Georges Simenon created Inspector Maigret in the 1930’s, and over four decades of murder cases, the mysteries were translated into more languages than any other writer – not just mystery writers – any writer. Though Simenon was Belgian, he placed Jules Maigret in police headquarters in Paris on the river Seine. In most cases, the reader is spared the grizzly act of murder, and Maigret enters the scene with scant, cryptic clues, forcing him to attempt to get into the mind of the murderer to make headway toward his capture.
The stories are tight, with a host of recurring characters and locales that pull the reader into the streets of Paris with a familiarity that anticipates Maigret’s moves, like a partner, without anticipating the ending – and that is the ultimate allure of Simenon’s work.
It’s good to see a fresh biography of Simenon, by Lucille F. Becker. She concentrates on the psychological allure of Maigret’s approach to cases, highlighting the genius of Simenon’s craft. Many get caught up in Simenon’s persona, writing for five hours on a barge on the Seine in the morning, before he opened a bottle of wine. The fact is, his oeuvre was so prolific that even fans like myself may only read half his published work and still never appreciate the full impact of his work.
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