The Madman of Bergerac by Simenon
The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
by Georges Simenon, translated by Geoffery Sainsbury
165 pages - Penguin Books
Inspector Maigret takes a night train out of Paris, and becomes fascinated by the agitated person in the sleeping bunk above him. The man leaves the bunk, and Maigret watches him walk down the corridor, until the mysterious man jumps off the train as it slows for a turn. Maigret follows his intuition and jumps off the train as well, though he quickly ends up getting shot, and is confined to bed for several weeks in the town of Bergerac. As he lies in bed and is ministered to by his wife, he learns about several killings that have taken place recently, and works to solve the case, even though he cannot move from his bed.
I'm not sure if it's just this particular book, or if I've read too many of these Maigret books recently, but this story didn't do very much for me. It's quite a short, quick read, but as I settled down to read the last part I realized that I didn't really have a good mental idea of who most of the characters were, or how, for example, the public prosecutor differed from the doctor or the local police inspector or the hotel landlord. It also seems a bit too convenient that all the people that Maigret meets on his first day in Bergerac should indeed properly make up the group of suspects. Kind of a mediocre read.
by Georges Simenon, translated by Geoffery Sainsbury
165 pages - Penguin Books
Inspector Maigret takes a night train out of Paris, and becomes fascinated by the agitated person in the sleeping bunk above him. The man leaves the bunk, and Maigret watches him walk down the corridor, until the mysterious man jumps off the train as it slows for a turn. Maigret follows his intuition and jumps off the train as well, though he quickly ends up getting shot, and is confined to bed for several weeks in the town of Bergerac. As he lies in bed and is ministered to by his wife, he learns about several killings that have taken place recently, and works to solve the case, even though he cannot move from his bed.
I'm not sure if it's just this particular book, or if I've read too many of these Maigret books recently, but this story didn't do very much for me. It's quite a short, quick read, but as I settled down to read the last part I realized that I didn't really have a good mental idea of who most of the characters were, or how, for example, the public prosecutor differed from the doctor or the local police inspector or the hotel landlord. It also seems a bit too convenient that all the people that Maigret meets on his first day in Bergerac should indeed properly make up the group of suspects. Kind of a mediocre read.