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Please feel free to contribute to this Forum... Over ten years of earlier Forums can be read in the Archives, where you can find answers to many Maigret/Simenon questions. You can search the archives with the Google site search form at the bottom of this page.
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( Newest entries first )
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Bruno Crémer Maigret Coffret 5... subtitles?
![]() 10/25/09 Could a French speaking contributor please find out whether the Bruno Crémer Maigret Coffret No 5 collection and volume 26 have been issued with English subtitles? I have Nos 1 to 4, which have them. However on these pages there has been a doubt raised about this. Information on this point would be invaluable and much appreciated. Regards
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Maigret of the Month: L'ami d'enfance de Maigret (Maigret's Boyhood Friend)
10/22/09
Two principal lines underlie this novel... one, the "portrait of a failure", the description of the character Florentin, and the other the evocation, in little touches, of Maigret's childhood memories. If we've had, in several preceding novels of the corpus, allusions to the Chief Inspector's childhood, here it's rather the years of his youth that are recalled... friendships at lycée and first loves. Léon Florentin is one of the gallery of "failures" across Simenon's works, and not only in the Maigrets. These men who cling to their illusions, who delude, but who, in the end, have done nothing with their lives. If we think about it, Maigret's childhood memories, except for some nostalgic mentions of light, colors, or odors, are almost never positive. Simenon is always confronting his character with images showing what's behind the scenes, which "dirty", in a way, the memories Maigret holds of his earliest years. The venerated Countess is no more than an old woman with gigolos; the aristocratic château has been bought by a vulgar butcher; and his childhood friends have, almost without exception, become contemptible beings... Fumal (ECH), Malik (FAC) or Florentin, none merit Maigret's consideration. Chabot (PEU) is hardly much better off he too has aged poorly. Jorissen (REN) is colorless, and Bouchardon (FIA), a ceremonious fool without even the merit of recognizing Maigret! It's further indicative to note that not one of his schoolmates at lycée is mentioned in Maigret's Memoirs. Almost as if the Chief Inspector, in the end, was the only one to "succeed" in life... Maigret, in fact, spends his time trying to escape from these childhood memories, or at least from people he'd known back then, keeping only the slightly faded image of his father and a few colored patches, warm and tender of a mother too soon gone... And even this image of his father is not immune from attack... the Chief Inspector is hardly allowed to visit his grave (FIA) when the spineless Florentin is allowed to sully the memory of his venerated father. So even if the memories evoked in this novel are more focused on the lycée period, we find here that after the death of the Countess and the purchase of the château by Fumal, Florentin's words about Maigret's father, along with the slightly uncomfortable memory of the young girl at the Moulins bakery, make up the "final attack on Saint-Fiacre". In the last novels of the corpus, the allusions to Maigret's childhood will be no more than puffs - nostalgic but agreeable - as if the Chief Inspector - and his creator - had, in the soothing serenity of advancing age, settled accounts definitively with his childhood...
Besides Florentin, two other characters occupy front stage in this novel, two women apparently different, but who in the end are similar in one point of their destiny... Josée, who has herself kept by men, offering them moments of intimacy in exchange; and the concierge, Mme Blanc, who exploits what she's seen for blackmail. If Josée personifies a certain softness, and Mme Blanc, hardness, it's true nonetheless that each in her own way profited from the situation to ensure their living. Putting material security above all, ignoring their feelings. They are both part of those women eager for gain whom we meet more than once in the corpus, and in Simenon's other works. Josée, who knows how to rely on men, reminds us of Hélène Lange (VIC) who also draws a profit from masculine naiveté. Mme Blanc is not satisfied to be a shrewish concierge, as so often met by Maigret, brooding over her misfortunes so she can blame the whole world, but goes further. Not content to suffer her fate, she revolts in her own way, taking advantage of the situation. And if Josée and Hélène Lange are stronger than the men, they nonetheless share the same destiny... to die a violent death as if, in a way, they had to pay for their attempt at domination over the males. Mme Blanc, on the other hand, remains unpunished, as if her "offense" were less grave: she profited from men, certainly, but overtly. She did not employ pretense and hypocrisy, unlike Josée and Hélène Lange... Murielle Wenger |
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An Article and a Video on Simenon
10/19/09
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Simenon et les Charentais
10/10/09
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New Maigret in Polish
10/09/09
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London: Discussion about Simenon's Work
10/07/09 When: October 13, 2009, 7:00 PM
Where: London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London, UK John Banville and John Gray discuss the work of Georges Simenon. Roddy |
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Simenon in Le Magazine Littéraire and Le Monde
10/01/09 Here's an article on Simenon, by Anne Serre, Le nez de Simenon, from Le Magazine Littéraire... 10/3/09 And another, from Le Monde, Un fils de Georges Simenon étudie l'idée d'une "Maison Simenon" à Liège, on the creation of a "Maison Simenon" in Liège. Roddy |
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Where are the "Faithful Four" in the Cremer Series?
10/01/09 "(Why in) ... the Bruno Cremer series ... do the characters Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, and Torrence ... occupy a very low profile...?" (9/25/09) This is probably more of a comment than a question from M. Cooke. Movies usually divert from books (which explains why I never met anyone who said a movie is better than a book). Amount of exposure, which is time an actor appears on screen, is subject to competitive demands from actors. 'Stars' get first consideration, of course. Some stars agree to share more of the the 'limelight, some want most of it for themselves. I never seen any other Maigret but the one with Michael Gambon, where I would say all actors are given exposure appropriate to importance of the characters they play. Regards, |
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Simenon statue in Liège
10/01/09 I went to an expo in Liege of the famous Belgian Painter Paul Delvaux. I was unsure of the exact location of the venue but ended up on a city bus that dropped me nearly at the door. It wasn't far from the Place St. Lambert so I walked back. I came upon the back of the city hall and turned into Square Maigret and got a big surprise. There was a new statue of Simenon there. Here are a few photos...
Regards
(see also Joe's photo visit to the Maigret statue in Delfzijl, here) | ||||||||||
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Georges Simenon, romancier - video online
9/25/09 Simenon interview online here. Roddy |
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The 14 Bruno Cremer Maigrets issued on volumes 21 - 27
9/25/09
Volume 21 has been released with English subtitles (I have a copy). A collection No 5 (vol 21 - 25) is available, as are Vols 26 and 27. I dont know whether they have English subtitles or not. If anyone can confirm this important point I would be grateful for the information. On the subject of the Bruno Cremer series can somebody explain why the characters Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, and Torrence, if they appear at all, occupy a very low profile, which is surprising as in the books and the English portrayals they have a high profile. Regards
see discussion beginning 8/31/09 |
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Simenon self-portrait up for auction
9/25/09 This was up for sale at Bloomsbury Auctions last week:
The listing: 138. Georges SIMENON (Belgian, 1903 - 1989) Murielle |
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Maigret of the Month: Maigret hésite (Maigret Hesitates)
9/25/09
1. A mini-analysis of the novel In this novel, we find Maigret in an uncommon situation, similar to that of Maigret has Scruples, where a crime is announced in advance and where the Chief Inspector must lead an a priori investigation, in other words, before the murder has been committed. Maigret is faced with the challenge of discovering a murderer before he acts, and we realize how difficult and delicate the situation can be for the policeman, who must, here more than ever, base everything on his intuition, rather than facts, since before the crime, there are no physical clues to use... Maigret, inserting himself into the life of a family with the task of discovering its secrets, naturally hesitates to name the future perpetrator (but how could he do otherwise?), and he cannot prevent the murder from taking place... In his feelings before the body of Mlle Vague, besides the fact that he felt for her a certain liking, isn't there perhaps some remorse for not having been able to act in time... If Simenon places his Chief Inspector in a situation both artificial and difficult, it's because it allows him to develop a favorite theme, always present in his work, Maigrets and non-Maigrets included: that of responsibility, symbolized here by Article 64, which appears as a leitmotif. Maigret – and Simenon – refuse to judge, to assign culpability: the Chief Inspector arrests Mme Parendon because he has discovered the truth. It's certainly she who is guilty, that is, who has committed the crime, but is she responsible for her actions? Is her "madness" an excuse, an explanation, a justification? I also like this novel because it is filled with allusions both to Maigret's memories and "sensations" (memories of youth and sensations of the manifestations of spring) and both the "method", or more exactly the manner in which Maigret leads an investigation, "immersion" into places, attempting to understand people's motivations, and his "ruminations" during the case... Finally, the characters who people this novel make a fascinating gallery, whether hardly more than sketches, like the Parendons' staff, a little more detailed, like Bambi and Gus (and we note that the latter's motives for writing the anonymous letters to Maigret remain, in spite of everything, less than clear...), or stronger and more complete, like Parendon, his wife, and Mlle Vague.
All this results in a novel which cries out for cinematographic adaptation, which is perhaps the reason why the version with Bruno Crémer [Maigret chez les riches] is so splendid, in fact, the most successful episode of the series. The few modifications of the plot take nothing from its quality, and it's the setting for several memorable scenes, which encourage watching again... the meeting between Maigret and Parendon (masterfully interpreted by Michel Duchaussoy), or the scene where Ferdinand, the maître d', brings a plate of food to each of the family members, symbolically isolated in their rooms, as they are isolated in mutual incomprehension... 2. A story of a cat
There are few animals in the Maigrets. Some allusions to the chickens and rabbits that the Chief Inspector was reluctant to kill in his childhood, some dogs (among them a yellow one, above all...), one or two horses (often hitched to a hearse), the singing of the birds in spring, a shy squirrel and some fish. But if the world of the Chief Inspector has relatively few animals, the one most often cited is probably the cat. When Simenon introduces an animal in a description or a plot, it's never without a reason, no more than when he mentions a barge passing on the Seine, or a light from a streetlamp in the night... All these details serve to emphasize an "atmosphere", to introduce a nuance into the tempo of the action or into the feelings of the Chief Inspector with regard to his case... Thus, the orange cat which stretches himself out in the sun mentioned above, contrasts, in its peaceful image, with the heavy atmosphere of the Parendon house after the discovery of the murder. If you will, let's review several cats discovered in the corpus...
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Maigret Forum on Vacation
9/7/09 New Forum items won't appear until Sept. 24, when I return to my computer... Steve |
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Simenon article in Le Figaro
9/6/09 There's a new (9/4) article about Simenon in Le Figaro, here: Il était une fois... Georges Simenon by Jean-Marc Parisis... In 1960, Georges Simenon presided over the Cannes Festival, where he encountered Jean Cocteau, whose "Le Testament d’Orphée" had just come out. (photo: Pat Morin/Le Figaro Magazine)
Regards,
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Simenon contest
9/5/09 There's a Simenon quiz contest here, where you can win a set of Tout Simenon, Maigret CDs, Assouline's new book...
Regards,
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Autodictionnaire Simenon
9/5/09 "Autodictionnaire Simenon" by P. Assouline is now available:
Regards,
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Re: Bruno Cremer Maigret DVDs
9/5/09 I recently purchased volumes 22-25 of the Bruno Cremer DVDs from Amazon.fr. I am sorry to report that they are not subtitled in English (or any other language). A challenge to me, I suppose, to improve my understanding of spoken French. An interesting note - many of these "missing" episodes have been televised (along with the other 42) in the USA on MHz Networks International Mystery series, with English subtitles - so they do exist. Too bad One-Plus-One chose not to include them on the new DVDs. Thanks for the wonderful site. Since I discovered Maigret in 2004, you and all the contributors have enhanced my understanding and enjoyment of the corpus tremendously. Special cheers to Murielle and Jérôme. ---Joe Covey |
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Europe remembers Simenon, the "athlete of the pen"
9/4/09 "Two decades after the death of the Belgian writer Georges Simenon, the ‘athlete of the pen “remains one of the authors more verbose, more localized and more adapted to film and television. To remember this date, which falls today, several European cities have scheduled numerous events, including panel discussions, exhibitions and conferences, after the writer died in 1989 in Lausanne (Switzerland), at age 86. A total of 192 novels, 158 short stories, several autobiographical works and numerous articles and reports published-in addition to more than 200 works under pseudonyms …" From: iPrensa.es more here (original in Spanish. Link is via tinyurl.com so may not load...) Roddy |
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Re: Bruno Cremer Maigret DVDs
9/1/09
Regards,
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Bruno Cremer Maigret DVDs
8/31/09 I have the first four volumes of the Bruno Cremer Maigret series. It’s my understanding that they made 54 films, of which I would have 40. Is there a fifth, and sixth season available? In other words, are all 54 episodes (if that, indeed, is how many they filmed) available? Thanks very much, and by the way: what a wonderful website! Steve Cribari There's a Dutch edition which includes the missing 12... but no English subtitles. In the Forum on 12/07/08 Murielle wrote:With regard to the 12 missing episodes, see the forum on Jacques-Yves Depoix's site on the Bruno Crémer series, particularly the discussions N° 11143771 and N° 1852236123. [indicating various sources for the missing 12] |
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Meung-sur-Loire
8/31/09 I was in Orleans last week-end and I rode by bicyle to Meung-sur-Loire. Here are some pictures of the Loire, the view from Meung and the castle.
Regards,
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Simenon Days at Lausanne
8/31/09 "A series of events organized from Thursday September 3 to Saturday September 5, 2009, in collaboration with the Festival Simenon des Sables d'Olonne (France), to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the death in Lausanne of Georges Simenon, creator of the famous Commissaire Maigret and one of the greatest novelist of the twentieth century." Here are two links: Georges Simenon in the heart of Lausanne Lausanne se souvient de Simenon Murielle |
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New Maigrets in Polish
8/27/09
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Re: What to read that's like Maigret?
8/27/09 I came to Maigret after having read many series featuring a protagonist of his ilk to one degree or another. Seems he is indeed grandfather to many detectives combining elements of Maigret's psychological insightfulness and woebegone ways, his droll self regard and wry wit. Not surprisingly, most of them are European--we Americans sadly tending to favor action over understanding. Herewith, then, is a list of some of my favorites (with the help of the great website, 'Stop You're Killing Me'): 1) Louise Penny
2) Henning Mankell
3) Fred Vargas Frédérique Audouin-Rouzeau [1957-] Featuring Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, commissioner of police (chief inspector), in Paris, France:
4) Janwillem van de Wetering [1931-2008]
5) Andrea Camilleri [1925-]
6) Arnaldur Indriðason [1961-] Featuring Erlendur Sveinsson, a detective inspector, and his colleagues Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg, in Reykjavik, Iceland:
7) Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö Per Wahlöö [1926-1975] Featuring Martin Beck, a police inspector in Stockholm, Sweden:
8) Karin Fossum [1954-]
Enjoy!
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Re: Maigret Map of France?
8/26/09
Best regards
(Click to enlarge)
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What about Torrence?
8/26/09 I turned to Maigret when I'd caught up on all the interesting American and European detective series I could find. Being an orderly sort, I decided to try to do what I always do with every other series: to read each 'book' in the order in which it was written by the author. So, I copied your list of the 75, plus the list of omnibus volumes and began to order the Penguin 1-14 series, checking off each on your list, only to discover that MANY of those included in *those* omnibus volumes were NOT on your list of 75. Meantime, losing patience, I'd found a copy of the first Hamish omnibus, and had read all but 'Maigret Goes to School'. Then I found the #1 'book' on your list -- Peitr Lett -- at my local library and read that, thinking it was the first he'd written. Only then did I read 'Maigret Goes to School', only to discover that Torrence was no longer dead (he'd been murdered in the Lett book). Some books show the date of that writing at the end of each 'book', whereas others do not. Now I'm hopelessly confused... Best wishes, and thanks for your work,
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Maigret Map of France?
8/25/09 I was reading a couple of Maigret books during my holiday in France this summer. Wonderful!! I was wondering if there exists a map of France with the crime scenes and the different investigation travels he made.... |
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More for Simenon on Radio France Culture
8/19/09 Here's another blog, Spend the summer with Georges Simenon, also about the Simenon podcasts... Roddy |
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Simenon on Radio France Culture
8/16/09 Here is an article [in French] from the French newspaper, "La croix" about a broadcast on radio channel France Culture next week every morning from 9 AM to 10 AM, every day on a different city or country in which Simenon had lived... commemorating the 20th anniversary of Simenon's death.
The list of programs is here. There is special web page inside the France Culture web site here. The 5 programs will be available as audio files on the France Culture web site so anyone will be able to listen to them any time after their broadcast. (and perhaps make a copy...? I don't know if that is feasible). 8/17/09 - The official podcast of the programs are here. For today, we have
that makes it simpler to get the files (in mp3 format directly) Regards |
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Chief Superintendent Maigret... a blog
8/16/09 I just received a link to an enjoyable blog by "Tom Sheepandgoats" introducing Simenon and Maigret, which begins... My all time favorite author says he's slept with 10,000 women in the course of his life. You gotta admit, that's a lot. From my virtuous vantage point, one wonders if it is even possible. Actually, he didn't say it himself, but it was some reporter who knew his habits made the calculation, and he said 'yeah....that sounds about right.'The full blog is here. At the end of the blog Tom wonders why the item he sent in to this Forum wasn't published. I'd like to reassure Tom and everyone else that contributions to the Forum are open to anyone - there are no "members" - and they're almost always published. The reason his item didn't appear was that it apparently got lost in cyberspace... I never received it... but I hope he'll resubmit it. ST |
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Le Client le plus obstiné du monde
8/14/09
Since none of the Maigrets are set during WWII, we can safely assume that the story takes place in pre-WWII Paris, and thus that it was the Journal des Débats, still in publication. |
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Maigret of the Month: Maigret à Vichy (Maigret in Vichy, Maigret Takes the Waters)
8/10/09
1. Simenon – and Maigret – in Vichy
A novel a little different from the rest of the corpus, set in an atmosphere bathed in the special light of Vichy, which has "a certain vibration, a certain gentleness", as Maigret said to the journalists who'd come to interview him. But this gentleness nonetheless hides the most sordid affair of blackmail, in the guise of dignity and morality... The novel is also special because Simenon wrote it immediately after his stay in the town of Vichy, of which the author has his own memories. The case is rather rare... usually, Simenon prefers to "decant" his impressions before serving them up again in a novel. We can recall the case of the earliest Maigrets from Presses de la Cité, when the Chief Inspector returned to the Quai des Orfèvres (MOR, for example), where Simenon had never described the streets of Paris as well as after his long stay in the United States... It was in the summer of 1967 that the Simenon family spent their vacation in Vichy... "Why Vichy? ... While I was staying in Paris, I'd been attracted, on the Grand Boulevards, by a shop window displaying a model of the new Vichy, with its parks and above all its broad lake on the Allier where you can do all the aquatic sports, including sailing and water-skiing. ... I'd lived quite a while in Allier when I was secretary to the Marquis of Tracy, not far from Moulins. The culinary resources of the region are famous, from Charolais beef to lamb and poultry, not to mention the no less savory goat cheese." (in "Mémoires intimes") Poor Maigret, condemned by his author to a diet and the cure, couldn't partake of these delicious products of the area! On the other hand, Simenon bequeathed to his Chief Inspector other impressions and memories of his stay in Vichy... "Teresa and I did a lot of walking. We've always walked a lot... we've never covered as many miles, arm in arm, as in Vichy, where we soon learned all the nooks and crannies. ... We walked ... the paths of the various parks, we stopped in front of springs of mineral water, of which we didn't drink a single drop. ... At the end of town, alongside the river, another park, another spring, and, by every path, lawn bowlers, almost all retired, before which we'd stop for a while. ... Night fell. The streetlamps in the park are lit, their light shining on the foliage. An orchestra plays on the bandstand, music "of the good old days" with dozens of men and women around them, seated on ornate little iron chairs like those formerly on the Avenue du Bois. ... Teresa and I walked around the bandstand and I was intrigued by certain faces, of one woman in particular, quite thin, very pale, whom we encountered every evening in the same place. Wasn't there a sort of dramatic expression in her eyes? "What do you think she's thinking about? What kind of life must she lead?" Her dress, while modest, is always in very good taste. I could imagine her in a district of stylish little houses where, in the evening, the shades are lowered, the streets are empty and silent. We play at making up stories, as we sometimes do for a man or woman passing by, or one of the bowlers." (ibid.) After visiting friends and acquaintances (for example, Sven Nielsen: "We wound up walking in the park, Sven and I, exchanging confidences." (ibid.) and "some lucky encounters..., Tino Rossi... A Montmartre singer I'd known in Paris... A Chief Inspector of the Police Prefecture become an important personage... Courtine, the gastronome " (ibid.)), the return to Epalinges... "In September... I remain permeated with our life at Vichy.... I write, with my memories still warm, "Maigret in Vichy", in which the enigmatic woman of the bandstand becomes the heroine." (ibid.") 2. Everything must have a beginning...
I very much like the opening of this novel, in the form of this question addressed by Mme Maigret to her husband, "Do you know them?". Simenon has the art of beginning his novels in an "unconventional" way. The introductory sentence doesn't have to inevitably be like, "There was once...", or a minute Balzacian description of an interior, to insert us into the plot. To illustrate this, a few introductory sentences from novels in the corpus, with which I invite you, fellow Maigretphiles, to play a little recognition game: can you say which novel opens with each of these sentences?
complete article
Murielle Wenger |
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Re: What to read that's like Maigret?
8/09/09 There is no-one like Maigret really; however, I suggest trying Magdalen Nabb, whose Marshall Guarnaccia has something of Maigret about him. Interestingly, Simenon praised her writing. Cheers
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Simenon/Maigret on Dutch Stamp
ST |
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What to read that's like Maigret?
8/05/09 Suggestions please! I have read all of the Maigret books in English at least 3 times each over the last 3 years. For a respite before I go back to them again, can anyone suggest other mysteries in the same vein [in English please]. Thanks Harry Hinson |
Maigret of the Month - 2009
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Maigret of the Month - 2008
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Maigret of the Month - 2007
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Maigret of the Month - 2006
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Maigret of the Month - 2005
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Maigret of the Month - 2004
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