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A review by tfitoby
The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon
4.0
There's a reason this one is considered a classic Maigret.
The early books in this series have been a little bit hit and miss in terms of real quality vs Simenon's famed speedy production but The Yellow Dog was reissued as part of the Penguin Red Classics series and is deserving of the accolade.
Set in a sleepy seaside town Maigret is called in to solve the seemingly random shooting of a drunken major from a letterbox of a locked up abandoned building. There's a multitude of suspects and suspicions amongst the locals and many red herrings planted in his path but naturally Maigret has everything under control.
Simenon puts together a fine mystery with a high quality of human observation and a way of setting scene that is second to none. The way he evokes the cold and fog of small town life leaves you thinking you can smell the damp in the air, even when you're on an air conditioned train in Perth, and the games he plays with your sympathies for each character makes for a fun ride.
People have criticised the passivity of Maigret in this story and others from the near hundred in the collection but personally I enjoy them; knowing your hero is playing games with everyone from the beginning to establish proof of guilt brings a different level of pleasure from your mystery reading.
The early books in this series have been a little bit hit and miss in terms of real quality vs Simenon's famed speedy production but The Yellow Dog was reissued as part of the Penguin Red Classics series and is deserving of the accolade.
Set in a sleepy seaside town Maigret is called in to solve the seemingly random shooting of a drunken major from a letterbox of a locked up abandoned building. There's a multitude of suspects and suspicions amongst the locals and many red herrings planted in his path but naturally Maigret has everything under control.
Simenon puts together a fine mystery with a high quality of human observation and a way of setting scene that is second to none. The way he evokes the cold and fog of small town life leaves you thinking you can smell the damp in the air, even when you're on an air conditioned train in Perth, and the games he plays with your sympathies for each character makes for a fun ride.
People have criticised the passivity of Maigret in this story and others from the near hundred in the collection but personally I enjoy them; knowing your hero is playing games with everyone from the beginning to establish proof of guilt brings a different level of pleasure from your mystery reading.