Maigret and the Lazy Burglar

Inspector Maigret #57

by Georges Simenon

Set against a high-profile hunt for the latest criminal gang to hit Paris, Maigret is determined to track down the murderer of a quiet crook for whom he cannot help feeling affection and respect.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, France, Detective, Audiobook, Noir

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life.

Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed.

He is best known, however, for his 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring Commissaire Maigret. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, appeared in 1931; the last one, Maigret et M. Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Two television series (1960-63 and 1992-93) have been made in Great Britain.

During his "American" period, Simenon reached the height of his creative powers, and several novels of those years were inspired by the context in which they were written (Trois chambres à Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New York (1947), Maigret se fâche (1947)).

Simenon also wrote a large number of "psychological novels", such as La neige était sale (1948) or Le fils (1957), as well as several autobiographical works, in particular Je me souviens (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes (1981).

In 1966, Simenon was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.

In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 77th place. In the Walloon version he ended 10th place.

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maigret investigates a gang who are holding up jewellers and security guards collecting money from businesses. He's not really in control of the case due to recent new procedures introduced by the public prosecutor's office.

The case that really interests him is one involving the murder of Cuendet the burglar of the title, though I would have said that Cuendet wasn't 'lazy' more incredibly patient.

In the end, Maigret knows who murdered Cuendet - the burglar chose the wrong house at the wrong time - but the crime will go unpunished as the people responsible are well connected in Paris.

The gang are also caught and so both cases are closed, but Maigret seems to gain little satisfaction from this.

The book is 151 pages and the story just flies by as it's so easy to read.

The reader is there with Maigret at all times. There's no unnecesary detail and the characters of the people are well defined.

I can imagine myself going around Paris and seeing the places Maigret goes to in these stories and appreciating this is what real life was like at the time. There are no descriptions of the well-known tourist places, just the neighbourhoods Maigret knows and works in.

It's all incredibly impressive.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My latest Maigret. I love them all.

This one has a somewhat elegiac tone. Maigret is getting older, nearing retirement, and the world around him is changing. Specifically, the police world. Politicians are taking over, the police officer is being devalued while people with no experience but fancy education are running the show (this struck a particular bell for me: as a teacher, I feel like that's exactly what's happening in the United States today). So Maigret solves the case he thinks is important; the case that is primarily about people and not the property crimes his superiors are focusing on. As always, his interest is first and foremost the characters of the people involved in the crime.

Honoré Cuendet, a former French Legionnaire and (since adolescence) thief has been found murdered. Maigret is familiar with him from many encounters in the course of their careers. Cuendet likes to watch the people he robs and then steal from them while they are at home. As another character puts it, he likes to "steal a piece of their lives." Quiet, living with his mother, Cuendet is not your typical criminal. Maigret is fascinated by him and determined to solve the murder, if only for his own peace of mind.

Meanwhile, there is a flashy public hold-up of someone carrying a fortune of bank money. Maigret's superiors dismiss Cuendet's murder as a gangland killing. To them, he is completely unimportant, not like the banks who serve their financial interests. To Maigret, the bank thefts are of little interest. He prefers the human dramas. In addition, he liked Cuendet. To Maigret, the criminal, the poor, the dispossessed are as important as the wealthy. He serves the people. Also, he serves his own curiosity.

Another interesting entry in my Simenon readings. I can't wait to get on to the next!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno dei più bei Maigret che abbia letto finora. L’amarezza del commissario attraversa l’intero libro fino alla fine: si percepisce con chiarezza il suo disagio per le novità legislative che hanno cambiato, snaturandola, l’attività investigativa della polizia, alla quale viene affidato il solo ruolo di scrivani ( avete presente il commissario Montalbano quando viene sommerso dalle scartoffie?),costretti a collaborare con dei magistrati saccenti che liquidano i casi che non interessano e colpiscono l’opinione pubblica come “regolamento di conti” tra criminali. E’ così che viene catalogato l’omicidio di Honoré Cuendet, un uomo che vive con sua madre in un appartamentino di Parigi che Maigret conosce molto bene per averlo frequentato più volte quando l’uomo è stato arrestato in passato per i furti in case di ricchi parigini. Cuendet è un artigiano del furto, lavora da solo, si introduce nelle case dopo un lungo periodo di controllo dei movimenti degli abitanti esercitato da un appartamento o da una camera d’albergo, durante lunghe ore in cui l’uomo è seduto in poltrona, leggendo libri, fumando la pipa e mangiando cioccolata.
Maigret non è competente per le indagini sul caso, lo fa in sordina, di nascosto dai superiori, affiancando l’ispettore Fumel: risolvere il caso diventa per lui una sorta di omaggio a Cuendet, nei confronti del quale sente una istintiva affinità, quella di essere entrambi due uomini che, ognuno a proprio modo, penetrano nelle vite delle altre persone. Lui e Cuendet sono gli epigoni di un mondo che sta scomparendo, soppiantato da un mondo nuovo nel quale le persone contano sempre meno, e ciò è formalizzato dal nuovo codice penale francese, che punisce i delitti contro la persona solo dopo aver discettato per quattro quinti dei reati contro il patrimonio. La sensibilità di Simenon nei confronti dei cambiamenti sociali è sorprendente, come lo è la sua capacità di farcela sentire attraverso il personaggio che, pur essendo lontanissimo da lui, è sua creatura.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lunchtime Listen in June 20222
Maigret is now only a few years from retiring and is one of the "old guard" as the judiciary in France are taking more power and the lead in most big investigations, whilst dismissing smaller less important crimes as just minor.
An old acquaintance of Maigret's whom he has knocked heads with a few times is found brutally murdered in Bois de Bologne. Maigret is however tied to a big burglary case that the Judiciary are more interested in. He finds time however to speak to the Inspector who has been assigned to the murder and gives him all the details he can on the murdered man, who despite being a minor burglar, he much admired.
Whilst delving deep into the major burglaries, Maigret still dips occasionally into the murder of the man he admired, in fact at times he seems more focussed on the murder.

This book , is as ever brilliantly read by Gareth Armstrong, who gives the books so much life. I must admit I will take any and every opportunity to purchase all the Maigret's as GA has made it a mission to record them all.

This is one of the better books, although they are all really excellent as it just epitomises Maigret's strengths and attitudes. The one thing missing is we don't get a great deal of Madame Maigret.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie es oft ist am Ende eines „Maigrets“: Die Akte ist geschlossen und alle Probleme sind weiter offen.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again and again, Mr. Simenon proves that he's better than Balzac in creating characters and much better in developing stories than Agatha Christie and A. C. Doyle taken together...

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real joy to read; the sense of his career coming to an end with retirement some 2 years away is again here. However, amid that dissatisfaction of change not for the good comes a story regarding the methods of Maigret.
Full of warmth and a desire to get involved with the minutiae when ‘ordered’ to focus on the grown up police-work.
I love the genuine respect Maigret has for the habitual thief, the care and concern he shows for the deceased’s Mother and the humanity shown to the old prostitute.
The great detective’s methods are not miraculous rather drawn upon good people skills, observation and understanding of the criminal classes. He elevates everyone he meets to stand with him on common ground, without intimidation and judgement.
This is the story of two cases. Both solved up to a point. One dismissed as unimportant probably a gangland killing the other armed robberies. In this case it is vital to make arrests, as business and financial worries with political fallout possible.
Maigret, takes more care to find what happened to Cuendet, dumped like a dog at the side of the road. This story will warm the hearts of all Simenon’s readers who appreciate the characteristics he bestows on his wonderful creation - Maigret.
This is the story of the Lazy Burglar and why you must read this book.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently came across 14 Maigret’s in a charity bookshop and slowly reading through them. This one about a murdered burglar who Maigret liked is worthy of a 3.5 rating. He is working on another case where hold ups are occurring all over Paris. His superiors dismiss the murder of the burglar as a gangland killing. Maigret has worked out who is leading the gang and just needs to prove it. A shoot out gives him the opportunity.

Maigret secretly investigates the case with Inspector Fumel. Its interesting how Maigret complains about how property crimes take priority over murders. The bureaucracy of the changing police is a bugbear of his. He solves who is the hold up gang. He also works out who murdered Honore Cuendol the burglar. What I enjoyed is that he realizes he can never arrest the culprits as he would be laughed out of court with the lack of evidence. Not something you see with a modern crime novel where the murderer gets away.

[Barbarroja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si tuviese que escoger qué libros me llevaría a una isla desierta, serían las 72 novelas de Maigret.

[Márta Péterffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valamikor jó néhány Maigret-t olvastam, már csak azért is, mert szerettem az Albatrosz-könyveket. Nem rögzült annyira, nem lett kedvenc íróm, de ez a regény igazán tetszett!
Párizs hangulata, a főfelügyelő karaktere, minden érdekes volt, a lezárás is tetszett.
Mert hogy nem a „szabványos” krimi-befejezés volt, de illett a történethez.
Lehet, olvasok még Simenontól, ez is jó volt, nem az ismert főhőssel:
Az elátkozott hajó.

[Kuszma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talán ez volt a legjobb Maigret, amit eddig olvastam. Még akkor is tetszett volna, ha nem hal meg benne senki. Azzal nyilván nem én találom fel a spanyolviaszt, hogy Simenon könyvei nem kis részben atmoszféra-regények, ahol a párizsi kiskocsmák zamata és a Szajna-part legalább annyira része a történetnek, mint maga a bűn. De a jobb Simenonok ezen felül még nosztalgia-regények is, ahol Maigret jóindulatú, patriarchális melankóliával dörmög a bajsza alatt, mert a világ átalakul, az idő felgyorsul, a bürokratikus, jól fésült zsaruk pedig átveszik a „talpas” rendőrök helyét. (A nyugdíj meg két év múlva esedékes.) Ezt a hangulatot külön kiemeli az áldozat figurája: Cuendet, a régi vágású, stílusos betörő olyan, mintha Maigret tükörképe lenne a másik oldalról. Simenon remekül érzékelteti a kettejük közti kapcsolatot azzal, hogy Maigret a nyomozás során mintha emlékhelyeket látogatna, úgy járja be Cuendet utolsó napjainak helyszíneit: miután megviszi a halálhírt az anyának, fehérbort iszik annál a vendéglői asztalnál, ahol nemrég még Cuendet ült, hogy végezetül megismerje Cuendet legnagyobb titkát is. Megkockáztatom az állítást: a jó formában lévő Simenon bizony Krúdy irodalmi rokona – ugyanaz a vonzódás a tegnap iránt, amit – bár morog azért az ember – a változás szelíd elfogadása kísér. Jó, hát Maigret nem eszik annyit, mint a Krúdy-hősök. Ellenben többet iszik.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georges Simenon has written scores of novels about his detective Inspector/Superintendent hero Maigret. Maigret And The Idle Burglar was written later in the author's career, but adds a few wrinkles to the Maigret mythos. For one thing, the old police sages have been supplanted by the Young Turks in the prosecutor's office: The old veterans are being shouldered aside by ambitious young clerks. The interest is less in solving murders than in solving crimes against property.

When the body of an old burglar acquaintance of Maigret's is found in the Bois de Boulogne with his face bashed in, the policeman is appalled that his superiors consider it a mere gangland killing. The idea is that if the crooks kill one another, it is all to the good.

Except for one thing: Maigret rather liked Honoré Cuendot. He had an interesting modus operandi. He studied his potential victims in great detail and made a point of robbing them when they were at home. Instead of concentrating on the flashy bank robberies like the rest of his department, Maigret decides to inquire into Cuendot's life, visiting first his mother and, eventually, his girlfriend, an Alsatian hatmaker.

Along the way, he also solves the bank robberies. The key was Cuendot. Not that he was involved in the bank robberies, but discovering as much as he did about one hood, Maigret puts himself in the way of intuitively learning about them all. And Maigret is nothing if not intuitive.

[Adelina Traicu · Rating 3 out of 5]

#10carti10zile
O carte alertă, la final mi-am dat seama că nu merge pe ideea: ghicește cine e criminalul, ci pe construirea de personaje. Poate o sa mai citesc ceva de la Simenon in viitor, că am de unde alege..

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dead man was disfigured in an attempt to hide his identity, but Maigret recognised him.

[Ariadne Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuendet is a special sort of burglar who only breaks into the houses of rich people while the inhabitants are at home. Inspector Maigret has met with him often during his career and suspects him of plenty of burglaries, but has only been able to convict him once years ago. One day Cuendet is found dead in a street with his head bashed in. Maigret's superiors write it off as a quarrel between gangsters. But Maigret feeling a strange sort of kinship to Cuendet is not ready to write his murder off that easily.

The pace of this novel was slow but not in a bad way. Think deliberate rather than boring.
What I enjoyed most about the book were the careful characterizations in it. My favorites were Cuendet and his mother who are portrayed as multi-faceted and came across as quite real. I also liked Maigret with his grumbling about the world changing. I'd have liked to get to know Madame Maigret better though. Maybe in one of his other novels?

I judged the perpetrators less harshly than Maigret. Discovering that someone broke into your home at night while you're in it sounds terrifying. And yes, you could argue that Cuendet has never killed anyone, but they had no way of knowing that at the time. They should have acted different afterwards, but their actions were at least partly self defense.

[Ravi Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

I attempted to read a Maigret novel when I was far too young to appreciate it. Now I read it in one sitting - granted this is a novella, but still something I never do anymore.

This is a masterful, insightful and complex combination of character study and social realism, masked as deceptively simple storytelling, language and plot. Shocking details - double murder, incest, adultery - are presented in an authentically world-weary, almost indifferent, manner, which in the hands of a lesser writer would have been milked for sensational plot points and back cover copy.

Maigret is a detective because it allows Simenon to come up close to the forgettable corners of Paris and their forgettable denizens, that he knows and loves so well.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is quite often the case (for me anyway) with Simenon the plot is fairly superfluous to the enjoyment of the story. Maigret's cynicism about and dislike of, the system he is obliged to work under is described in a masterly way by this great writer. I just love the way the reader is allowed inside the mind of Maigret. This together with the descriptions of the characters and the places they inhabit make these books marvellous reading. They always make me want to return to Paris but unfortunately it's not the same place these days.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

" ... In quei momenti, d'altronde, era meno spaventato dall'idea che di lì a due anni sarebbe andato in pensione. Il mondo cambiava, Parigi cambiava, tutto cambiava, uomini e metodi. Senza la pensione che a volte era per lui uno spauracchio non si sarebbe forse sentito spaesato in un mondo che non capiva più? ... "
Passato e presente che si incontrano e scontrano, una fase di passaggio nella quale Maigret si trova a disagio, forse per la prima volta, incapace di affrontare ma soprattutto di accettare la realtà

[Martina Sartor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un Maigret vicino alla pensione, sempre più intimista e nostalgico. Che non si trova più a suo agio coi nuovi magistrati e col loro modo di procedere. Obbedisce ai loro ordini, e risolve anche il caso di loro competenza, ma segue anche il filo logico/sentimentale dei suoi pensieri e si occupa di chi non ha voce ed è solo un morto in più per i giornali.
Un Maigret che fa venir nostalgia anche della Parigi di un tempo. Quella Parigi conosciuta solo attraverso i racconti di mamma, vista solo nelle sue foto anni '50.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because genre fiction typically pays little attention to prose style and subordinates character to plot, I lost interest in it decades ago. Georges Simenon, a Belgian novelist who, between 1930 and 1980, produced an eye-popping two hundred novels, avoids both these failings, a fact the more remarkable since he often cranked out 60 to 80 pages a day.

The Lazy Burglar of the title is Honore Cuendet who, as the novel opens, has had his face bashed in, his body dumped in the street. Police Inspector Maigret has a history with Cuendet, having nabbed him for various jobs in the past. But with the passing of time, Cuendet has become more refined, both in his methods as a burglar and in his awareness of his rights under the penal code (he keeps a well-thumbed copy in his room), so Maigret's pursuit of him becomes progressively fruitless. And now the man is dead.

I'll leave the details of the story there, unspoiled, and turn to the novel's merits. They are all on display in the work's first two chapters, twenty pages or so that showcase most of the reasons I'm addicted to an artist of whom I'd never heard six months ago.

Georges Simenon knows how to set a scene. When, in the novel's opening pages, Maigret is roused from his bed on a wintry Paris morning, you can see the solitary circles of white light cast by the street lamps, and you can feel both the frost in the air and the unwelcoming cold leather of the taxicab seat.

The first character you meet -- besides the corpse -- is Fumel, an odd and amusing character who demonstrates Simenon's ability to succinctly build character on a foundation of delightful idiosyncrasy and personal history.

Fumel was already ugly then, and people already felt sorry for him, while at the same time making fun of him, firstly because his parents had taken it onto their heads to name him Aristide, and secondly because, in spite of his appearance, he was always getting into amorous tangles.

He had got married, and after a year his wife had left him without leaving a forwarding address. He had moved heaven and earth to trace her. For years, a description of her had been in the pocket of every policeman and gendarme in France, and Fumel would rush to the morgue every time a female corpse was fished out of the Seine.

It had become legendary.

"I can't get it out of my head that something terrible happened to her and it was all my fault."

He had a wall-eye. It was brighter than the other, almost transparent, which made his gaze unsettling.

"I'll always lover her. And I know I'll find her again one day."

Did he still hope that, at the age of fifty one? Not that it prevented him from falling in love periodically. Fate continued to be unkind to him, because all his affairs were incredibly complicated and ended badly.

Lending an often moving human interest to all this writerly finesse is the author's persistent emphasis on the humanity even of the criminals that Maigret must doggedly pursue and bring to bar. We are never allowed to forget that everyone has a story. Having pursued Cuendet for two decades, Maigret takes it on himself to inform the burglar's mother Justine of his death. At the end of a scene that would have been very touching in any event, Maigret retrieves his hat and pauses at the door and turns to tell Justine: "I held your son in high regard." And he means it, and you know he does, and you sense you would have also.

For all the delight they afford, Simenon's Maigret novels are also very minor investments of time. They run, on average, to a little over a hundred pages. Which means that, at his most frantically productive, Simenon may have cranked this one out in a couple of days.

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this was not a memorable book since I read it in 2013, read the whole thing again just now, and didn't remember that I'd read it before until I entered it here on Goodreads. Well, what do you know. Penguin changed the title slightly, but still...
My earlier review from 2 October 2012:
I think the earlier Maigrets are overall better than the later ones. At least I find it true in this case. This had the feel of a book that was churned out by someone who was riding on reputation, rather than one that was written with interest or enthusiasm.

[Gaetano Laureanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il nostro commissario, ormai alle soglie della pensione, è costretto ad assistere ai cambiamenti procedurali all’interno della polizia giudiziaria, e non gli piace la piega che stanno imprimendo al modo di indagare:

Ora, lo costringevano a barare! Intendeva quelli della Procura, del ministero degli Interni, tutti quei nuovi legislatori insomma, usciti dalle grandi scuole, che si erano messi in testa di organizzare il mondo secondo la loro mentalità ristretta.
La polizia, per loro, costituiva un ingranaggio inferiore, un po' vergognoso, della Giustizia con la G maiuscola. Bisognava diffidare, tenerla d'occhio, lasciarle un ruolo subalterno.

Il caso assegnatogli ufficialmente riguarda una banda di rapinatori, ma lui è interessato soprattutto ad un altro caso, un omicidio che è subito superficialmente etichettato come un regolamento di conti.

C’è malumore e un pizzico di ribellione in Maigret verso questa grande attenzione della Procura rivolta solo al caso dei rapinatori, di certo in quanto pericolosi per i poteri economici:

Dimentichi che ufficialmente in questo momento mi occupo delle rapine. Sono più gravi perché minacciano le banche, le compagnie di assicurazioni, le grosse aziende.

E le sue considerazioni sono amaramente attuali:

La gente, Pardon, immagina che siamo qui per scoprire i criminali e ottenere le loro confessioni. E' un'altra di quelle idee sbagliate come tante, a cui si è talmente abituati che nessuno pensa più di verificarle.

In realtà, il nostro ruolo principale è di proteggere innanzitutto lo Stato, il governo qualunque esso sia, le istituzioni, quindi la moneta e il bene pubblico, quello privato e infine, per ultima cosa, la vita degli individui...
Ha mai avuto la curiosità di sfogliare il Codice penale? Deve arrivare a pagina 177 per trovare dei testi che riguardino i reati contro la persona….

Mettiamo che tre quarti del Codice, se non i quattro quinti, riguardino i beni mobili e immobili, le monete false, … insomma tutto quello che si riferisce al denaro... A questo titolo l'articolo 274 sulla mendicità per strada viene prima dell'articolo 295, che riguarda l'omicidio volontario…

Ho apprezzato, come spesso accade con Simenon, la sua capacità descrittiva di personaggi, stati d’animo, paesaggi, abbozzati con arte, con poche pennellate, ma con un realismo emotivo ed evocativo davvero eccezionale. Espressivo anche nei silenzi e nelle parole non scritte. Come nel finale.

[Nick Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in the early 1960s, this is the newest of the Maigret novels I have read over the past few years. Compared to the early 1930s Maigret novels, it is better constructed – but maybe this just means that its detective narrative follows the conventions of the detective novel in a more conventional way…and I don’t really read Maigret novels for their well constructed mystery plots. Unusually, there are two cases in Maigret and the Idle Burglar. First, there is the official case, the investigation of a series of jewellery robberies: overall, this just putters along in the background. The second case, the murder of the ‘idle burglar’, is the central case, but Maigret is not officially part of the investigation. Maigret becomes interested in the case because he had known the burglar for many years and during the investigation he learns more about the burglar, the events that led up to his murder, but also his habits, the way he operated and his character: for Maigret, this understanding of character is always more important than a mechanical understanding of events: Maigret is always a more attractive character than the heroes of British classic crime novels because he is interested in the ‘whys’, the ‘hows’ being secondary. At the end, the first narrative is resolved in a normal manner, with the discovery and arrest of the criminals; the second narrative is not resolved in the way we probably expect in a detective novel: it is resolved in that Maigret understands what happened, but it is legally unresolved in that the murderers are not apprehended. As well as the detective narratives, Maigret and the Idle Burglar has a further concern – and this is the first of the Maigret novels where I’m aware that Simenon raised the concern. The police have been reorganised at the top and there is a new elite taking charge: they have all been to the same schools and universities and are pushing for reform from the top in the name of modernisation and efficiency, while lacking the day to day knowledge of policing that comes through experience. I imagine this reflects the top down reforming project of the Fifth Republic, but I don’t know enough about French history to know whether Simenon draws an accurate picture. It does, however, create a new tension within the Maigret novels, that between Maigret’s experienced detective and the new and bland elite.

[Loki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Már lassan mindegyik Maigret kötetre azt mondom, hogy az a kedvencem. Erre is. Maigret és csapata megold egy olyan ügyet, ami nem is érdekli annyira a főfelügyelőt, mert egy személyesebb és kisebb ügy jobban foglalkoztatja. Egy magányosan dolgozó betörőt holtan, kidobva találnak az utcán. Az ügyészek elintézik egy "alvilági leszámolás"-sal, a többiek meg el akarják temetni az ügyet politikai okokból. Maigret és a társfelügyelő, akit ráállítottak az ügyre közösen, szinte suttyomban próbálják kibogozni az ügyet. Ugyan Maigret a "kedveltem" kifejezést túl erősnek tartja, én úgy gondolom, hogy a betörőt ő mégiscsak kedvelte annyira, hogy ne hagyja az ügyét megoldatlanul. Egy furcsa, de nagyon kedvelhető betörő szomorú sorsát ismerhettem meg.
Simenon 150 oldalakba rengeteg sorsot és újabbnál újabb karaktereket képes felvonultatni, amit zseniálisnak tartok. Nem tudom megunni.

[Mehmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good later Maigret, where the detective ruminates over his coming obsolescence and that of the people of his age in general. To an extent this is shared by Simenon’s own opinion that the genre itself was slowly shifting away from anything he recognised. The book itself is a defence (a successful one) of the Maigret formula in the paralel of the life style of its victim, understated, emotional, working class, and immersive in human life instead of a technical or logical process. Yet even as a retrenching, the book surprises with innovation, as this is one of the few books where two cases are tackled in one. All in all, a treat for those who were immersed in Maigret already.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting 'Maigret' novel indeed. There are two plots going on at the same time (as occasionally happens in a 'Maigret' novel) but the two plots aren't connected at all, Maigret's work is obstructed by pompous magistrates, Inspector Lognon makes a cameo appearance (always nice to have him around), and there is a shoot out (the best 'Maigret' novels, in my view, are those featuring gangsters). It is also one of the rare 'Maigret' novels in which... how shall I say it? Justice isn't necessarily done at the end.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simenon began writing these Maigret novels in 1931, and 30 years on he produced this 57th entry. Just a good as ever. Solidly grounded in the “police procedural” corner of the mystery novel ouevre, but so well fleshed out with Maigret’s life and persona, and interspersed with pithy commentary on life and human nature, that I cannot tire of these books. Simenon is a charter member of the Whodunnit Hall of Fame...

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite, but I enjoyed it

[Three · Rating 4 out of 5]

finisce troppo bruscamente, ma i personaggi del ladro pigro, della madre e della compagna di lui, sono memorabili

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an awful lot to like about Maigret in AND THE IDLE BURGLAR. Despite dreadful facial injuries, Maigret knows the identity of this man instantly from a single tattoo on his body. The victim, Cuendet, is well known to him. He's a career burglar - a Swiss man, who started out very young as a run of the mill burglar; graduating after a period in the Foreign Legion to an extremely professional, cautious and studied burglar. He has a particular method - he carefully cases out a target, using the newspapers and social magazines to pick a victim; frequently moving into a room or hotel nearby so that he can carefully watch his intended target. He often enters houses when the victims are home, quietly leaving with their jewelery or money, not even waking up the householders. He causes no damage, he lives very simply - he even hoards a lot of his booty. And he has earned a grudging respect from Maigret. Maigret is therefore deeply aggrieved when the French Justice system decides that there are bigger fish to fry than solve a seeming underworld vendetta.

But the French Justice system is currently upside down as far as Maigret is concerned - the police don't control their own actions - Public Prosecutors now control the priorities and methods of investigation, and that is causing a lot of resentment in long-term career Police. So whilst he is seemingly concentrating on finding a gang of hold-up men - because Justice is now obsessed with crime against money - not violence against people in Maigret's opinion - he also quietly works on solving the killing of Cuendet.

In the days before mobile telephones, faxes, email and other forms of instant communication, investigation's proceeded differently. Part of the attraction of these books is the way that a police force knows it's constituency - it's citizens. They sniff the wind and find the scent, and their methodology doesn't feel overly dated because the characterisations in Simenon's books are so vivid and so enjoyable. The sense of indignation that is almost seething from Maigret's pores over the focus in crime fighting is palpable.