Series
Publication
Livre de Poche (1999), 186 p.
Original publication date
1951
Collections
Genres
Subjects
Awards
Julian Symons' 100 Best Crime Stories (1950 — 1951)
Description
"He opened the door for her and watched her walk away down the huge corridor, then hesitate at the top of the stairs. Heads turned as she passed. You sensed she came from a different world, the world of the night, and there was something almost indecent about her in the harsh light of a winter's day." A young cabaret dancer in a black silk dress leads Inspector Maigret into a seamy world of nightclubs, drug addiction and exploitation on the streets of Montmartre.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Kindleifier
I found it difficult to rate this.
I finished it. It was well-written and translated.
But ... i found my self continuing, not because it was gripping, but because I just wanted to get to the end. I didn’t find any of the characters engaged my interest or sympathy. It was fairly grim, with way too
The best I can give it is a reluctant 3.5 stars. Certainly not a book I will re-read.
I finished it. It was well-written and translated.
But ... i found my self continuing, not because it was gripping, but because I just wanted to get to the end. I didn’t find any of the characters engaged my interest or sympathy. It was fairly grim, with way too
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much homophobia for today’s sensibilities. I know it dates from an earlier period, and another country, and presumably reflects how things were then, but it did not make for enjoyable reading.The best I can give it is a reluctant 3.5 stars. Certainly not a book I will re-read.
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LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
It’s 4:30 am and Arlette enters the police station to make a statement regarding two men she overheard in the afterhours club she works in. They are planning a robbery and a murder. It’s urgent she speaks with someone. She is stalled and winds up falling asleep waiting. When she wakes up she is
Arlette tells of the Contessa and her jewels and a man names Oscar. She is vague with her information, blaming it on her drinking. Inspector Maigret comes upon the discussion and becomes interested.
Later, when she is found strangled in her room and then a Contessa is found strangled in the same manner, Maigret finds himself investigating in the demimonde of striptease artists, morphine addicts and the afterhours world of Monmartre.
Maigret follows up on any and all clues with considerable attention to the smallest detail. He is methodical in his work.
Reading Simenon is like working a jigsaw puzzle…many pieces that will only fit together one way.
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hesitant to talk about it.Arlette tells of the Contessa and her jewels and a man names Oscar. She is vague with her information, blaming it on her drinking. Inspector Maigret comes upon the discussion and becomes interested.
Later, when she is found strangled in her room and then a Contessa is found strangled in the same manner, Maigret finds himself investigating in the demimonde of striptease artists, morphine addicts and the afterhours world of Monmartre.
Maigret follows up on any and all clues with considerable attention to the smallest detail. He is methodical in his work.
Reading Simenon is like working a jigsaw puzzle…many pieces that will only fit together one way.
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LibraryThing member baswood
This is the third of the five Maigret books published in 1951 that I have read. Maigret is up to his neck in sleaze and seems to be quite enjoying it. The novel starts with Arlette a striptease dancer stumbling into a police station in Montmartre Paris at 5 am claiming that the countess is going to
Picratt's is the name of the small nightclub where Arlette performed and that is where Maigret heads for, to interview the owner and the other artists. He finds a club that is at the end of the line, meaning that people looking for entertainment in that pert of Paris end up there, when there is no other place to go. The owner Fred manages it with the help of his wife Rose and Maigret soon rules them out of the investigation, but reading through the notes of Arlette's interview he is certain that there is a connection between the club and the murders. Maigret spends most of his time interviewing witnesses at his Headquarters or ensconced in Picratts where he can always get another drink and watch the show. Georges Simenon's story takes on the usual procedure of Maigret skilfully breaking down suspects in the interview room, handing them over to Sergeant Torrence when he wants them roughed up. However a feature of this novel is the workings of the small nightclub, sleazy it might be, but it is a business like any other. There is a telephone inside the club and so Maigret finds it convenable to sequester himself inside while his team and the local police trudge around the wet wintry streets of Paris.
There are some good backstory's to the main murder enquiry and it is all over after 150 pages when Maigret finally rouses himself from his chair in the night club. 3.5 stars.
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be murdered. She is drunk and fairly incoherent and really only gets the time of day because one of the police detectives is an admirer. Later that day Arlette has been murdered and Maigret is called in to examine the crime scene. He immediately takes charge and launches an enquiry to discover who she meant by the countess. Picratt's is the name of the small nightclub where Arlette performed and that is where Maigret heads for, to interview the owner and the other artists. He finds a club that is at the end of the line, meaning that people looking for entertainment in that pert of Paris end up there, when there is no other place to go. The owner Fred manages it with the help of his wife Rose and Maigret soon rules them out of the investigation, but reading through the notes of Arlette's interview he is certain that there is a connection between the club and the murders. Maigret spends most of his time interviewing witnesses at his Headquarters or ensconced in Picratts where he can always get another drink and watch the show. Georges Simenon's story takes on the usual procedure of Maigret skilfully breaking down suspects in the interview room, handing them over to Sergeant Torrence when he wants them roughed up. However a feature of this novel is the workings of the small nightclub, sleazy it might be, but it is a business like any other. There is a telephone inside the club and so Maigret finds it convenable to sequester himself inside while his team and the local police trudge around the wet wintry streets of Paris.
There are some good backstory's to the main murder enquiry and it is all over after 150 pages when Maigret finally rouses himself from his chair in the night club. 3.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
Another good one. I was a little bummed at his depiction of homosexuals in this book, but I do understand 1) it was 1950 and 2) he is generally pretty liberal and thoughtful in these books. Hopefully some of the language was simply because it was the characters way of thinking about his.
Language
Original language
French
ISBN
9782253142195
Physical description
186 p.; 7.05 inches
Pages
186