Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Penguin Books (2014), 160 pages
Description
When a French professor visiting the quiet, Dutch coastal town of Delfzjil is accused of murder, Maigret is sent to investigate. The community seems happy to blame an unknown outsider, but there are people much closer to home who seem to know much more than they're letting on: Beetje, the dissatisfied daughter of a local farmer, Any van Elst, sister-in-law of the deceased, and a notorious local crook.
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Simenon profits from his sailing holidays in the Netherlandsto set a Maigret story in the little northern port of Delfzijl, with plenty of authentic thirties Dutch atmosphere. The pretext for getting Maigret up there is a bit flimsy, perhaps, but the case is a classic. Maigret manages to use the
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results of his own investigation to satirise the views of a "progressive" professor of criminology - a suspect in the case - who talks airily about modern scientific detection and sociological approaches to crime. Needless to say, Maigret isn't much of an enthusiast for either, and he exhibits the proper scorn when the Dutch police produce their all-important clues. Show Less
LibraryThing member thornton37814
Inspector Maigret is called upon to represent French concerns when a professor from France is held in connection with a murder that occurred after one of his lectures in Holland. The Dutch authorities are happy with placing the blame on a foreign sailor, but Maigret realizes that the suspect is
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among the handful of persons present at the murdered man's home that evening. An enjoyable, although somewhat predictable plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
When a French criminology professor on a lecture tour in the Netherlands becomes a suspect in a murder, Maigret is sent by the French authorities to keep an unofficial eye on the investigation to make sure the professor's rights are protected. Maigret runs into some language difficulties. He
The has a strong sense of place in the flat tidal area of the northeastern Netherlands and the port city of Delfzijl. Boats, canals, and sailors all have a role in the mystery. The location is integral to the plot. The plot is a variation of the country house murder plot, where only a limited number of people could have committed the crime. There aren't a lot of extraneous details and Maigret's personal life isn't important to the story, giving readers a tightly plotted story that can easily be read in a single evening. Seasoned mystery readers won't have any trouble figuring out who the murderer must be. The fun is in seeing how Maigret uncovers the murderer's method.
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doesn't speak Dutch, and not all of the suspects speak French. Despite the language barrier, or perhaps enhanced by the language barrier, Maigret is able to form an impression of the personalities involved in the case and determine what really happened the night of the murder.The has a strong sense of place in the flat tidal area of the northeastern Netherlands and the port city of Delfzijl. Boats, canals, and sailors all have a role in the mystery. The location is integral to the plot. The plot is a variation of the country house murder plot, where only a limited number of people could have committed the crime. There aren't a lot of extraneous details and Maigret's personal life isn't important to the story, giving readers a tightly plotted story that can easily be read in a single evening. Seasoned mystery readers won't have any trouble figuring out who the murderer must be. The fun is in seeing how Maigret uncovers the murderer's method.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
In the eighth and last book in my omnibus edition, merely the first in a long series (Tout Maigret, Volume 1 of 10), Maigret is called away to Holland to help Jean Duclos, a French criminology professor away in Holland to give a conference, prove his innocence in a murder he claims he did not
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commit. All the Maigret novels I've read so far take place in small towns and this one is no exception. The action takes place in Delfzijl, Groningen, a seaport town in the Netherlands. Maigret can't speak a word of Dutch, but a few people speak French well enough to be of help to him. Getting in his way is not only the language barrier but also the vast cultural differences between the French and the protestant Dutch, who in this small community are very preoccupied with keeping up appearances and would prefer keeping things hushed up, even if it means inculpating the wrong person for the crime, in this case, the French professor, who is conveniently a foreigner. The murder took place just outside the house of Conrad Popinga, who was killed by a gunshot while he was putting away his bicycle behind a shed after having accompanied Beetje Liewens to her father's farmhouse. Just after the gunshot is heard, Jean Duclos is seen walking out of the house with the gun in his hand, which he claims to have picked up on the ledge of the open bathroom window. When Maigret starts digging a little bit, he quickly finds the murdered man was being unfaithful to his wife and making promises he did not intend to keep to Beetje Liewens, his much younger mistress, who longed to, more than anything else, get away from this small stifling town and her too strict father. Maigret tailors his methods with each situation and for this case, he asks all involved to recreate the night of the crime to find the culprit. I'm now a true Maigret fan. Simenon is a great writer, the books are atmospheric and full of tension, Maigret is complex and humane. I intend on reading the remaining 67 Maigret novels and the collection of 28 short stories within the next couple of years if at all possible. Show Less
LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
Very good again. Maigret's language barrier was a little frustrating for me in the beginning, but the idea of it grew on me as the novel progressed. Characters great as always.
LibraryThing member varielle
This is a formulaic who-dun-it with plenty of details that are completely implausible. Why would a French police detective be investigating a murder in pre-war Holland, especially when he doesn't speak Dutch? Why would the killer be inspired by a lecture given by a criminologist? Why would anybody
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give such a lecture in an obscure farm town and why would the whole town turn out to attend? Why would the criminologist be caught with the murder weapon? When the killer is finally revealed none of it hangs together. The choice of the victim made no sense. These things annoy me, but if you like that kind of nonsensical stuff, go ahead. Show Less
LibraryThing member charlie68
Being of Dutch background I didn't think that Simenon captured the ethos quite right. Although the religious factionalisms are probably fairly accurate, more's the pity, the resolution of the plot is convoluted but still a fun mystery.
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1931-07
1940 (in English)
ISBN
9780698157552