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A review by saareman
The Late Monsieur Gallet by Georges Simenon
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.