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danubooks 's review for:
The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien (Inspector Maigret)
by Georges Simenon
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Simple curiosity leads a detective to a long-buried crime
Inspector Maigret of the Police Judiciaire was in Brussels for a quick assignment which finished earlier than expected. He decided to pass the hours until his train returned him to Paris at a small café where he noticed an oddity...a man in shabby clothes who looked like he was down on his luck (and had been for some time). Yet this same man was counting out a large sum of money and placing it into a package to mail. Maigret decides that he will follow the man for a while, as he has nothing better to do, and will likely determine that the man is a criminal and turn him over to the Belgian police. Instead he sets into motion a chain of events that will leave the shabby man dead by suicide and Maigret feeling both remorse for having perhaps been what pushed the man over the edge and determination to find answers to this case that makes no sense. The passport on the dead man turns out to be a forgery, and an appeal in the papers attracts attention from unlikely places. What could a humble laborer whose drinking ruined his marriage and his job prospects have to do with a successful businessman, a deputy bank director, a photoengraver and an artist? Can Maigret determine what circumstances led the victim to his fate before those who wish the question to remain unanswered eliminate any evidence that might assist Maigret in his endeavor....including Maigret himself?
The 1920's and 1930's are regarded as the Golden Age of Crime Fiction and for good reason....authors like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout and so many more published books that established the genre as a legitimate form of fiction and to this day are read by millions. Many of the great authors of this period were British and American (as well as one of my favorites, Ngaio Marsh from New Zealand0, but there is a Belgian in the group who has also stood the test of time....Georges Simenon. I have steadily worked my way through many of the authors of the period, but somehow Simenon has stayed beyond my reach until now. Maigret is a sturdy fellow, known for wearing a wool coat and a bowler hat and for smoking a pipe. He is not a hardboiled noir sort; he tends to want to know why a crime happened in order to figure out whodunnit rather than the other way around. The translation by Linda Coverdale flows freely, and as the story unfolds Maigret slowly and methodically follows the few clues he has been able to uncover to discover the true identity of the shabby man and about his life. He has been a policeman long enough to have developed a keen eye for people's behaviors, and it serves him in good stead as he delves into this emotionally complex and morally ambiguous investigation. This is the third (or fourth, depending upon the source) novel to feature Maigret, and if you have been remiss (as I have been) in not adding him to your shelves I highly recommend that you correct that situation. Readers of Golden Age crime writers as well as fans of Henning Mankell, Fred Vargas and Graham Greene should.give the series a try. Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/Picador for allowing me access to a copy of The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien in exchange for my honest review....this was my first Maigret but assuredly will not be my last.
Inspector Maigret of the Police Judiciaire was in Brussels for a quick assignment which finished earlier than expected. He decided to pass the hours until his train returned him to Paris at a small café where he noticed an oddity...a man in shabby clothes who looked like he was down on his luck (and had been for some time). Yet this same man was counting out a large sum of money and placing it into a package to mail. Maigret decides that he will follow the man for a while, as he has nothing better to do, and will likely determine that the man is a criminal and turn him over to the Belgian police. Instead he sets into motion a chain of events that will leave the shabby man dead by suicide and Maigret feeling both remorse for having perhaps been what pushed the man over the edge and determination to find answers to this case that makes no sense. The passport on the dead man turns out to be a forgery, and an appeal in the papers attracts attention from unlikely places. What could a humble laborer whose drinking ruined his marriage and his job prospects have to do with a successful businessman, a deputy bank director, a photoengraver and an artist? Can Maigret determine what circumstances led the victim to his fate before those who wish the question to remain unanswered eliminate any evidence that might assist Maigret in his endeavor....including Maigret himself?
The 1920's and 1930's are regarded as the Golden Age of Crime Fiction and for good reason....authors like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout and so many more published books that established the genre as a legitimate form of fiction and to this day are read by millions. Many of the great authors of this period were British and American (as well as one of my favorites, Ngaio Marsh from New Zealand0, but there is a Belgian in the group who has also stood the test of time....Georges Simenon. I have steadily worked my way through many of the authors of the period, but somehow Simenon has stayed beyond my reach until now. Maigret is a sturdy fellow, known for wearing a wool coat and a bowler hat and for smoking a pipe. He is not a hardboiled noir sort; he tends to want to know why a crime happened in order to figure out whodunnit rather than the other way around. The translation by Linda Coverdale flows freely, and as the story unfolds Maigret slowly and methodically follows the few clues he has been able to uncover to discover the true identity of the shabby man and about his life. He has been a policeman long enough to have developed a keen eye for people's behaviors, and it serves him in good stead as he delves into this emotionally complex and morally ambiguous investigation. This is the third (or fourth, depending upon the source) novel to feature Maigret, and if you have been remiss (as I have been) in not adding him to your shelves I highly recommend that you correct that situation. Readers of Golden Age crime writers as well as fans of Henning Mankell, Fred Vargas and Graham Greene should.give the series a try. Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/Picador for allowing me access to a copy of The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien in exchange for my honest review....this was my first Maigret but assuredly will not be my last.