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A review by tfitoby
Maigret Stonewalled by Margaret Marshall, Georges Simenon
4.0
Maigret Stonewalled was the first Maigret to get translated in to English, not as the Penguin edition claims, the first ever Maigret, even so it was the third official Maigret, published ten years after the first Poirot and over forty years from the first Holmes. Here we find a rather faceless Inspector sent traipsing around a town he'd never heard of and the holiday destination Sancerre on Loire 205km away from where Maigret is stationed with the Paris police. In many ways this is a pretty conventional whodunnit, much more so than other Maigret's.
What's interesting about this early incarnation of the character is that he isn't really a character, and yet he's still eminently readable as he bumbles around scratching his head in exasperation at the sheer lack of obvious links between clues. Simenon plots it in great depth, as others have said before me, much more depth and intricacy than the series would be known for, here there is hardly any of that great Simenon psychological insight AND most unlikely of all Maigret barely eats or drinks at all, two of his absolute favourite pastimes. There are red herrings galore, several suspicious characters, lie upon lie upon lie AND a death via a most unlikely contraption, the staple of the generic locked room mystery.
Maigret's (and Simenon's) affection for sad little men with sad little lives and sad little deaths is present however, in the investigation in to the death of M. Gallet it becomes apparent quite quickly that he thinks that understanding the man is much more important than chasing clues and hunting cold blooded murderers. And understanding that about this detective and author is key to enjoying the series.
What's interesting about this early incarnation of the character is that he isn't really a character, and yet he's still eminently readable as he bumbles around scratching his head in exasperation at the sheer lack of obvious links between clues. Simenon plots it in great depth, as others have said before me, much more depth and intricacy than the series would be known for, here there is hardly any of that great Simenon psychological insight AND most unlikely of all Maigret barely eats or drinks at all, two of his absolute favourite pastimes. There are red herrings galore, several suspicious characters, lie upon lie upon lie AND a death via a most unlikely contraption, the staple of the generic locked room mystery.
Maigret's (and Simenon's) affection for sad little men with sad little lives and sad little deaths is present however, in the investigation in to the death of M. Gallet it becomes apparent quite quickly that he thinks that understanding the man is much more important than chasing clues and hunting cold blooded murderers. And understanding that about this detective and author is key to enjoying the series.