It’s time for another reading week hosted by Simon and Kaggsy – this time books published in 1970. Looking at the Wikipedia page for 1970 in Literature I’ve read loads through the years, including classic SF&F from Larry Niven and Roger Zelazny, schmalz from Erich Segal with Love Story, inexplicably Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, and I devoured Henri Charrière’s doorstopper memoir Papillon for starters. I was obsessed for a while with De Bono’s Lateral Thinking too, and Mary Stewart is probably to blame for kick-starting many an Arthurian obsession including mine with The Crystal Cave.
There are a couple I’ve read in the life of this blog though: The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark – one of her maddest novellas; and Maigret’s Madwoman by Georges Simenon. I haven’t had much time this month, but relying on Simenon’s volume of writing, there is a second Maigret from 1970…
Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon #71
Translated by Ros Schwartz
‘Maigret had never been comfortable in certain circles, among the wealthy bourgeoisie where he felt clumsy and awkward … Built like a labourer, Oscar Chabut had hauled himself up into this little world through sheer hard work and, to convince himself that he was accepted, he felt the need to sleep with most of the women.’
Wine merchant Oscar Chabut was shot four times as he exited the house of Madame Blanche, who ran a high-class extablishment where men could take their mistresses for assignations. It turns out that not only did he generate enemies in (some of) the husbands of the women he slept with, but he was a ruthless businessman. Maigret and his team will have an ever-expanding list of suspects to follow-up on before things start to narrow down for the Police Judiciare in investigating his murder.
The more that Maigret uncovers about Chabut, the more he dislikes the man and all he stands for, despite his glamorous wife’s insistence that she knew all about his many women, and had lovers of her own. She and Oscar were just good friends now. A controlled woman, Maigret believes her. As the novel goes on, Maigret’s sense of contempt for the victim grows, despite several of his conquests who still work for him saying he’s shy really. It’s men he finds difficult to work with it seems, succumbing to that ruthless desire for power and money already alluded to, needing to prove himself – but doing it in a nasty way. When the murderer finally breaks cover, in his first meeting with Maigret, the detective is sympathetic to the murderer’s plight. It is with visible regret that the handcuffs must be applied when Maigret’s colleagues arrive to take him away.
The other thing that Maigret is battling in this novel is the flu, and he’s not happy, but he has Madame Maigret to look after him to make him grog and take his temperature, while his trusty inspectors do the legwork necessary to bring the case to justice. Thank goodness for Madame Maigret!
I particularly enjoy Ros Schwartz’s translations, and this was yet another super one. This Maigret volume had more social comment built into the plot than most too and this made for a very enjoyable read.
Source: Own copy. Penguin paperback, 176 pages (Sept 2019 edition) BUY at Blackwell’s or Amazon UK via my affiliate link.
Always a Maigret for the year I hadn’t these but had others on my shelf from 1970
There’s a Maigret for every meme and tag Ha Ha – #NovNov, Paris in July, and the year clubs to mention just a few. Love them. This one was an excellent one.
Just fyi, I think the body of your review is still in “quote” form after the book blurb!
I spotted that, thanks! Corrected.
Maigret and Heyer have made their reliable appearances this year 😀 I find it quite funny that he’s got flu in this one – I like a detective with feet of clay that isn’t alcoholism etc
He doesn’t want to be ill though! Madame Maigret knows best of course.
After this review I now feel back in the mood for another Maigret, thanks – I especially like the mention of the presence of social commentary here. Hmm, a toddle off to the local library may be on the cards…
Sometimes, particularly in the earlier books, Maigret just winds all the suspects up and watches them go. In this one being one of the final handful of books, his modus operandi was slightly different. The other 1970 Maigret, Maigret’s Madwoman was also excellent.
It’s a good one, isn’t it? I really enjoyed it, and I do like it when Maigret shows his contempt for a victim and their cronies. And I liked the human touch of him battling with his health and being cared for by Madame Maigret while he was trying to work out who the murdered was. 1970 was obviously a good year for Simenon!
And in this one he seemed to drink a lot of rum, rather than his more usual cold beers!
We all need a Mme Maigret when we’re feeling poorly!