What do You think about Maigret And The Man On The Bench (2003)?
After watching three weeks of the Tour de France in July I felt compelled to pay one of my periodic visits to that country through the eyes of Chief Inspector Maigret. A reviewer says that Maigret doesn't so much solve crimes as solve people, which makes him different from so many other detectives in fiction. This book - set in 1952 Paris - is filled with the features readers have expected from Simenon's Maigret stories - authentic settings, characters from (mostly) middle and lower-class French society, and frequent stops at cafes and brasseries for meals. The story revolves around a man found stabbed to death in an alley wearing brown shoes, which the shrewish widow finds appalling and claims he would never do. This sets in motion the trip through the various pathways of Paris and it's citizens - shopgirls, warehousemen, prostitutes, sneak thieves, circus performers and other characters both high and low.
—Patrick SG
Maigret is called to see the body of a man stabbed in the back in a narrow Parisian alleyway. The man seems utterly unremarkable, so why would anyone bother to stab him? Maigret's digging uncovers a timid husband who was too afraid to tell his wife he had long ago lost his job, a bratty daughter who has little regard for her parents and an elderly brothel keeper.This was my first Simenon and I really liked going with Maigret and his team of young inspectors all over Paris. They can't spot a cafe or brassiere without needing a little drink and where to lunch is planned with care. I have just one complaint and I've had to knock half a star off because of it.SPOILER____The whole affair wraps up with a person who isn't even a character in the book. Really. I went back wondering if it had been a very minor character that I had forgotten about, but nope. Not there. Just a name at the end. Weird._________I'll read more from Simenon, and I'll have a lot of choices as he wrote over two hundred books.
—jennifer
Though long a fan of the French TV series starring Bruno Cremer, this was my first Maigret novel. (OK, so yeah, I cheated and read it in English.) I noticed that barring a few small things, the films are faithful to the books.The translation was very good, giving a flavour of the period without sounding over the top or reading like a translation--as a translator myself, I know how difficult that is!A case that looks straightforward enough--a man found stabbed in an alleyway--proves to have unexpected twists and turns. The author's love of his city comes shining through as Maigret almost wishes himself back on the beat, questioning the bench-sitters who might hold clues to the mystery. Simenon can't resist being rather snarky about people who move to "the suburbs"--in his world, who would want to? Such folk are immediately suspect!
—Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)
