Scan barcode
8797999's review against another edition
5.0
A decent read and story it certainly reads like the end of ending of a series. Not my favourite and I didn't really like the characters in this, compared to Montalbano this final book is 5 stars.
So that is that then, in 4 and a bit years I have now finally read the entirety of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret series. On the whole it was a very fun and enjoyable series, and mostly all quite enjoyable. There were some I didnt enjoy but none stick out as being bad. It is a shame beyond a few short stories that I have no more Maigret to read for the first time but I do have plenty more Simenon to discover.
I look forward to beer in the future at the brasserie dauphin and catching up again with the gang! It was a blast!
This 5 star rating is not reflective on the book but the series. The Book I'd put at 3.5.
So that is that then, in 4 and a bit years I have now finally read the entirety of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret series. On the whole it was a very fun and enjoyable series, and mostly all quite enjoyable. There were some I didnt enjoy but none stick out as being bad. It is a shame beyond a few short stories that I have no more Maigret to read for the first time but I do have plenty more Simenon to discover.
I look forward to beer in the future at the brasserie dauphin and catching up again with the gang! It was a blast!
This 5 star rating is not reflective on the book but the series. The Book I'd put at 3.5.
shropgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Maigret and Monsieur Charles was the last Maigret novel that Georges Simenon wrote. According to the introduction in this book, Simenon fully intended to write another in the series but having started it in the February he realised by September 'it would not work out'.
At the beginning of the novel Maigret is summoned by the Prefect to be told that he is being offered promotion to head the Police Judiciaire. Rather than being pleased, Maigret realises that if he accepts the position he will no longer be at the head of an investigating team but sat behind a desk, a prospect that does not appeal.
While pondering his future Maigret is told that a Madame Sabin-Levesque wants to see him and only him. She reports that her husband, Gerald, has been missing for nearly a month. Gerald makes a habit of leaving home for several days, sometimes a week but never for this length of time. It is at these times that Gerald meets and stays with call girls, with his wife's knowledge.
Maigret realises that Madame is an alcoholic and wonders why she is like she is. And so the investigation starts as a missing person, becomes a murder enquiry and ends with an arrest.
I have read several Maigret novels and have enjoyed them, however although excellent at describing moods, places and the Paris underworld, I never find it easy to find 'clues' as to who, why and what happened. Simenon does explain it all at the end so there are no loose ends to frustrate the reader.
Well written, sparse narrative and well drawn characters, Monsieur Charles is the name that Gerald adopts when he is absent from home, fraternising.
At the beginning of the novel Maigret is summoned by the Prefect to be told that he is being offered promotion to head the Police Judiciaire. Rather than being pleased, Maigret realises that if he accepts the position he will no longer be at the head of an investigating team but sat behind a desk, a prospect that does not appeal.
While pondering his future Maigret is told that a Madame Sabin-Levesque wants to see him and only him. She reports that her husband, Gerald, has been missing for nearly a month. Gerald makes a habit of leaving home for several days, sometimes a week but never for this length of time. It is at these times that Gerald meets and stays with call girls, with his wife's knowledge.
Maigret realises that Madame is an alcoholic and wonders why she is like she is. And so the investigation starts as a missing person, becomes a murder enquiry and ends with an arrest.
I have read several Maigret novels and have enjoyed them, however although excellent at describing moods, places and the Paris underworld, I never find it easy to find 'clues' as to who, why and what happened. Simenon does explain it all at the end so there are no loose ends to frustrate the reader.
Well written, sparse narrative and well drawn characters, Monsieur Charles is the name that Gerald adopts when he is absent from home, fraternising.
alice_horoshev's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
keebleman's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There are no bad Simenon novels - at least not based on my limited knowledge of a mere 15 or so! - but this is definitely a lesser work. The storytelling is careless, such as when a character, Dr Florian, is introduced with no explanation for how Maigret came to hear of him, and the plotting is perfunctory, especially in the wrap-up. This is not a book for those who are new to him, though I doubt that any newbie would want to begin with the very last of the Maigret books anyway.
There are good things though. It moved very fast indeed, and Madame Sabin-Levesque is a memorable creation - albeit one that comes close to cliche - as is her missing husband, and the enormous apartment they 'share'.
But perhaps the main problem is that Maigret was a character that just didn't fit in the 1970s. There is very, very little in the book to suggest it has a contemporary setting, a couple of references to television, the term 'playboy', and that's it. I don't know if Simenon started this book knowing it would be his signature character's swan song, but I think it's more likely he just came to accept that, like so many other great recurring characters, he belonged to the milieu in which he was born.
There are good things though. It moved very fast indeed, and Madame Sabin-Levesque is a memorable creation - albeit one that comes close to cliche - as is her missing husband, and the enormous apartment they 'share'.
But perhaps the main problem is that Maigret was a character that just didn't fit in the 1970s. There is very, very little in the book to suggest it has a contemporary setting, a couple of references to television, the term 'playboy', and that's it. I don't know if Simenon started this book knowing it would be his signature character's swan song, but I think it's more likely he just came to accept that, like so many other great recurring characters, he belonged to the milieu in which he was born.
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
An okay Maigret to end the series on but nothing outstanding.
iainkelly_writing's review against another edition
5.0
The 75th, and final, Maigret, and the last novel Simeonon wrote before he simply gave up writing. As usual understated and brilliant. As a whole the series is almost unrivalled as an achievement. I recommend every single Maigret novel. The earlier ones are a shade better, the later ones tend to be more formulaic and stray into repetition, but all are worth reading. Taken as a whole, an astonishing character study as well as mapping the changing world and Paris over 4 decades.
colophonphile's review against another edition
I so enjoyed my first experience of the Maigret series of French detective novels that I quickly moved on to a second, despite a stack (physical and virtual) of other books in various media waiting for me to return to them. Having been told that I could essentially read these books -- of which there are 75 -- in any order, I chose this one almost at random. The extent to which there was any logic involved in the selection, I suppose the fact that it was available played a role in the decision, as did the fact that since the title included another adult (this Mr. Charles), I presumed that the story would differ distinctively from the previous volume I'd read, Maigret Goes to School, which had prominent roles for children.
It turns out that I have now read the last book in the series. I'll assume until convinced otherwise that the decision Maigret makes at the opening of the book is a significant one that would have carried more weight had I read more than one other book about him previously. Otherwise, this book starts and ends like any other book in such a series, and so, well, I guess this wasn't too much of a continuity banana slip on my part.
The book tells the story of a drunk society woman whose philandering husband, an accomplished professional, goes missing. We spend much of the book not knowing if he's alive or dead, and slowly learning about his past, and that of his psychologically remote wife. As with the previous book, I was most impressed by just how much people can drink and still get their work done, a fact set in contrast by a prominent character who drinks even more than all the other characters combined.
It turns out that I have now read the last book in the series. I'll assume until convinced otherwise that the decision Maigret makes at the opening of the book is a significant one that would have carried more weight had I read more than one other book about him previously. Otherwise, this book starts and ends like any other book in such a series, and so, well, I guess this wasn't too much of a continuity banana slip on my part.
The book tells the story of a drunk society woman whose philandering husband, an accomplished professional, goes missing. We spend much of the book not knowing if he's alive or dead, and slowly learning about his past, and that of his psychologically remote wife. As with the previous book, I was most impressed by just how much people can drink and still get their work done, a fact set in contrast by a prominent character who drinks even more than all the other characters combined.
furfff's review against another edition
3.0
A fine but only fine need to the series. Index is a little heavily on notes of “sad Alcoholic ex prostitute” and “boys will be boys” for me, but that is what one gets sometimes for reading from a series this old. An amazing enough installment for complete us but not one I would recommend to start, which is probably obvious, given that it is the 75th and last in the series.