a new translation by [a:Anthea Bell|25355|Anthea Bell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1338742712p2/25355.jpg] from the French language original [b:M. Gallet, Décédé|13569361| M. Gallet, Décédé|Georges Simenon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|1043556] (1931)
He had a great many facts: that business of the wall, the two gunshots fired a week later at Moers, the conduct of Monsieur Jacobs, the visits to Sainte-Hilaire fifteen years before, the lost key so providentially found by the gardener, the matter of the hotel room, the knife wound finishing off the work of the bullet with a few seconds between them, and finally the football team and the farcical marriage. - a listing of the clues as summed up by Inspector Maigret in Chapter 9 of The Late Monsieur GalletGeorges Simenon (1903-1989) set the bar pretty high with one of the first of his Inspector Maigret series in The Late Monsieur Gallet. In effect a locked-room mystery, although technically the room isn't actually locked, an apparent travelling salesman is killed in his hotel room by a shot to the head from several paces followed by an almost instantaneous stabbing through the heart. I'd defy anyone to solve this with the clues that Maigret accumulates over the course of the book, although Simenon mostly plays fair with the reader by dropping the tidbits throughout, starting with the odd behaviour of the victim's family. In any case, this was an impressive early outing of this classic French-language detective series.
In order to confound the completists, this is Maigret #2 in the Penguin Classics series of new translations (2013-2019) of the Inspector Maigret novels and short stories, but it is considered #3 according to the previous standard Maigret Series Listopia as listed on Goodreads.
Trivia and Links
The Late Monsieur Gallet, under its original French title Monsieur Gallet, décédé, was adapted for French television in 1987 as Episode 72 of Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (The Investigations of Commissioner Maigret) (1967-1990) with Jean Richard as Inspector Maigret.
There is an article about the Penguin Classics re-translations of the Inspector Maigret novels at Maigret, the Enduring Appeal of the Parisian Sleuth by Paddy Kehoe, RTE, August 17, 2019.
fictionfan's review
3.0
Maigret and the impossible crime…
Summer of 1930, and Paris is baking in the June sunshine. The Paris police are busy on crowd control and security for a state visit from the King of Spain, so when a request comes in from the police in Sancerre asking for help with a murder case, Chief Inspector Maigret has no free officers to send. So he decides to take the case on himself. The victim is a man called Monsieur Gallet, a travelling agent who covered the area of Normandy for his company. It was during one of these trips that he was killed in a hotel bedroom. Maigret starts by breaking the news to Monsieur Gallet’s wife, but she refuses to believe him since there was no reason for him to be in Sancerre on that day and in fact she had received a postcard from him placing him elsewhere. Maigret soon realises that Monsieur Gallet was leading a double life, and to solve the crime he will have to find out why. But he’ll also have to work out why Gallet was both shot from a distance and stabbed at the same time…
Another very early one from Simenon, and it appears to be an attempt to create an ‘impossible crime’ scenario. Impossible crimes are never my favourite kind of mystery, and as usual this one gets so bogged down in the how that my eyes began to glaze over. (Well, my ears, I suppose, really, since I was listening to the audiobook.) The method turns out to be both overly complicated and highly unlikely, as is so often the case with this type of mystery.
These very early books are even more variable in quality than his later ones, and I fear this one is really not very good. The setting is curiously under described, that usually being one of Simenon’s strengths. Most of the characters are equally shallow, with a couple of exceptions. Gallet himself never really came to life for me until the very end – his complicated life seemed largely to be contrived to serve the mystery. It felt to me like Simenon had thought of the method of killing and had then designed everything else around that, rather than having the crime grow out of the personalities of the victim and suspects.
There are a couple of points of interest that lifted it a little. Gallet is involved with the remnants of the pro-monarchy movement in France. In my ignorance, I had never considered that such a thing still existed although, once it was pointed out, I realised that in 1930 for many people in France the upheavals of the century before would still be in living memory, just about, or at least only one generation ago. The motive was also quite interesting – obviously I can’t go into details – although I felt it pushed at the credibility line a little too hard. How Maigret got to the solution was beyond me, however – it seemed to be inspired guesswork rather than his usual dogged investigatory work.
Part of the problem was that I felt that a major part of the solution – the who – was signalled from fairly early on, and so came as no surprise, while the other part – the motivation behind Gallet’s double life – came out of the blue. The how never became clear in my mind – one of those complicated methods that always leave me wondering why anyone would go to such lengths to carry out what could have been achieved just as effectively much more simply.
Maigret is still not showing signs of his later excessive drinking and is still riding a bike, but otherwise he feels a bit more like the man he later becomes. There’s some commentary on class and money, and the solution is morally ambiguous in terms of Maigret’s reaction – having been shown to rather despise the monied bourgeoisie, we see him at the end almost touching his forelock, as if crimes carried out to keep the wealthy wealthy are more forgivable than other crimes. Again, I doubt the later Maigret would have acted as he does in this one.
Overall, then, not one of the better Maigrets, in my opinion. I’m very glad I read some of the later Maigrets first – if I’d tried to read the series in order I doubt I’d have got past the first few books. So my suggestion to Maigret newbies is to jump in much later in the series, and only backtrack to these early books later if the need to be a completist kick in!
Summer of 1930, and Paris is baking in the June sunshine. The Paris police are busy on crowd control and security for a state visit from the King of Spain, so when a request comes in from the police in Sancerre asking for help with a murder case, Chief Inspector Maigret has no free officers to send. So he decides to take the case on himself. The victim is a man called Monsieur Gallet, a travelling agent who covered the area of Normandy for his company. It was during one of these trips that he was killed in a hotel bedroom. Maigret starts by breaking the news to Monsieur Gallet’s wife, but she refuses to believe him since there was no reason for him to be in Sancerre on that day and in fact she had received a postcard from him placing him elsewhere. Maigret soon realises that Monsieur Gallet was leading a double life, and to solve the crime he will have to find out why. But he’ll also have to work out why Gallet was both shot from a distance and stabbed at the same time…
Another very early one from Simenon, and it appears to be an attempt to create an ‘impossible crime’ scenario. Impossible crimes are never my favourite kind of mystery, and as usual this one gets so bogged down in the how that my eyes began to glaze over. (Well, my ears, I suppose, really, since I was listening to the audiobook.) The method turns out to be both overly complicated and highly unlikely, as is so often the case with this type of mystery.
These very early books are even more variable in quality than his later ones, and I fear this one is really not very good. The setting is curiously under described, that usually being one of Simenon’s strengths. Most of the characters are equally shallow, with a couple of exceptions. Gallet himself never really came to life for me until the very end – his complicated life seemed largely to be contrived to serve the mystery. It felt to me like Simenon had thought of the method of killing and had then designed everything else around that, rather than having the crime grow out of the personalities of the victim and suspects.
There are a couple of points of interest that lifted it a little. Gallet is involved with the remnants of the pro-monarchy movement in France. In my ignorance, I had never considered that such a thing still existed although, once it was pointed out, I realised that in 1930 for many people in France the upheavals of the century before would still be in living memory, just about, or at least only one generation ago. The motive was also quite interesting – obviously I can’t go into details – although I felt it pushed at the credibility line a little too hard. How Maigret got to the solution was beyond me, however – it seemed to be inspired guesswork rather than his usual dogged investigatory work.
Part of the problem was that I felt that a major part of the solution – the who – was signalled from fairly early on, and so came as no surprise, while the other part – the motivation behind Gallet’s double life – came out of the blue. The how never became clear in my mind – one of those complicated methods that always leave me wondering why anyone would go to such lengths to carry out what could have been achieved just as effectively much more simply.
Maigret is still not showing signs of his later excessive drinking and is still riding a bike, but otherwise he feels a bit more like the man he later becomes. There’s some commentary on class and money, and the solution is morally ambiguous in terms of Maigret’s reaction – having been shown to rather despise the monied bourgeoisie, we see him at the end almost touching his forelock, as if crimes carried out to keep the wealthy wealthy are more forgivable than other crimes. Again, I doubt the later Maigret would have acted as he does in this one.
Overall, then, not one of the better Maigrets, in my opinion. I’m very glad I read some of the later Maigrets first – if I’d tried to read the series in order I doubt I’d have got past the first few books. So my suggestion to Maigret newbies is to jump in much later in the series, and only backtrack to these early books later if the need to be a completist kick in!
laneyofthenight's review
2.0
I don’t think this book was bad. It just wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy a single second of it for no particular reason other than it wasn’t my style.
j_rowley's review
4.0
Maigret seems to be the only senior officer working when there’s a murder outside of Paris. It’s hot, it’s uncomfortable, yet Maigret has to inform the widow who doesn’t believe him.
As Maigret uncovers more about Gallet, the more lies he discovers. The salesman wasn’t a salesman, he was a grifter who had been lying to his wife for years. Maigret continues to dig only to find out Gallet was from a good family and traded his name when he was young and hard up. Finally at the end of his rope because he was being blackmailed, he fakes his suicide so it looks like murder. This way his wife will get the insurance.
Maigret uncovers the truth but allows the lie to continue to protect the widow. Shows empathy. Love the quick read but also how full of details it is.
As Maigret uncovers more about Gallet, the more lies he discovers. The salesman wasn’t a salesman, he was a grifter who had been lying to his wife for years. Maigret continues to dig only to find out Gallet was from a good family and traded his name when he was young and hard up. Finally at the end of his rope because he was being blackmailed, he fakes his suicide so it looks like murder. This way his wife will get the insurance.
Maigret uncovers the truth but allows the lie to continue to protect the widow. Shows empathy. Love the quick read but also how full of details it is.
dclark32's review
4.0
Another excellent Maigret. With their focus on character more than on the technical aspects of the crime, these novels are really my jam. "The Late Monsieur Gallet", which I listened to as an audiobook, is only sort of a whodunnit. Instead, it is more a study of the sheer disregard some people have for the hurt they cause in their quest for pleasure and comfort. In my review of "Pietr the Latvian" I suggested Simenon reminded me stylistically of John le Carre, the undisputed master of the espionage novel. I'm doubling down on that here, as the utter distaste I felt for the novel's villain evokes the stomach-churning feelings of betrayal that characterize many of le Carre's best novels. On another note, the old-fashioned writing tics that I observed in "Pietr the Latvian" are absent here - no more cheer-leading from the narrator. Oh, and the character of Maigret himself is a joy to follow.
I'm toying with the idea of 5 stars here, and frankly it probably deserves it. I'm holding back only because there were a couple of seeming loose ends that I can't quite figure out how they fit in. That could simply be the result of my missing a detail or two though; very possible especially considering I listened to it while driving.
Anyways, couple notes for prospective readers:
1) Probably best read, rather than listened to. The narrator for the audiobook has a levity to his voice throughout that his somewhat at odds to what turns out to be rather dark subject matter. Not to mention that the plot does require a bit of careful attention in parts.
2) Despite what it says here, according to the Penguin site for the series this is the second Maigret novel.
All in all, I'm really enjoying these Maigret novels. They are cheap, very short, and with the Penguin reissue/retranslation of the entire series over the last few years, it's pretty much a perfect time to give them a look.
4.5/5
I'm toying with the idea of 5 stars here, and frankly it probably deserves it. I'm holding back only because there were a couple of seeming loose ends that I can't quite figure out how they fit in. That could simply be the result of my missing a detail or two though; very possible especially considering I listened to it while driving.
Anyways, couple notes for prospective readers:
1) Probably best read, rather than listened to. The narrator for the audiobook has a levity to his voice throughout that his somewhat at odds to what turns out to be rather dark subject matter. Not to mention that the plot does require a bit of careful attention in parts.
2) Despite what it says here, according to the Penguin site for the series this is the second Maigret novel.
All in all, I'm really enjoying these Maigret novels. They are cheap, very short, and with the Penguin reissue/retranslation of the entire series over the last few years, it's pretty much a perfect time to give them a look.
4.5/5
zygoville's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0