Maigret at the Coroner's

Inspector Maigret #32

by Georges Simenon, Linda Coverdale (Translator)

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le CarréIn Arizona on a study tour of America, Inspector Maigret observes a day in the life of a local coroner and becomes absorbed in a young girl’s murder On his travels through the U.S., Maigret stops in Tucson, Arizona at the guidance of his FBI friend Harry Cole, who leaves him one day to observe a coroner’s inquest. The body being examined is that of Bessie Mitchell, a young girl who died under suspicious circumstances—she spent a night drinking and driving with five young Air Force men and was found the next morning on the tracks, run over by a train. Maigret quickly becomes engrossed in the hearing and the men’s conflicting stories, leaving questions of who bears the guilt for this death and who can be trusted at all.

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

179 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1949

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

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maigret in the Wild West!
Well, this time, it's not him running after the gangsters. Instead, he's on a study trip. However, this fact does not prevent him from finding the culprit by attending the investigation - to say the least disconcerting - of an American colleague into the death of a young woman. Confusing because the analysis does not take place at all, but then not at all, as he is used to.
Maigret is all the more disconcerted because, even if he understands the language, he doesn't, first of all, understand either the behaviors or the points of view of the protagonists, especially not those of the police, and doesn't see (we don't either elsewhere) how they will manage to complete their investigation.
That's an exotic and entertaining detective story with its unusual setting, with first-hand descriptions. Written in 1949 in Tucson, Arizona, it describes America "in black and white" as a Western period.

[Tras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb. Such a simple premise but perfectly executed. This was one of my favourites of the 32 Maigret's I've read so far.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lunchtime Listen December 2024

As ever a really well written, and well crafted story, brilliantly read by Gareth Armstrong.

This slightly different to most other Maigret’s in that it is set in America, and Maigret is not the investigating officer.

Whilst on a fact finding tour of the USA visiting numerous states and their law enforcement officers to see how “the Americans do it”, Maigret is taken by his FBI guide to a coroner’s court in a small town in Arizona. Left by his guide who has some business to complete Maigret spends the day struggling to understand all the proceedings in the court , however he is hooked.
He asks his guide if they can stay another day so he can find out what happens in the case. Was the girl murdered and if so which of the 5 US airforce officers was guilty ? How come all their stories are completely different about that fateful night .

A really different but nonetheless interesting and exciting story

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd Maigret mystery set in Tucson, Arizona. Maigret is on a study tour of the US and their justice system. He is left by his FBI handler to watch a coroners inquest into the death of Bessie a young woman apparently killed by a train after a night out with five airman from a nearby air base.

All five airman give conflicting accounts of the night out and what happened. Her lover is married and jealous of his friends interest in her. The others all seem to be covering up something.

Maigret is bemused by the American justice system and wonders if the accused are driven by poverty. He understands French poverty of slums outside of Paris to the rock bottom miserable river embankments. He asks himself ‘The poverty he sensed was not unwashed and in rags, it was poverty with bathrooms, and it seemed harsher to him, more desperate, more pitiless. ‘

Later he sees America unable to enjoy themselves. Driven to hidden class drinking clubs and neutral bars. They are driven by greed or keeping up with the Jones’s a desire of material goods without realizing it does not make them happier.

In the end we know what happens but Maigret leaves before a verdict, was it murder, suicide or just an accident. We can rule out suicide but the other two options are open to interpretation.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georges Simenon spent about 10 years in North America, spending time in Québec and New York City, traversing the East Coast from Maine to Florida, heading west to California, including an extended stay in Nogales, Arizona, which Simenon puts to good use by setting Maigret at the Coroner’s in nearby Tucson.

This novel, the 32nd in the series, serves as a mirror image to its immediate predecessor, My Friend Maigret. In the latter, a tight-lipped Scotland Yard Inspector Pyke shadows Maigret — much to Maigret’s discomfort — in order to observe his methods. In Maigret at the Coroner’s, Maigret is observing the FBI and touring America in consequence. Maigret, “shelved” by his FBI guide, Harry Cole, at a coroner’s hearing, gets mesmerized by this exercise in American justice.

Maigret’s appalled at the American coroner’s hearing, overseen by an amateurish sheriff who Maigret views with utter contempt. Why the rawest recruit at Quai des Orfèvres would do better than the slipshod questioning at the hearing! Maigret listens to the testimony from five U.S. Air Force airmen, who had gone drinking with goodtime-girl Bessie Mitchell, who ends up dead. But despite his outsider status, Maigret satisfies himself that he knows what really happened that night in the Arizona desert, based, as his compatriot Hercule Poirot would say, on his little, gray cells.

However, the culture clash between European and American values, mores, and mien proves the most interesting part of Maigret at the Coroner’s. Maigret’s still ill at ease in America, even a few months into his visit:

It was the serene cheerfulness of a man who has no nightmares, who feels at peace with himself and everyone else. They [Americans] were almost all of them like that. And it definitely got Maigret’s back up. It made him think of clothing that was too neat, too clean, too well-pressed.

I wonder how true a reflection that was on Simenon in his own exile. I’ve read that Simenon became quite fluent in English; however, that’s different than feeling — as Maigret does in this novel — that one is an outsider, a European faced with gratingly informal, underdressed, glad-handing, puritanical Americans. Readers will enjoy the atmosphere and sense of displacement as much as the mystery.

Lastly, kudos to narrator Gareth Armstrong for so capably voicing so many American accents in the Audible version of this book.

[Meltem Sağlam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nisan Yayınlarının Simenon Serisinin 5 numaralı kitabı Maigret Arizona’da.

Maigret’nin geçici görevle, inceleme ve araştırma için gönderildiği Amerika’da, dinleyici olarak katıldığı bir mahkeme salonunda görülen bir cinayet davası çerçevesinde gelişen olaylar kitabın konusunu oluşturuyor. Ancak, yazarın on yıl yaşadığı Amerika ile ilgili sosyolojik tespitlerini ve bu ülke ile ilgili karşılaştırmalı düşüncelerini de arka planda ilgi ile takip ettim.

Metin yine çok akıcı ve ilgi çekici.

Çok beğendim.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inspector Maigret sits in on a coroner's inquest in Tuscon, Arizona, while on a work study tour in the United States.

Maigret plays armchair detective while visiting the United States, using his intuitive grasp of the testimony given during the proceedings to solve the crime. The case involves soldiers from the airbase implicated in the death of a local woman following an evening of heavy drinking, which illustrates the importance of never being the only woman in the car and the dangers of intoxication.

During the inquest, I was reminded of how in 2016 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued the recommendation that women should refrain from drinking alcohol unless they are on birth control because they could potentially become pregnant at any time, thus damaging the developing fetus. This statement is patronizing, paternalistic, and offensive, but I would have been perfectly fine with it if the CDC would have also issued the recommendation that men should refrain from drinking alcohol at all times because it makes them more likely to commit acts of physical and sexual violence. Violence as a result of excessive alcohol use directly caused the unpremeditated death of the woman in this story. Nevertheless, the members of the judicial system and law enforcement, who are also all male, feel strangely sympathetic to the young men guilty of, and complicit in, the crime. Funny how that works.

I didn't find this book as compelling as others in the series. It was interesting to see the French perspective on Americans, which appears to be that Americans are oversexed and not too bright, speak too informally, dress too casually, drink too much soda pop, and live in a society that is materially wealthy and morally impoverished. The American criminal method of presuming someone is innocent until proven guilty is also looked down upon in favor of the French method of presuming someone is guilty until proven innocent.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the few Maigret novels set in the United States, in this instance, Tucson, Arizona. During a busman's holiday, Maigret attends a coroner's inquest into the death of an underage woman who was being pursued by five airmen who wished to get a piece of her. What I particularly liked about Maigret at the Coroner's: Inspector Maigret #32 are Georges Simenon's observations about the differences between French and American police procedures. In the end, he finds that the Americans are just as effective, but different in most of the details.

The end is rather inconclusive, as is true of the Simenon I read earlier this month, Maigret and the Bum. I guess if one is as masterful a writer of mysteries as Simenon is, you can get away with murder -- just so long as you keep the reader interested. And that is Something at which Simenon is a master.

[John Frankham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read. As good as ever.

An unusual entry in the series, as Maigret is in rural USA as part of a study visit, and he cannot avoid getting involved in a coroner's investigation. Much of the fun is Maigret's discomfort with heat, casual dress, Coca Cola, etc. The unravelling of the case is as interesting as ever.

The GR blurb:

'Maigret is touring the US to observe American methods. No one expects anything of him except to drink a great deal and be sociable. FBI officer Cole is his guide in Arizona. But after a bit, Cole needs to attend to his own affairs, so he parks Maigret at a coroner's inquest for a few hours. A young woman who spent the night drinking with five Air Force men was found on the railroad tracks torn to shreds by a train. Was it a gruesome mischance, or murder?'

[The Frahorus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il commissario Maigret stavolta va in America e assiste a un processo in Arizona, dove si appassionerà al caso. Stavolta il Nostro "subisce" un caso, nel senso che assiste al processo e inizia a farsi una sua idea, tanto è vero che poi si confronterà col "commissario" del caso in esame: una ragazza è stata travolta da un treno e si presume che sia stata prima uccisa.
Spiace constatare che non sapremo mai il verdetto del processo, visto che Maigret andrà via prima che venga emesso.

[Three · Rating 3 out of 5]

La trasferta di Maigret, che assiste da spettatore ad un'udienza preliminare negli Stati Uniti offre all'autore alcune opportunità: scrivere un libro praticamente solo di dialoghi, scarno come pochi; e raccontare molte stranezze dell'America, così diversa in tutto dalla Francia e dall'Europa in generale. La constatazione dell'isolamento volontario in cui gli americani vivono, della mancanza di felicità che si associa al diffuso benessere economico, non è nulla di nuovo se letta nel 2018, ma nel 1949 - anno in cui il libro venne scritto - era, credo, una rivelazione, e va a merito di Simenon avere gettato per primo uno sguardo così lucido sul mondo luccicante degli USA.

[Antonella Imperiali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maigret a Tucson, Arizona.
Come lui ha ospitato in Francia, durante un’indagine sull’isola di Porquerolles (Il mio amico Maigret), Mr Pyke di Scotland Yard, a sua volta è stato invitato negli States per un giro panoramico come “osservatore” delle varie tecniche investigative, assai diverse da quelle cui lui è abituato.
Così capita a Tucson, durante l’inchiesta per la morte di una ragazza.
L’inchiesta è a porte aperte, gli interrogatori delle persone coinvolte avvengono in aule alla presenza di un nutrito pubblico, con alcuni giurati e i membri della polizia locale.
Maigret assiste, si sente suo malgrado coinvolto anche se non può intervenire, pian piano conosce i pezzi grossi e gli habitué, ascolta gli interrogatori rammaricandosi del fatto che non vengano poste le domande giuste, ma alla fine si fa una sua idea del colpevole e i suoi ragionamenti sembrano trovare conferma con le deduzioni e nel verdetto avanzati dai colleghi americani e dalla giuria.
Purtroppo non potrà assistere alla conclusione dell’inchiesta. Dovrà sbrigarsi a far le valigie perché è atteso a Los Angeles per una ennesima avventura...

Strana storia, tanti personaggi, dinamiche diverse, ambientazione insolita, atmosfera surreale ma con un fascino tutto suo, come solo la penna di Simenon è in grado di creare e sostenere.

Quattro stelle quasi piene.


✍️ Simenon: Maigret
🔠 Alphabet Titoli: M

[Tiarnán · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Rashomon-style courtroom drama unfolds in this middle-period Maigret as Simenon attempts to wrap his head around the new world of the American West from his archetypically Gallic perspective. The result is a composite of genuine existential insight, his usual fraught lyrical prose, alongside numerous sociological banalities and the odd outburst of laughably arcane racism.

[Daniel Polansky]

Maigret's trip through Arizona offers Simenon opportunity to make some engaging but ultimately oddly off-base criticisms of America. Engaging stuff, even if it ain't quite Toqueville.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it was a bit of a disappointment for me. The book has Margaret is traveling through the United States on his way to California when he stops to visit a coroner's inquest in Arizona. He interacts mostly with a local FBI agent and the local sheriff. But what struck me about the book was that Maigret doesn't actually do any investigating. He's mainly an observer of a murder case as it unfolds in the courtroom. In fact, I wonder why the Maigret character even appears in the novel to begin with. He had very little purpose except to highlight the differences between French and American policing methods.

The fish out of water elements, including Maigret's interactions with his American colleagues, were the best parts of the book. However, most of the exposition took place through Maigret's eyes at the inquest and came off very slow and drawn out. I enjoyed the contrasts Simenon draws throughout the book between social mores in France vs the United States, and I understand the statements he was trying to make here. But there wasn't enough of it for me to give this book more than 2 stars.

I think the story would have benefited from Maigret having a more active roll in the investigation and perhaps struggling with the American bureaucracy, instead of just sitting back and watching everything. There are some great moments in the book, but not enough for me to recommend it.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Maigret is touring the USA to observe American policing methods. He is an observer in an investigation into how Bessie Mitchell, a seventeen year old prostitute, was run out by a train in the early hours of the morning. She had seated herself in a car with five very drunk airforce officers to go for a drive. The five officers give conflicting accounts of what happened.

This novel is very different from the ‘normal’ Maigret crime fiction books. Most are located in France. There is a very non French feel to this novel. Readers new to Maigret should begin with ‘Maigret and the Man on the Bench’ or ‘The Yellow Dog’.

This book was first published in 1949. It is the 32nd novel in the Maigret series.

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of respect for the US, I guess, the fuse is lit but the firecracker never goes off.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Maigret sits and watches. And so do we.
Might be an interesting commentary about the USA, as it was in 1949. But not really.

[Sandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho dato e continuo a dare 5 stelle a tutti i libri di Simenon con protagonista l'ispettore Maigret.
Anche questo, che vede "Jules" spettatore di un processo a Tucson (Arizona - USA), non è da meno.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable Maigret mystery. Interesting cultural survey of late 50's southern Arizona, where the inspector is a visitor, observing a coroner's inquest and a budding Tucson. (3.5 stars)

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent take on Maigret! This book has Maigret in the US, comparing the country and the legal system to what he's familiar with in France. Wonderful story.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simenon's portrayal of the US criminal justice system in the American West is hilariously awkward.

[Klaus Mattes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ein absolut ungewöhnlicher Maigret, weit weg vom sonstigen Serienschema. Was nicht bedeutet, dass er dadurch auch schon gut wäre! Das Buch hat so viele Dialoge, und zwar in aller Regel bei einer gerichtlichen Voruntersuchung, was fünf amerikanische Soldaten mit dem Tod einer jungen Frau unter einem Güterzug in Arizonas Wüste zu tun hatten, also, ob es eine Mordgeschichte ist oder nicht, dass man es als „Gerichtsdrama“ auf Buchseiten bezeichnen und jederzeit verfilmen könnte.

Und weil dieser Roman aus der Nachkriegszeit einer von drei Maigrets ist, die in den USA spielen, wo der Pariser auf der Durchreise ist, keinerlei Kompetenzen hat, es sich hier nicht um eine Polizeisache, sondern ums Verfahren eines Coroners handelt, in das ein, ebenfalls nicht betroffener, FBI-Agent Maigret, den bei Laune zu haltenden Ausländer, geschleppt hat, um ihn für ein paar Tage loszuwerden, kann Maigret weder den Tatort noch die Leiche sehen, noch Zeugen befragen. Er ist das ganze Buch lang immer nur Beobachter und wundert sich, warum Amerikaner die Fragen nicht stellen, die er gestellt hätte. Es handelt sich um ein Buch, das davon ausgeht, man könne den Erkenntnisfortschritt während eines öffentlichen Gerichtsprozesses spannend finden „wie einen Krimi“. Hm … Einen Krimi, in dem der Kommissar nichts fragen kann. Hm … Und zu allem hin, nimmt Simenon sich den Schlussgag heraus, die Leser nicht mal erfahren zu lassen, zu welchem Urteil die Jury kommt.

Ich gehe bei Simenons immer davon aus, dass der Autor, der bekanntlich sehr gedrängt mit übermenschlicher Anstrengung seine Romane in sehr kurzer Zeit in die Maschine getackert hat, um sich anschließend mehrere Wochen zu erholen, bevor der Zyklus von vorn losging, und der es auf gut und gerne fünf Romane im Jahr brachte, jeweils eine handliche, ihn anrührende Anekdote genommen und da herum die „ganze Geschichte“ höchst vollendet und kontrolliert entwickelt hat. So ein Kern wäre etwa: Ein von seiner Umwelt wenig geschätzter Pechvogel verkauft seine Identität, die adlige Abstammung, an einen anderen Menschen, macht mit dem Erlös bescheidene Karriere, er, der seinen Namen jetzt trägt, erbt ein Millionenvermögen und ein Schloss. Was, wenn sie sich eines Tages wieder begegnen? (Bei dem frühen „Der tote Herr Gallet“ ist das so in etwa. Das hier aber nur als Beispiel, hier geht es anders zu.)

Und hier? Wieso hat er sein Buch überhaupt schreiben wollen? Und ich dachte: Es ist seine, für uns Heutige seltsame, Auffassung über den großen Kultur- und Mentalitätsunterschied zwischen Franzosen und Amerikanern. Der Erzähler sieht im Südwesten der USA ein reicheres, perfekteres, freundlicheres System des menschlichen Zusammenlebens als in Paris. Da stehen sich der Boom, zu dem die USA durch den Krieg kamen, und die Entbehrungen des Alten Kontinents durch denselben Krieg gegenüber. In der Wüsten-Provinz Arizona haben fast alle, auch die „Neger“ und Mexikaner, ihr eigenes Haus, das eigene Auto und gehen fast nicht mehr zu Fuß. Alles ist sauber, allenthalben wird gelacht und getrunken, zwischen den Gärten braucht man keine Zäune, hier wird nicht gestohlen. Alle sind versorgt und auch die soziale Kontrolle ist enorm.

Doch, wo es sich um fünf junge Männer dreht, die darum konkurrierten, wer in der Unglücksnacht Sex mit dem einzigen weiblichen Mitglied ihrer Säuferrunde bekommen würde, bleibt der Franzose daran hängen, dass, so scheint es jedenfalls, nach Spermaspuren überhaupt nicht geforscht wird. Maigret kommt drauf, die hiesige protestantische Wohlstandsgesellschaft ist eine scheinheilige. Ständig zur Schau gestellte Freundlichkeit maskiert einen ewigen, erbarmungslosen Verdrängungswettbewerb. Absolut alles unter der Gürtellinie ist hier tabu, als wäre es nicht vorhanden. Der Mensch hat Sonntagsschüler zu bleiben. Das allerdings kann er nicht.

Entweder versteckt er sich in Büros und Vorstadthäusern, die dem Mitmenschen signalisieren: „Alles im Griff, wir sind oben!“ (Was dazu führt, dass die Innenstadt voller erleuchteter Geschäfte ist, deren Schaufenster sich keiner ansieht.) Oder er entschließt sich, für einen einzigen Abend aus seiner Spurrille zu hüpfen. Der Ort dafür sind die zahlreichen Bars, voll mit Männern, die sich betrinken und sich alles verzeihen. Weil es nicht gar so viele Reiche gibt, wie getan wird, weil auch Frauen hin und wieder was unter der Gürtellinie brauchen, gibt es in Bars junge, sehr wohl der Polizei bekannte (aber die spricht nicht davon) junge Frauen, oft als Teenager verheiratet, jetzt vielleicht geschieden, die niemand Prostituiere nennt, weil es Prostituierte in der perfekten Gesellschaft nicht mehr gibt.

Eine ist unter den Zug gekommen. Nachdem fünf Soldaten sie mit Whiskey freigehalten, dann, nach Sperrstunde, auf eine Spritztour in die mexikanische Grenzstadt Nogales eingeladen, kaum außerhalb der Stadt jedoch angehalten und irgendwie unter einander aufzuteilen versucht hatten.

Ich weiß, das klingt jetzt nicht unspannend, ist es aber. (Mal davon abgesehen, ob Simenons Eindrücke zum Mentalitätsunterschied zwischen Franzosen und Amerikaner wenigstens damals halbwegs hinkamen.) Wenn Leser es schade finden sollten, dass eine junge Person mit häufig wechselndem Geschlechtsverkehr zu Tode gekommen ist, sollte diese Figur differenziert und mit Zwischentönen charakterisiert werden – und nicht so obenhin, gelangweilt, wie die, das Buch nun mal konstituierenden Gerichtsreden durchweg männlicher, gut situierter Justizmenschen sie erscheinen lassen. Wenn der Leser Spannung gewinnen soll aus dem Rätsel, war es ein Unglücksfall bei Angetrunkenen, war es Mord und falls ja, wer von den Fünf war es, sollte er zu jedem diese „kleine rührende Lebensgeschichte“ angeboten bekommen, wie sie in Maigret-Krimis für Mörder, Mordopfer, des Mords Verdächtigte sonst allemal zu haben ist.

Hier gleichen sie einander zu sehr. Maigret sieht durchtrainierte, rosige Babymänner ohne Intelligenz und Schicksal. Austauschbar, was für ihn vermutlich alle Amerikaner waren. Aber für den Leser besagt das: Wenn es Mord war, ist mir immer noch egal, ob es der pummelige Rothaarige mit dem Flamengesicht, der chinesische Musterknabe, der Verheiratete, der die Scheidung versprach, der irische Weiberheld, der Schüchterne, der vom Bürgersohn zum Landwirtschaftshelfer abstieg, oder der Verlogene gewesen ist. Diese Affäre zieht sich zu lange hin mit den verschiedenen Fußspurenverläufen, die sich widersprechende Cops auf eine Tafel zeichnen, den ständige Barrunden, bei denen sie sich dem armen Maigret überlegen fühlen möchten. (Und dass das Buch von den hier schreibenden Amerikanern nicht gemocht wird, wundert mich schon gar nicht.)

Gelesen habe ich es auf Deutsch. Es gab mehrere deutsche Ausgaben, die mal „Maigret in Arizona“, mal „Maigret und der Coroner“ hießen, als Coverabbildungen hier aber alle nicht vorrätig waren. Wie oft bei Kriminalromanen entsprechen auch fast alle anderen Coverfotos durchaus nicht dem Buchinhalt. Ich wählte, was einigermaßen stimmt und was ich von meinen Sprachkenntnissen her hätte lesen können.

[Justin K. Rivers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though I dearly love the Maigret novels, this is one of the weaker ones. It still contains some of Simenon's trademark psychological panache, but is structurally problematic. Here, Maigret is essentially a passive character, observing a coroner's inquest in Arizona.

Most of the book is transcription of the testimony at the hearing, which leads to endless passages of technical descriptions of who was walking where and when. The details are really not important, and rarely are in a Maigret book. It is the psychological mystery that always makes Simenon interesting. But in this case, you have mostly details, and psychology unfolds only at the very end. It gives Simenon a chance to comment and contrast the working methods of France and the US, but even these observations do not come across as profound or particularly accurate.

An interesting concept, but one which rests the narrative not on the actions of Maigret, but on a tedious court proceeding that does not hold attention.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novela fallida de Maigret. Especie de remedo de caso de Perry Mason, sin ningún interés, además, en el que el bueno del inspector no encaja en absoluto y que sirve a Simenon para hacer una especie de análisis sociológico tan superficial como tópico de la sociedad estadounidense. Lamentable traducción. Se me ha hecho pesadísimo leer este libro, cosa que nunca me había pasado con Maigret. Un chasco.

[Stanley Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

About halfway through. [I have since finished; nothing to change in my comment] Delighted with Simenon's pen. The pace is masterfully controlled; even when it seems to linger, it is always to effect. I have seen many TV films where Bruno Cremer plays Maigret. Now that I am reading the original book version of one of them (the first in the series?), I have even more admiration for the accuracy with which Cremer conveys the specific character of the inspector.

[Lynn Lebo-Planas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my least favorite Maigret book. The racism, sexism and lack of fleshed out characters coupled with a completely alien depiction of the U.S. made it really difficult to finish. Even Maigret's character was flat and lifeless. I'm kind of shocked by how disappointing this book is since I've previously enjoyed every Simenon book I've read. Hopefully this is a fluke since I was planning on eventually reading all of the 75 Maigret books.

[Beatriz Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maigret is spending some time in America. While he is in the far-west he watches the judgment of a possible crime or accident. During that investigation he learns about the americans' way of living and reality, concluding that even when everything is alright, there is always something missing. It's a reflection about the nostalgia towards the daily life.

[Arwen56 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molto godibile, non tanto per la trama "gialla" in sè (addirittura neppure veniamo a sapere quale sarà il verdetto della giuria), quanto per le osservazioni di Maigret sulla società americana. Ovviamente sono un po' "datate", ma comunque interessanti.

[Old Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first time I have read a Maigret story and been disappointed.