A review by batbones
A Crime in Holland by Georges Simenon

4.0

Reading Maigret is a different experience from reading Holmes, de Luce, or Whimsy. This might in part be because the story is a translation, which leads to the feeling that some things or odd phrases don't obtain somehow in the English language. Unlike his famous multi-series counterparts, Maigret is a relatively ordinary man with an unassuming intelligence, and only the smallest of quirks (pipe-smoking, his liking to put on grumpy appearances) to distinguish him. The mystery is also slower-paced, more thoughtful, analytical and...emotionally distant, the characters serving at some level as archetypes or sketches rather than whole people. Simenon does some strange things with his writing style that are hard to take to at first but one gradually gets used to it; for instance, he mostly follows Maigret's perspective but abruptly turns away whenever Maigret assumes his more solemn and indifferent countenance, much to the bewilderment of other characters seeking to get a response out of him. It's quite frequent and startling, and I'm not always sure why Simenon does this.