Maigret's Holiday
Inspector Maigret, Book 28
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Maigret's Holiday
Narrated by:
Gareth Armstrong
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Narrated by:
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Gareth Armstrong
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By:
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Georges Simenon
About this listen
At what point in the day could the note have been slipped into his pocket, his left breast pocket? It was an ordinary sheet of glazed squared paper, probably torn out of an exercise book. The words were written in pencil, in a regular handwriting that looked to him like a woman's.
For pity's sake, ask to see the patient in room 15.
When Inspector Maigret's wife falls ill on their seaside holiday, a visit to the hospital leads him on an unexpected quest to find justice for a young girl.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2016 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Compelling, remorseless, brilliant." (John Gray)
"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century.... Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." ( Guardian)
"A supreme writer...unforgettable vividness." ( Independent)
"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century.... Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." ( Guardian)
"A supreme writer...unforgettable vividness." ( Independent)
Excellent in every way.
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brilliant
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how many different ways...
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Loved this!
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Lili Godreau, the young girl, had apparently fallen out of her brother-in-law’s car while he was driving it at high speed. So the question is simple – did she fall or was she pushed? If pushed, then the murderer can only be the brother-in-law, the respected Dr Bellamy. But the real mystery is, if Bellamy did murder Lili, why would he have done so? Maigret begins talking to the various residents of the town, gradually learning about Bellamy’s marriage to Lili’s sister, Odette, and the murky origins of both girls as the daughters of a woman who had been “kept” by various men throughout her younger life. Odette has inherited her mother’s beauty and Bellamy was so stricken by love for her that he was willing to overlook her social unacceptability and marry her, but only if her mother agreed to leave Les Sables d’Olonne. The mother agreed, leaving the then very young Lili in the care of Bellamy and Odette. So his relationship with Lili has been partly fraternal, partly parental. To the outside world, they got on well, though people gossiped about how strictly Bellamy monitored Odette’s movements, possibly fearing that her mother’s loose morals would have rubbed off on her.
When everything is so tightly held in a small family group, Maigret realises it will be hard to find out the truth about the family relationships and any possible motive for murder. But then another girl is killed – a girl Maigret had previously seen visiting the doctor’s house. Now he has a thread and hopes that, if he pulls it carefully enough, he will unravel the mystery…
Although there’s a real simplicity about this story, I found it absorbing. We follow Maigret almost minute by minute, listening in to every conversation he has, so that we learn the story at the same time as him. In that sense, there’s no big reveal or sudden twist. And yet there is still a degree of suspense in knowing whether Maigret will be able to turn his suspicions into provable facts. As his investigations progress, he begins to realise that the story may be more complex than he first thought, and the murderer may be more dangerous. So he also feels under pressure to work quickly to prevent any more murders.
As always, I like the Maigret books considerably more than I like Maigret! Apart from his incessant wine-swigging and general surliness, he is horrible to poor Mme Maigret in this one. His daily hospital visits are a penance to him and he really doesn’t do a good job of hiding it. Then, once he gets involved in the investigation, he stops phoning to check how she is and even stops visiting every day. Mme Maigret tolerates this with a good grace, putting herself in with a good chance of winning the Doormat of the Year award. I wonder what she ever found attractive about him? Does she perhaps know that he has a huge insurance policy made out in her favour and is hoping he drinks himself to an early death? It’s the only explanation I can think of for why she hasn’t divorced him long ago!
However, his desire to get justice for the victim is a sorely-needed redeeming feature. And the denouement, while low in tension, is strong in its depiction of human weakness and the evil that grows from it. I’m off to the shops now to see if stocks of white wine have recovered yet…
All in the family…
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