Maigret y la vieja dama

Inspector Maigret #33

by Georges Simenon, Núria Petit (Translator)

No cabe duda de que Valentine Besson, apreciada por todos sus vecinos del pueblo normando de Étretat, es una anciana frágil, menuda, de tez sonrosada y rasgos finos. La relación con sus principales allegados, sin embargo, es más sus hijos y su nuera parecen resentidos con ella por haber derrochado la fortuna de su difunto esposo, un exitoso industrial farmacéutico, y obligarlos a llevar una vida modesta en la que un día fue su segunda residencia en la costa. Cuan­do Rose, la criada de la señora Besson, es envenenada, la anciana, convencida de ser el auténtico objetivo del crimen, decide pedir ayuda al comisario Maigret, quien para resolver el caso deberá sacar a la luz los secretos mejor guardados de esta comunidad pesquera aparentemente apacible.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, France, Noir, Mystery Thriller, French Literature

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

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

[Jim Fonseca]

Here’s our mystery: an older woman takes a sip of her sleeping medication and tells her maid: toss it – it tastes bitter. The maid, who is a sound sleeper and snores within five minutes of lying down, instead drinks it and dies from arsenic poisoning.



If the poison was intended for the older lady, why? She’s barely comfortable financially, so it’s not like she has a lot of money that her two stepsons or her daughter might want to inherit.

Maigret does what he does best – he wanders the bars of this charming coastal village in Brittany, eating, drinking and getting the dirt from locals. Just about every night, he goes back to the lady’s house to drink cognac and finds himself falling under her charming spell. What would Mrs. Maigret think?

I found the story different from the dozen-or-so other Maigrets I have read in that Maigret has the most candid conversation about sexuality. The elderly woman’s daughter is a modern free-spirited woman and Maigret presses her with questions about her sex life and she responds. He doesn’t quite ask her ‘How many men have you slept with’ – but almost!

A good story and a break from more serious reading.



I enjoy reading a Maigret as a break from more serious topics. I’ve read a dozen or so but I won’t list all of my reviews below, just the few I’ve read that have ratings higher than 3.8 on GR:

Maigret’s Pickpocket

Maigret and the Loner

Maigret and the Madwoman

Maigret Has Scruples

Maigret Sets a Trap

Maigret and the Headless Corpse

Dinan, a French coastal town, from brittanytourism.fr
The author from thenewyorker.com

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

February 2024 Lunchtime Listen

Unlike a lot of the Maigret lunchtime listens, I hadn't read this prior to listening to it. We started yesterday and with the weather still cold/damp/raining/grey/overcast it was , given this is after all a Maigret, really easy to listen on into the afternoons.

Maigret is visited in his office in Paris by an elderly but glamorous lady, who want him come to her home in a Normandy coastal village where her maid has been poisoned. At almost the same time Maigret's chief calls him an there is a request from a minister for him to investigate the same crime.

Making his way to the small village he gets the latest information from the local Inspector Gaston, and then goes to revisit the old lady whom he had met in Paris.

As ever Maigret wanders around, talking to all the people involved in the crime, trying to gauge their character and also their involvement as he pieces all the aspects of the crime together.
As ever this story is just so Maigret-y, so French and so wonderful. Read brilliantly as ever by Gareth Armstrong.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

For much of Maigret and the Old Lady, I was as befuddled as poor Inspector Castaing, a LeHavre policeman assigned to assist Chief Inspector Maigret. What is this famous inspector from the Police Judiciaire at Quai des Orfèvres doing? He seems to be bumbling about! But, as always with Maigret, there is so much more going on than our layman’s eye can see.

The charming still beautiful widow Valentine Besson, the eponymous old lady, calls on Maigret to ask him to investigate the poisoning of her maid, Rose Trochu. Madame Besson insists that poison was actually meant for her. So Maigret leaves Paris for Étretat in Normandy to discover. What it turns out there is plenty to discover about the Besson family, about which almost nothing is as it seems. The ending took me completely by surprise, and I highly, highly recommend this novel, the 33rd book in this reliably excellent series.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, a pleasure to read. Strong characters, much philosophy and an unexpected end. The case doesn't tell you too much, as a servant is poisoned, but, as usual, there are a lot of hidden surprises.

Ps: We have also a drink-loving Inspector. calvados, beer, wine...

[Three · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maigret lontano da Parigi si muove da un paesino normanno all'altro, da un bistrot ad una villetta signorile ad una casa di pescatori, senza mai perdere - nonostante i moltissimi calvados - né la capacità di leggere fra le righe di quanto gli viene raccontato, né l'empatia con le persone che incontra.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un nuovo caso da risolvere porta Maigret a Étretat, in Normandia, e questa volta la vittima è la giovane domestica di Valentine Besson, la vecchia signora del titolo, che chiede aiuto al celebre commissario. Rose Trochu è morta per avvelenamento da cianuro dopo aver assunto la medicina che era destinata alla sua padrona e, come i gialli di Agatha Christie insegnano, quando c'è di mezzo il veleno di solito ci sono di mezzo anche le donne ;) I sospetti sin dall'inizio si concentrano sui componenti della famiglia Besson che Maigret conoscerà uno per uno, ma Rose non sarà l'unica vittima di questo caso...
Ammetto di non essere riuscita ad indovinare l'assassino neanche questa volta, ma la soluzione dell'omicidio mi ha piacevolmente intrattenuta anche se non reputo questo Maigret tra i migliori. Rimane comunque un buon giallo di intrattenimento.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the solving of the case is interesting the process where we follow the investigation is a little repeatative and fails to really capture the imagination.
Maigret seems to be an observer rather than a detective. He has asked around and spoken to the various people involved but as no real evidence to close the case. Unfortunately his inability to act leads to further tragedy after which the motive, means and circumstances of the crimes can be fully explained.
Simenon could easily turn out a Maigret novel at this time; this one has a familiar setting in a coastal town away from Paris. In trying to kill the Old Lady someone was unlucky enough to be thwarted by her maid drinking the medicine the poison was in, thus showing their hand.
A clever plot with a limited number of suspects. No-one comes out of it particularly well each of the characters has flaws and Maigret shows his frustration at times by the whole circumstances and the lack of honesty and truthfulness.
I loved the line: "The upstanding citizens who protest against the numberof bars are unaware that they are a godsend for the police." - Spoken about their ability to keep watch in the warm. However, like many a Maigret story the consumption of alcohol is a series passtime for the Chief Inspector in talking and setting people at their ease. Strangely he nearly dozes off and the Inspector assisting him questions his mentor's reputation as the great Maigret as the case appears to be stalling.
A good read but not the most interesting of stories in this series.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a duplicitous old lady. Once again Maigret is in Normandy at Etretat investigating the murder of Rose an elderly woman’s maid. Valentine Besson appears to be an eccentric chirpy old lady with blue eyes. She plies Maigret with Calvados (an apple or pear brandy). Maigret visits her several times and builds a picture of her and the family.

Inspector Castsing is bemused by Maigret’s methods. However, he follows orders and with the second killing everything becomes clear.

The family of Valentine are greedy, cowardly and promiscuous. The motive is hidden in the story but makes sense once the emerald ring is found and turns out to be real.

I liked this story in the atmosphere of the seaside town, the fog and the fact the murderer is a geriatric.

[The Frahorus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stavolta il commissario Maigret si trasferisce in Normandia dove deve indagare sulla morte della domestica di un'anziana, che ha proprio chiesto il suo aiuto. Ben presto si scoprirà che la ragazza è stata avvelenata, ma il bicchiere conteneva la medicina per la signora. Un errore fatale che vi ha bevuto la sua domestica?

Ritroviamo l'ambientazione che piace di più a Simenon, tra barche e pub spruzzati dallo iodio marino, tra pescatori e paesani che chiacchierano e nessuno sembra aver visto nulla.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, engaging crime fiction novel where detective Maigret uncovers a lost fortune and poisonous family relationships. Valentine Besson, an old retired lady who had been married twice. Her second husband was a rich beauty products businessman who eventually lost most of his fortune. The story begins with Valentine’s maid, Rosie, being poisoned, accidentally taking poison meant for the old lady.

This book was first published in France in 1950. The 35th book in the Maigret series.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I’ll admit it, this one annoyed me. Maigret seemed to be sleepwalking through the whole thing, half cut and manipulated. I know he got there in the end, but it was tedious by Simenon’s high standards.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 75 'Maigret' novels and I have now read 73 of them. This was the 73rd and it is an excellent one. The small seaside town where the action takes place is rendered very atmospherically. The characters involved in the drama are well-drawn. The climax is genuinely surprising. Simenon was a wonderful writer; there is really little more to be said than that.

[Antje · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Bestform befand sich Simenon bei diesem seiner Maigrets offenbar nicht. Wir haben eine Tote und eine Reihe Verdächtige. Die Auflösung des Tatgeschehens kroch gähnend langweilig vor sich hin. Maigret schien nicht wirklich Lust an dem Fall zu haben und verlor sich stattdessen immer wieder in Kindheitserinnerungen, Müdigkeit und im Alkohol.
Damit der Leser auch wirklich daran glaubet, sich in der Normandie zu befinden, flocht Simenon brav wie klischeehaft jede Menge Calvados, Cidre und derlei bekannte Ortschaften in die Handlung ein. Für mich wenig überzeugend. Ein Buch, das zum Vergessen einlädt.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Inspector Maigret book, having loved the TV adaptations I thought it was time I tried reading Georges Simenon and his famous creation. These new Penguin editions are short novels, this one was 177 pages, so a nice easy read.

Inspector Maigret is asked to go to Etretat, a seaside town in Normandy to investigate the murder of a housemaid called Rose. He is asked by her employer the ‘Old Lady’ from the title of the book, to solve the murder. He then spends most of his time slightly inebriated, as all the people he speaks to offer him alcohol! But as ever, the famous Maigret comes to his conclusions and sees all. A great little book.

[John Frankham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read/listen. Still good.

Maigret investigates the death of the maid of a once-wealthy widow in a seaside village in the Le Havre area. The widow's sleeping draught tasted bitter, and she only took a sip. Why, then, did the maid drink it later?

Dysfunctional families, of the widow and of the maid, provide a complex investigation and a host of suspects. Maigret talks, drinks, thinks, but can he solve the case before there is more bloodshed ......?

[Sandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amo i libri di Simenon con protagonista l'ispettore Maigret e quindi per me meritano tutti 5 stelle! :-)

[Ladyce West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frequentemente me perguntam como consigo ler mais de quarenta livros por ano quando ainda tenho outras vidas para cuidar, como minhas aulas, escrever, participar da vida em geral, fazer compras, cozinhar, ter amigos, ver séries, ir ao cinema. É fácil. Leio em qualquer lugar. Nesses últimos dias fiquei presa ao telefone ouvindo música de espera por muitos minutos. Tempos suficiente para ler, A velha senhora de Simenon, com tradução de Raul de Sá Barbosa. Este livro, que na edição de bolso que tenho, compreende cento e oitenta e oito páginas, foi inteiramente consumido à espera de que alguém do outro lado da linha me atendesse.

Gosto de Simenon. Gosto principalmente de seus romances “duros”. Mas isso não quer dizer que não goste de sua escrita policial. Aliás gosto muito dela. Nesta história temos o Inspetor Maigret resolvendo um assassinato fora de Paris. O que me atrai nas obras em que Maigret investiga um crime, é que sempre no final acreditamos ter tido todos os elementos necessários para fazer as mesmas deduções que ele faz. Porque é assim a narrativa. Tudo importa. mas vem em ordem caótica.

Simenon é um dos escritores com maior número de obras publicadas e um dos mais traduzidos no mudo. Na introdução a este livro, soube que das mais de quatrocentas e cinquenta obras do autor, setenta e cinco tem o Inspetor Maigret como principal personagem. Não é só um jogo de palavras que intriga o leitor, aqui e ali há encanto nas descrições de lugares, na atmosfera local, das pequenas cidades ou dos bairros em que a história se desenvolve, assim como nas memórias que alguns detalhes trazem ao melancólico policial. Aqui está, por exemplo sua primeira impressão da casa que visita pela primeira vez.

“O portão não estava fechado, e ele o empurrou; depois, não achando a campainha, entrou no jardim. Jamais vira tal profusão de plantas numa área tão pequena, Os arbustos em flor eram tão espessos que pareciam uma pequena selva, e no menor espaço livre havia dálias, lobélias, crisântemos e outras flores que Maigret só vira reproduzidas em cores vivas nos pacotes de sementes nas vitrines. Parecia que a velha senhora se dispusera a usar todos eles.” [31]

Uma das características de Simenon é que seus personagens são tridimensionais e sempre caracterizados com alguma ternura, mesmo os mais infames. Há uma compreensão do ser humano, quase empatia, mesmo pelos elementos mais desprezíveis, como se Maigret , Simenon, compreendesse as razões dos maus comportamentos mesmo que ele não concorde com eles.

Pode parar para ler esse inteligente romance policial. Vale um fim de semana em casa, neste inverno gélido, numa poltrona, manta no colo, alguma bebida quente ao lado. Só não recomendo o cachimbo que Maigret e Simenon têm em comum.

[Jaime Barcelo Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

«No opinaba nada. La miraba, con los ojos un poco enturbiados y el sol jugando entre los dos. Una sonrisa vaga flotaba en sus labios — la señora Maigret habría dicho que estaba alelado — mientras se preguntaba, sin tomarse nada a lo trágico, como en un juego, si era posible desmontar a una mujer como aquélla.»

Mi primera experiencia leyendo a Simenon ha sido grata. Tengo la sensación de que apenas he arañado la superficie, y sin embargo he disfrutado mucho de su narrativa contemplativa, del delicado equilibrio con que superpone los diálogos, que avanzan la trama mientras dibujan personajes ricos en matices y las concisas descripciones que provee de Étretat, que lejos de limitarse a mostrar lo material del pueblecito, sirven de excusa para adentrarse en los anhelos y nostalgias de Maigret.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maigret visits a Normandy seaside resort to investigate the death by poison of a maid, Rose Trochu.
Rose worked for the "old lady" of the title, Valentine Besson, a widow whose family paid her a birthday visit on the day of the poisoning. Madame Besson is convinced she was the intended victim.

Maigret finds out a lot about Valentine and her family, their lost fortune and complex relationships. Another killing takes place and the reason for both deaths is found to be in the old adage -"The love of money is the root of evil".

I had mixed feelings about this novel especially over the depiction of Valentine's daughter Arlette.

3.5 stars.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il migliore giallo di Simenon che ho letto finora, ambientato in una cittadina balneare della Normandia alla fine della stagione, in Settembre, quindi con un'aria di malinconia che non guasta. Fin dal principio non è chiaro se la vittima dovesse essere colei che effettivamente viene uccisa - Rose, la cameriera della Bicoque di Valentine Besson - o la stessa vecchia signora, Valentine Besson, a cui era destinata la medicina. Qualche dubbio sul colpevole, effettivamente, viene fin da subito, ma è bello veder raccogliere gli indizi e le piste che portano a entrambe le possibilità, e soprattutto, i moventi.

[Tábata Kotowiski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minha primeira leitura de Simonon e já curti o Maigret! Me lembrou um pouco de Poirot e Sherlock em relação ao método investigativo... parecem que estão perdidos durante a investigação mas no final tudo se encaixa perfeitamente, pegando o culpado e deixando todo mundo boquiaberto.
Embora eu já imaginasse o desfecho, a leitura foi leve e divertida. :-)

[Effie · Rating 3 out of 5]

B.R.A.CE. 2018 4 βιβλία που διαδραματίζονται σε διαφορετική χώρα το καθένα

[Nanosynergy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Maigret. Maigret investigates the attemped murder (poisoning) of wealthy widow Valentine Besson that results in the maid's death.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical Maigret cocktail

As soon as you smell money, you know there will be sordid doings in this seaside town. And a new drink: picon-grenadine, to add to the drinks cupboard. Add a touch of fog, an old woman and her nouveaux riche children, and the confused local police chief, and you have all the ingredients for a typical Maigret. Have we read it all before? Yes. Is it still fun. You bet.

[Melanie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some well-written descriptive writing, but it wasn't always clear to me which character was speaking and I thought the plot was a bit corny. I found Maigret's unpredictability a bit intriguing, though far from endearing, and was more interested in the character of Arlette Sudre, who seemed to be a very damaged young woman....

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In French. Yesss...

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read, Simenon fitted so much in and kept the pace and revelations just right. On the back is a quote from a reviewer which I have to agree with: "A genuinely baffling puzzle"

[Thako klimiashvili · Rating 3 out of 5]

um i dont exactly know what i think about it, like it was good? it wasnt bad kay.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beside the seaside…

Valentine Besson is the old lady of the title, a still charming widow who lives in a small seaside town in Normandy. She comes to Paris to ask Maigret to investigate the death of her maid, Rose Trochu. Lest we should think this is because she cares about the girl’s death, Mme Besson makes it very clear that her real concern is that she believes the poison that killed Rose was meant for herself. Coincidentally, Mme Besson’s stepson has also approached Maigret’s boss to request that Maigret should help in the investigation, since he believes it’s beyond the abilities of the local force. So Maigret finds himself off to spend a few days at the seaside, trying to unravel the complicated family dynamics that seem to underlie the murder…

Valentine’s husband had been a rich man for a while, having developed a popular skincare lotion. But he had lost most of his money on wild speculations before he died, leaving Valentine comfortably provided for, but not wealthy. He also left two sons from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage to Valentine. Had Valentine been rich, suspicion would naturally have fallen on these three, but they would gain little financially from her death so Maigret must look for another motive, and that proves elusive.

The setting of the small seaside town is done well, with Maigret reminiscing over holidays he has spent in similar places with his wife. The plot is also interesting, with the search for a motive being the major part of the mystery – once it is solved, the rest falls into place. Simenon shows the rather careless attitude of the Besson family to Rose, with the casual assumption that she was so unimportant that no one could have deliberately intended to kill her. It’s a strange kind of snobbery that suggests one must be a certain class to even be worthy of murder, or at least to have that murder be worthy of investigation by someone of the stature of Maigret. Even Maigret spends a good deal of time with the Bessons before he bothers to visit Rose’s family, which I must say didn’t endear him to me. The Trochus are conscious and resentful of this kind of dismissal of Rose’s death as merely being a fortuitous accident that got in the way of the more important intended murder of Valentine. Simenon shows this kind of class distinction quite subtly and the only characters who really come over sympathetically are Rose’s bereaved family.

However, even more than usual Maigret spends his time going from bar to bar drinking, or sitting with the old lady drinking. Everywhere he goes the thing that seems most on his mind is whether he’ll be offered a drink or not. At one point he actually falls asleep while talking to Valentine, not altogether surprising given that he’d already put away enough alcohol that day to sink the entire French fleet. This wouldn’t have been quite so annoying had it seemed as if he was getting anywhere with the investigation, or even trying. But he really just chats to people in an aimless way and allows events to unfold until the solution becomes unavoidably obvious. He does spot one or two things the local force had missed, but he doesn’t do anything with them – I’m being vague to avoid spoilers. I felt that when the local police detective questioned whether the great man was worthy of his reputation, he had a point! I certainly wouldn’t put this case down as a success, but Maigret seemed quite satisfied with his own performance.

So I have rather mixed feelings about this one. There’s enough in it to make it interesting, but I felt Simenon was to some extent simply going through the motions, keeping Maigret wandering around drinking and doing not much else till Simenon felt he could reasonably reveal the solution and bring the book to an end. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Gareth Armstrong who as usual did a fine job.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Sofia Capriani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was published in 1950, which means that at the time Simenon already published a lot of novels and a lot of "Maigret police novels". It is astonishing that after so many already published works, he once again succeeded in crafting a persuasive and interesting case, although for those who already read fair share of his work some characters and setting seem vaguely familiar.
Novel is set in Normandy, in picturesque town which is - with several grand hotels and casino - now at the service of tourists as well as the place where several owners of small villas spend their summers. The old lady from the title lives there the whole year in her picture perfect residence surrounded with fairy tale garden. The sound of Atlantic ocean and its waves is omnipresent, but more often that not ominous and threatening.
The place is not tourist heaven for very long time. It has been fishermen village, and the town which now rose out of it, is still surrounded with fishermen habitations and settlements. Women from the surrounding are heavy and work hard, families tend to themselves and don't like strangers. They resent anything that is strange to their inner circle, including their own who managed to escape from sombre and difficult life into which they were born.
This is the framework within which we are confronted with highly disfunctional family of (formerly) wealthy industrialist. Characters are, as always, well crafted. As this is one of the late Simenon's works, one of the themes is quite openly depicted sexuality of (some) women. Particularly of mother (so called "old lady") and her daughter Arlette. It is characteristical for Simenon and his inspector Maigret, who is also very interested in women's typology to create interest for the nymphomaniac well hidden behind the facade of unambitous petit-bourgeois, or to feel certain undefined attraction for "the old lady" who seems to him as a girl which is actually only dressed in the outfit of matron, and who quite openly flirts with him. There is also a former peasant girl who now works in the picture perfect, charming villa, but spends her spare time reading Freud and smoking cigarettes. She is murdered at the beginning of the novel, although matron thinks that she was the real target.

Very well structured, this Maigret novel is definitely worth reading, for beginners but also for aficionados.