A vagrant living under a bridge is assaulted at night, knocked hard enough to fracture his skull, and thrown into the River Seine. Two bargemen from barges moored nearby fish him out of the cold water before he drowns and he ends up in the hospital in a coma. Chief Superintendent Maigret is called to the scene. One of the bargemen, whose boat is moored near the ramp coming down the embankment, reports seeing two men coming back from under the bridge and departing in a red sports car. The man's identity card provides a name and place of birth - coincidentally the same town as Madame Maigret's sister resides. For once, Madame is able to participate to some degree and assist her husband in his challenging work. The vagrant was at one time a practicing doctor, but has been living in Paris as a bum for many, many years. Maigret knows the down-and-out community do not normally commit violence against each other. What is hidden in the doctor's past?
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My intro to the French Sherlock Holmes and I will definitely read more. The Paris of the book feels messy and grey and the inspector is refreshingly human.
Instead of being a super-genius, Maigret is just some guy slowly figuring out the case with plenty of reassessment, mistakes, and double checking of details. Plus the constant references to the Parisian streets and the french lifestyle (you better believe he's going home for lunch) builds this visceral feeling you don't get with Sherlock.
Don't know if it's because of the original author or the translator but the writing itself isn't anything special. To be fair as a Le Carré fanboi I might have impossibly high standards.
It's also a short read, which adds to the pulpy feeling of the experience.
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55 primary books56 released booksInspector Maigret is a 56-book series with 55 primary works first released in 1930 with contributions by Georges Simenon, David Bellos, and 19 others.
