The 16th Maigret mystery I found the most amusing, as we are now familiar with Maigret's quirks. This time he is bedridden and shares the sleuthing with Madame Maigret.
It came about by pure chance, Maigret being on a train to the Dordogne; a quick visit to former colleague Leduc. Not finding space in First Class, Maigret takes a bunk in Second, with a restless man above him, the only identifier his patent leather shoes dangling over the edge. The man whimpers all night (or was he crying?) affording Maigret no sleep.
In the morning the man rises, leaves the compartment, and jumps off the train! Pure instinct led Maigret to pursue, and as he enters the dark woods, he is shot in the shoulder.
Awakening in hospital, he is surrounded by the Bergerac magistrate, the prosecutor, the police inspector, a court clerk and the forensic pathologist, and with no identification on Maigret, they believe he is the notorious Madman of Bergerac! Someone has strangled two women (and attacked a third) before sticking a long needle through their heart.
Maigret recuperates in a hotel room overlooking the square, as Madame Maigret takes over
to help fill in a town map in Maigret's mind. The prosecutor, the magistrate, the inspector, the hotel owner, and even his own Doctor Rivaud emerge as possible suspects. Rivaud has a timid wife, alluring younger sister-in-law, and mother-in-law in Bordeaux - a set up Maigret finds dubious.
Cue the villain: everyone is relieved when a vagrant is found dead in the woods. This must be the killer. A man with patent leather shoes, a foreigner from Algeria, who records show is a passport forger. A man familiar enough with the area to jump as the train slowed into the station. A man who didn't want to be seen.
Hotel-bound, Maigret is left to balance all the characters in his head, with only his wits and Madame at his disposal, yet his expertise in personalities and motives is what solves the case. Each Maigret mystery is different, yet each wholly entertaining. Picking up a Simenon mystery is a guarantee of clever plotting, unusual behaviour, and intelligence.
Simenon is always recommended.
1932 / Tradeback / 160 pages
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