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Inspector Maigret #26
La furia di Maigret
«La matassa era ingarbugliata, senza dubbio. Ernest Malik aveva ragione a guardare Maigret con quel sorrisetto tra il sarcastico e lo sprezzante. Quella faccenda non faceva per lui. Si sentiva a disagio. Era un mondo a lui estraneo, che stentava a ricostruire.«Anche l’ambiente gli dava ai nervi per quel tanto di artificioso che vi avvertiva. Ville imponenti con parchi deserti e persiane chiuse, giardinieri che andavano e venivano per i viali, e il pontile, le barche minuscole dalla vernice impeccabile, le auto lucide come specchi ferme nei garage...«E quei tipi pieni di sussiego, quei fratelli e quelle cognate che probabilmente si detestavano ma che, fiutato il pericolo, facevano quadrato contro di lui».
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
95 people are currently reading
366 people want to read
About the author
Georges Simenon
2,738 books2,301 followersGeorges 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 15, 2025
Maigret has retired and is living in Meung-sur-Loire. He's been there for two years and tending his garden is now the priority.
However, one day when Maigret is bothered that Colorado Beetles are attacking his aubergines and is blaming Madame Maigret's lettuce for their proliferation, a bossy older lady called Bernadette Amorelle arrives at his home. She mistakes Maigret for the gardener and Madame Maigret as a servant. She wants Maigret to work for her and investigate why her granddaughter drowned in a weir the previous week.
Of course, Maigret's interest is piqued.
He investigates, he meets an old school colleague, Ernest Malik, he gets angry, he creeps around the area, he monitors the situation, he goes to Paris to engage the help of his former colleagues, he shelters someone whose life is in danger, and calls in some old favours. He wears away the situation until the truth is revealed. He is angry and he is disgusted. Not everyone makes it to the end of the book.
The book really hums along when Maigret is back with his old colleagues in Paris and it makes you realise how good all those other books were when Maigret was working at the Quai des Orfevres. The book is still five stars though.
However, one day when Maigret is bothered that Colorado Beetles are attacking his aubergines and is blaming Madame Maigret's lettuce for their proliferation, a bossy older lady called Bernadette Amorelle arrives at his home. She mistakes Maigret for the gardener and Madame Maigret as a servant. She wants Maigret to work for her and investigate why her granddaughter drowned in a weir the previous week.
Of course, Maigret's interest is piqued.
He investigates, he meets an old school colleague, Ernest Malik, he gets angry, he creeps around the area, he monitors the situation, he goes to Paris to engage the help of his former colleagues, he shelters someone whose life is in danger, and calls in some old favours. He wears away the situation until the truth is revealed. He is angry and he is disgusted. Not everyone makes it to the end of the book.
The book really hums along when Maigret is back with his old colleagues in Paris and it makes you realise how good all those other books were when Maigret was working at the Quai des Orfevres. The book is still five stars though.
February 16, 2024
February 2024 Lunchtime Listen
So this was a lunchtime listen that turned into an afternoon listen and lo it was finished !
Maigret has been retired for 2 years now, and he and Mrs Maigret are spending the Summer at their little retirement cottage in the country. Relaxing in their garden whilst Mrs Maigret picks their veg, they are interrupted by an unexpected visitor who initially assumes Maigret is the gardener. Once the elderly lady has accepted he is the famous detective, she starts explaining what she wants Maigret to do for her, and will not take no for answer.
She wants Maigret to investigate the supposed suicide of her granddaughter only last week, as she doesn't believe she would have killed herself.
Maigret just doesn't know how to get out of this as this woman despite being elderly has huge charisma and just cannot conceive he will say no. Mrs Maigret is astonished when he meekly heads upstairs in their little cottage to get his case and the case is afoot ( to mix up detectives).
An excellent story , brilliantly read by Gareth Armstrong
So this was a lunchtime listen that turned into an afternoon listen and lo it was finished !
Maigret has been retired for 2 years now, and he and Mrs Maigret are spending the Summer at their little retirement cottage in the country. Relaxing in their garden whilst Mrs Maigret picks their veg, they are interrupted by an unexpected visitor who initially assumes Maigret is the gardener. Once the elderly lady has accepted he is the famous detective, she starts explaining what she wants Maigret to do for her, and will not take no for answer.
She wants Maigret to investigate the supposed suicide of her granddaughter only last week, as she doesn't believe she would have killed herself.
Maigret just doesn't know how to get out of this as this woman despite being elderly has huge charisma and just cannot conceive he will say no. Mrs Maigret is astonished when he meekly heads upstairs in their little cottage to get his case and the case is afoot ( to mix up detectives).
An excellent story , brilliantly read by Gareth Armstrong
September 29, 2012
“ La signora Maigret, che sgranava i piselli nell’ombra calda, dove l’azzurro del suo grembiule e il verde dei baccelli creavano chiazze sontuose…”. E lui, il nostro commissario? “ Ed eccolo lì, in pieno sole, a piedi nudi negli zoccoli di legno, con i pantaloni di tela azzurra che gli cadevano in vita e gli facevano un deretano da elefante, e la camicia da contadino a piccoli disegni confusi aperta sul petto villoso.”
Questo è l’incipit colorato e agreste della nuova avventura di Maigret, diversa dalle altre che l’hanno preceduta perché il commissario è in pensione da due anni e passa il tempo –annoiandosi- nella casa di campagna: per fortuna ci sono le dorifore nelle melanzane che lo aiutano a movimentare la giornata!
Con Maigret varchiamo i cancelli che chiudono agli sguardi estranei le belle ville sulla Senna di proprietà di ricche famiglie borghesi, in particolare della villa della agiata famiglia Amorelle, titolare di una impresa di cave di sabbia e rimorchiatori, in cui abita la vegliarda matriarca, signora dagli occhi di un nero intenso, straordinariamente vivi, vicino alle ville delle sue due figlie e rispettivi mariti. E con i cancelli che si aprono, il lusso e gli sfarzi lasciano il posto alle peggiori sordidezze di persone marce, consumate dall’avidità che auto di grossa cilindrata, barche, piscine, campi da tennis e quant’altro non soddisfano ma anzi accrescono.
Maigret si sente fuori posto in un tale ambiente, lui figlio di un attendente che lavorava al servizio di una nobile famiglia, un uomo di sane radici contadine, e il disprezzo verso questa gente che nasconde dietro una facciata di perbenismo nient’altro che immondizia lo nausea, come “gli capitava spesso al termine di un’inchiesta, forse per via della tensione nervosa, forse perché è brutto, e deprimente, vedere l’uomo completamente nudo”.
Uno dei migliori Maigret che ho letto finora.
Questo è l’incipit colorato e agreste della nuova avventura di Maigret, diversa dalle altre che l’hanno preceduta perché il commissario è in pensione da due anni e passa il tempo –annoiandosi- nella casa di campagna: per fortuna ci sono le dorifore nelle melanzane che lo aiutano a movimentare la giornata!
Con Maigret varchiamo i cancelli che chiudono agli sguardi estranei le belle ville sulla Senna di proprietà di ricche famiglie borghesi, in particolare della villa della agiata famiglia Amorelle, titolare di una impresa di cave di sabbia e rimorchiatori, in cui abita la vegliarda matriarca, signora dagli occhi di un nero intenso, straordinariamente vivi, vicino alle ville delle sue due figlie e rispettivi mariti. E con i cancelli che si aprono, il lusso e gli sfarzi lasciano il posto alle peggiori sordidezze di persone marce, consumate dall’avidità che auto di grossa cilindrata, barche, piscine, campi da tennis e quant’altro non soddisfano ma anzi accrescono.
Maigret si sente fuori posto in un tale ambiente, lui figlio di un attendente che lavorava al servizio di una nobile famiglia, un uomo di sane radici contadine, e il disprezzo verso questa gente che nasconde dietro una facciata di perbenismo nient’altro che immondizia lo nausea, come “gli capitava spesso al termine di un’inchiesta, forse per via della tensione nervosa, forse perché è brutto, e deprimente, vedere l’uomo completamente nudo”.
Uno dei migliori Maigret che ho letto finora.
December 22, 2023
Strange enough, Mr. Simenon was thinking (or perhaps not...) to withdraw his hero, as Maigret is on retirement.
Also strange, there is an additional touch of humor in this story, Maigret being taken as a gardener and his wife as a servant. He's fond of his eggplants, and somehow hates her salads...
Also strange, there is an additional touch of humor in this story, Maigret being taken as a gardener and his wife as a servant. He's fond of his eggplants, and somehow hates her salads...
July 8, 2016
Maigret Gets Angry is a rewrite of Inspector Cadaver, where Maigret, now retired as chief inspector, is pitted against the smug, self-assured moneyed interests who feel themselves above the law — even the law against murder. These are precisely the type of people Maigret instinctively despises. But in this novel, previously released as Maigret in Retirement, has a much more satisfying ending. Here’s to Georges Simenon, who made things right in his 26th Maigret novel.
For longtime Maigret fans and newbies alike.
For longtime Maigret fans and newbies alike.
July 22, 2019
Definitely the best Maigret I have read so far. Great story and the ending with an octogenarian murderess was inspired. The characters were once again horrible and deeply flawed people.Malik was a nasty piece of work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2023
Un Maigret in pensione che, a causa della sua notorietà, viene coinvolto da un’anziana e ricca signora in un caso di suicidio. O forse no, chissà.
Tra le eleganti ville sulla Senna, l’ex commissario si muove a disagio, fra persone che nascondono, dietro una facciata di ricchezza e perbenismo, parecchi scheletri negli armadi. Così ritroviamo il solito dio denaro che muove i fili delle storie più sordide e risveglia gli istinti più spregevoli nelle persone, sempre a discapito dei più sensibili e/o deboli.
Ho avvertito un Maigret leggermente dimesso, forse stanco, distolto dalla sua tranquillità campagnola, anche se il fiuto è sempre lo stesso. Amarezza finale compresa.
🌍 LdM - Sfida 2023: Francia 🇫🇷
✍️ GS/Maigret
Tra le eleganti ville sulla Senna, l’ex commissario si muove a disagio, fra persone che nascondono, dietro una facciata di ricchezza e perbenismo, parecchi scheletri negli armadi. Così ritroviamo il solito dio denaro che muove i fili delle storie più sordide e risveglia gli istinti più spregevoli nelle persone, sempre a discapito dei più sensibili e/o deboli.
Ho avvertito un Maigret leggermente dimesso, forse stanco, distolto dalla sua tranquillità campagnola, anche se il fiuto è sempre lo stesso. Amarezza finale compresa.
🌍 LdM - Sfida 2023: Francia 🇫🇷
✍️ GS/Maigret
April 8, 2021
Il commissario Maigret è in pensione da due anni e passa le giornate a curare il suo orticello. Un giorno una facoltosa signora gli chiede di indagare sulla misteriosa morte di sua nipote: con questo pretesto il nostro ritorna ad indagare, ritrovando i suoi vecchi e sempre fedeli colleghi.
Ritroviamo un Maigret più anziano, stanco, ma il suo fiuto non scompare mai.
Ritroviamo un Maigret più anziano, stanco, ma il suo fiuto non scompare mai.
December 29, 2015
For some reason Simenon released another book in his Maigret series with the chief inspector in retirement. So in this novel we find him enjoying his garden and 2 years since he last worked as a detective. Now an elderly lady turns up at his home demanding to see Maigret and assuming the great man was nothing but his gardener. In the end although interested in the case and feeling the time is right to do some private sleuthing he is almost bullied into going with them.
The plan is for him to come in and be inconspicuous staying at a local inn while assessing why the old lady's granddaughter drowned when she was an excellent swimmer.
A terrific story full of all the aspects we love in a Maigret book. Here he has to return to his old department in Paris to get some background information. I love the fact that his former colleagues welcome him, call him chief and think nothing of assisting him in anyway they can.
A good read and an interesting mystery.
The plan is for him to come in and be inconspicuous staying at a local inn while assessing why the old lady's granddaughter drowned when she was an excellent swimmer.
A terrific story full of all the aspects we love in a Maigret book. Here he has to return to his old department in Paris to get some background information. I love the fact that his former colleagues welcome him, call him chief and think nothing of assisting him in anyway they can.
A good read and an interesting mystery.
August 22, 2024
For sheer fun, nothing works quite like one of Georges Simenon's Maigret novels. In Maigret Gets Angry, Maigret is pulled out of retirement by an eighty-year-old woman who owns a shipping and quarrying company. In her family, nothing is quite right, several members having recently met untimely deaths. When Maigret suspects another family member is being set up, he kidnaps him and sets him up in a Paris apartment while he continues to apply pressure on Ernest Malik, whom he (and the elderly mother-in-law) suspects of dirty deeds. In the process Maigret revisits Lucas, Torrence, and his other old partners in the police force and gets their cooperation in collecting background information/
January 31, 2021
Un Maigret in pensione, che si trova ipnotizzato da una curiosa signora a cui è morta la nipotina , dovrà far luce sul caso. Fra ricconi e semplici domestiche, si scoprirà che la morte della piccola è solo la punta di un iceberg. E forse la collera di Maigret sta tutta lì, in una vita spezzata innocentemente e che, per lo sporco tornaconto degli adulti avrebbe potuto salvarsi. Anche Maigret, che scopro solo adesso chiamarsi Julius, ha un cuore.
March 8, 2023
Otro excelente Maigret. Lleno de vida y de vidas. Un final admirable.
March 9, 2017
Tout Simenon:
Dans sa retraite de Meung-sur-Loire, Maigret est sollicité par Bernadette Amorelle qui s'inquiète de la récente noyade dans la Seine de sa petite-fille Monita : la jeune fille nageait bien et il ne doit pas s'agir d'un accident.
4* Pietr the Latvian (Maigret, #1)
3* The Carter of 'La Providence' (Maigret, #2)
3* The Late Monsieur Gallet (Maigret, #3)
4* The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien (Maigret, #4)
3* A Man's Head (Maigret #5)
4* The Yellow Dog (Maigret #6)
4* The Night at the Crossroads (Maigret #7)
2* A Crime in Holland (Maigret #8)
3* The Grand Banks Café (Maigret, #9)
3* The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin (Maigret #10)
3* The Two-Penny Bar (Maigret, #11)
4* Lock No. 1 (Maigret, #18)
4* The Cellars of the Majestic (Maigret, #20)
3* Inspector Cadaver (Maigret, #25)
3* Maigret Se Fache (Maigret, #26)
4* Maigret's Holiday (Maigret, #28)
4* La première enquête de Maigret (Maigret, #30)
4* My Friend Maigret (Maigret #31)
4* Maigret at the Coroner's (Maigret #32)
3* The Friend of Madame Maigret (Maigret #34)
3* Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (Maigret, #38)
3* Maigret's Mistake (Maigret, #43)
3* Maigret and the Calame Report (Maigret, #46)
3* Maigret si diverte (Maigret, #50)
3* Maigret in Court (Maigret, #55)
3* Maigret and the Idle Burglar (Maigret, #57)
3* Maigret and the Bum (Maigret, #60)
4* Maigret Loses His Temper (Maigret, #61)
3* Maigret on the Defensive (Maigret, #63)
3* Maigret Bides His Time (Maigret #64)
3* Maigret Hesitates (Maigret, #68)
3* Maigret's Boyhood Friend (Maigret, #69)
3* Maigret and the Madwoman (Maigret, #72)
4* Maigret and the Loner (Maigret, #73)
TR The Shadow Puppet (Inspector Maigret #12)
TR The Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret #13)
TR The Flemish House (Maigret, #14)
TR The Misty Harbour (Maigret, #15)
TR The Madman of Bergerac (Inspector Maigret #16)
TR Liberty Bar (Maigret, #17)
TR Maigret (Maigret, #19)
TR The Judge's House (Maigret, #21)
TR Cécile is Dead (Maigret, #22)
TR Signed, Picpus (Maigret, #23)
TR Félicie (Maigret, #24)
TR Maigret à New York (Maigret, #27)
TR Il morto di Maigret (Maigret, #29)
TR Maigret et la Vieille Dame (Maigret, #33)
TR Le memorie di Maigret (Maigret #35)
TR Maigret in Montmartre (Maigret #36)
TR Maigret Rents a Room (Maigret #37)
TR Maigret and the Gangsters (Maigret #39)
TR Maigret's Revolver (Maigret #40)
TR Maigret and the Man on the Bench (Maigret #41)
TR Maigret Afraid (Maigret #42)
TR Maigret Goes to School (Maigret #44)
TR Maigret et la jeune morte (Maigret #45)
TR Maigret and the Headless Corpse (Maigret #47)
TR Maigret Sets a Trap (Maigret, #48)
TR Maigret's Failure (Maigret #49)
Dans sa retraite de Meung-sur-Loire, Maigret est sollicité par Bernadette Amorelle qui s'inquiète de la récente noyade dans la Seine de sa petite-fille Monita : la jeune fille nageait bien et il ne doit pas s'agir d'un accident.
4* Pietr the Latvian (Maigret, #1)
3* The Carter of 'La Providence' (Maigret, #2)
3* The Late Monsieur Gallet (Maigret, #3)
4* The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien (Maigret, #4)
3* A Man's Head (Maigret #5)
4* The Yellow Dog (Maigret #6)
4* The Night at the Crossroads (Maigret #7)
2* A Crime in Holland (Maigret #8)
3* The Grand Banks Café (Maigret, #9)
3* The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin (Maigret #10)
3* The Two-Penny Bar (Maigret, #11)
4* Lock No. 1 (Maigret, #18)
4* The Cellars of the Majestic (Maigret, #20)
3* Inspector Cadaver (Maigret, #25)
3* Maigret Se Fache (Maigret, #26)
4* Maigret's Holiday (Maigret, #28)
4* La première enquête de Maigret (Maigret, #30)
4* My Friend Maigret (Maigret #31)
4* Maigret at the Coroner's (Maigret #32)
3* The Friend of Madame Maigret (Maigret #34)
3* Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (Maigret, #38)
3* Maigret's Mistake (Maigret, #43)
3* Maigret and the Calame Report (Maigret, #46)
3* Maigret si diverte (Maigret, #50)
3* Maigret in Court (Maigret, #55)
3* Maigret and the Idle Burglar (Maigret, #57)
3* Maigret and the Bum (Maigret, #60)
4* Maigret Loses His Temper (Maigret, #61)
3* Maigret on the Defensive (Maigret, #63)
3* Maigret Bides His Time (Maigret #64)
3* Maigret Hesitates (Maigret, #68)
3* Maigret's Boyhood Friend (Maigret, #69)
3* Maigret and the Madwoman (Maigret, #72)
4* Maigret and the Loner (Maigret, #73)
TR The Shadow Puppet (Inspector Maigret #12)
TR The Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret #13)
TR The Flemish House (Maigret, #14)
TR The Misty Harbour (Maigret, #15)
TR The Madman of Bergerac (Inspector Maigret #16)
TR Liberty Bar (Maigret, #17)
TR Maigret (Maigret, #19)
TR The Judge's House (Maigret, #21)
TR Cécile is Dead (Maigret, #22)
TR Signed, Picpus (Maigret, #23)
TR Félicie (Maigret, #24)
TR Maigret à New York (Maigret, #27)
TR Il morto di Maigret (Maigret, #29)
TR Maigret et la Vieille Dame (Maigret, #33)
TR Le memorie di Maigret (Maigret #35)
TR Maigret in Montmartre (Maigret #36)
TR Maigret Rents a Room (Maigret #37)
TR Maigret and the Gangsters (Maigret #39)
TR Maigret's Revolver (Maigret #40)
TR Maigret and the Man on the Bench (Maigret #41)
TR Maigret Afraid (Maigret #42)
TR Maigret Goes to School (Maigret #44)
TR Maigret et la jeune morte (Maigret #45)
TR Maigret and the Headless Corpse (Maigret #47)
TR Maigret Sets a Trap (Maigret, #48)
TR Maigret's Failure (Maigret #49)
June 16, 2022
3 Stars. It was a different time. Just after WW2. Mysteries were often less violent, although Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op from the 1920s is a 'bloody' exception, more thoughtful and descriptive, and the story and its pacing were usually slower. Perhaps I am a person of our times, because 'Maigret Gets Angry' / 'Maigret in Retirement' which was the title of my English translation, fits that bill. And thus a great and well written story becomes a three, not a four or a five. Maigret and his wife are in retirement in a small town south of Paris near Orleans, tending garden and shelling peas respectively, when they get a visitor. The autocratic, and aristocratic 81-year-old Bernadette Amorelle. After she figures out the man pulling beetles off the vegetables is not the gardener but the ex-Superintendent, she commands him to come to Orsenne to investigate the drowning death of her granddaughter Monita. There he meets an old school chum, Madame Amorelle's son-in-law, Ernest Malik. Maigret didn't like him years ago, and he still doesn't. The conclusion is the usual Simenon, exciting and surprising. But getting there was somewhat of a strain. (June 2022)
May 17, 2025
Another day, another Maigret. I can't help myself. There's no point resisting them. In Maigret Gets Angry we find Detective Chief Inspector Maigret has retired and is trying to learn how to sit still and tend his garden in the country. But it is not to be. He is called on one more time to investigate a murder. But is it murder?
I bloody love these short mysteries.
I bloody love these short mysteries.
July 30, 2017
A curious Maigret from 1945, with Maigret in retirement in the country being nagged by an 82 yo to investigate the death of her granddaughter. All about tensions within a couple of wealthy barge company-owning families. A milieu Maigret is not comfortable in.
A good story, with all the old police colleagues, but why was Maigret in retirement (the second with this background, but he wasn't retired 50 books late!), and why, when he goes back to Paris, does he re-open his flat in the Place des Vosges, when we know he always lived in Rue Richard-Lenoir?
A good story, with all the old police colleagues, but why was Maigret in retirement (the second with this background, but he wasn't retired 50 books late!), and why, when he goes back to Paris, does he re-open his flat in the Place des Vosges, when we know he always lived in Rue Richard-Lenoir?
May 13, 2016
Inspector Maigret has been retired from the Paris police force for two years, living quietly in his country home. An elderly lady drops in pushing him to investigate why her granddaughter, an excellent swimmer, drowned. Maigret reluctantly agrees to investigate and in his signature, dogged manner, despite unexpected opposition from the women's family, solves the crime. The case takes him back to Paris and he works with some of his former colleagues. A solid addition to this series.
August 14, 2020
I don't think I'm quite sure what happened...
December 6, 2024
lecture commune avec mamie, c’était rigolo
February 19, 2020
As usual, there are things at the end that you weren't privy to so you might have suspected who the culprit was, but you couldn't have solved the entire mystery yourself, but then, what the heck. You've just spent a few hours with Inspector Maigret -- drinking brandy and refreshing white wine, eating, walking on the towpath along the Seine, and it was good fun.
September 30, 2020
Una de las historias de Maigret que más me ha gustado. Personajes interesantes, trama curiosa, y también contribuye que la traducción, por una vez, es bastante buena; muchas de las ediciones antiguas que he leído tienen traducciones espantosas.
December 20, 2017
One of the better Maigrets with some fairly modern elements
February 24, 2025
Ekkert hræðileg bara ekki minn brandíbolli. Gaman að lesa á frönsku samt og málsniðið oft óvænt bratt fyrir mig.
June 3, 2022
Maigret in retirement. Still as sharp as ever.
May 27, 2022
A fun Maigret adventure that reads more like an Agatha Christie murder mystery than the usual police procedural tinged crime novels one would usually associate the gruff detective with. Enjoyable. Recommended.
September 2, 2016
An excellent Maigret novel, and the second I have read showing him in bored retirement and being lured out to solve a case. He is visited by 82-year-old Bernadette Amorelle, whose granddaughter has drowned in mysterious circumstances. Mme. Amorelle suspects murder and demands that Maigret get to the bottom of the mystery. Intrigued by this imperious old woman, Maigret passively allows himself to accompany her to Orsenne, the town where her family lives. There he "gets angry" because he is stonewalled by everyone in his attempts to gather information. But of course Maigret eventually uncovers a skein of lies, relationships that are not what they seem, and family members who seem to live in fear of...something or someone.
"Maigret Gets Angry" features perhaps one of the most villainous characters in Simenon's repertoire, a person who lives primarily for money and who will do anything to gain more of it. This individual is also entranced with power and control and unashamedly terrorizes everyone around. Perhaps that is why for once a murderer is summarily dispatched at the conclusion in a clear-cut fashion. Oftentimes the punishment of a criminal is ambiguous or nonexistent in a Simenon work, but not here. Retribution is swift and thorough. A thoroughly satisfying climax to a fascinating book.
"Maigret Gets Angry" features perhaps one of the most villainous characters in Simenon's repertoire, a person who lives primarily for money and who will do anything to gain more of it. This individual is also entranced with power and control and unashamedly terrorizes everyone around. Perhaps that is why for once a murderer is summarily dispatched at the conclusion in a clear-cut fashion. Oftentimes the punishment of a criminal is ambiguous or nonexistent in a Simenon work, but not here. Retribution is swift and thorough. A thoroughly satisfying climax to a fascinating book.
July 31, 2017
I can't keep track of Simenon's mind or plans for the series - I assume now there is no master plan Maigret is back in retirement in this story - he has been retired for two years, and appears to be a little bored with his cabbages, garden and life in the country at Meung-sur-Loire. An old woman turns up at his doorstep, demanding that he takes on the case of the death of her grandchild, apparently from drowning. The child was a strong swimmer. Maigret follows her to her home outside Paris. The story is complex with an ex-school friend of Maigret (now very rich), his brother, and numerous relatives all mixed up in a sordid tale around money. Maigret's anger is directed mostly at the scion of the old family - now a pathetic 75 year old man - who has covered up multiple murders in the name of a quiet life and to avoid the loss of his fortune (although not his influence or self respect). In the end the old lady takes matters into her old hands. Maigret delights in working with his old team again, and Madame Maigret is as put upon as ever. Maigret's dislike of the former school friend is palpable, and his satisfaction with seeing justice done is total.
September 12, 2021
“There had been a skeleton in the cupboard for many years, and it was the old lady who had taken it upon herself to clean things up, like those grandmothers who can’t bear the house to be dirty.”
***
Another post-retirement case for Maigret.... And this is where it becomes problematic for me. Because Simenon seems to be playing fast and loose with the established history of Maigret’s career and life in Paris. Can a colleague rise from the dead? Can a Paris apartment sold two years ago suddenly switch to another street and become “closed-up” instead of sold? Maybe Simenon is secretly writing science fiction, and Maigret exists simultaneously in different universes with alternate histories....*
But really, the Paris details hardly matter. This is a great story of a rich old woman who sneaks away from her family to ask Maigret to come and look into the death of her granddaughter—presumed suicide, but the woman has her doubts.
The rest of the story is one of those “what’s-going-on-with-these-people” type of narratives that keeps you invested until all is finally revealed.
* Edited to add: Some of these inconsistencies are explained in the book “Maigret’s Memoirs”.
***
Another post-retirement case for Maigret.... And this is where it becomes problematic for me. Because Simenon seems to be playing fast and loose with the established history of Maigret’s career and life in Paris. Can a colleague rise from the dead? Can a Paris apartment sold two years ago suddenly switch to another street and become “closed-up” instead of sold? Maybe Simenon is secretly writing science fiction, and Maigret exists simultaneously in different universes with alternate histories....*
But really, the Paris details hardly matter. This is a great story of a rich old woman who sneaks away from her family to ask Maigret to come and look into the death of her granddaughter—presumed suicide, but the woman has her doubts.
The rest of the story is one of those “what’s-going-on-with-these-people” type of narratives that keeps you invested until all is finally revealed.
* Edited to add: Some of these inconsistencies are explained in the book “Maigret’s Memoirs”.
March 8, 2021
I am gradually reading all of the Maigret mysteries. Maigret get Angry first appeared in installments in 1946 and was published in book form in 1947. This story places Maigret in retirement in the countryside when he is called to investigate a suspicious death. It won't be a spoiler to say that Simenon deals with some of his favorite themes like greed, lust, and deceit. He shows his distaste for the strivings of the bourgeoisie and delves into complicated family dynamics. Class and rank are always part of the story. I enjoy the ways in which he returns to certain settings like Seine and the canals of the territory outside Paris. Food and alcohol are also used to good effect. I learned that Kummel is to be avoided.
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