A light but satisfying read, which I devoured in an hour or three. Having first seen the French TV series starring Bruno Cremer, and later a BBC version with Michael Gambon (and Minnie Driver as the unfortunate dancer), it was interesting to see how faithful both dramas were to the original text. Of course, the BBC drama did copy the French TV film very closely, almost frame for frame at times. Postwar Paris is beautifully portrayed, with its muddy, slush-filled streets and blue-grey winter light. Maigret is back in the seedy dives of Montmartre, from the cheap burlesque houses to the love hotels that rent rooms by the hour. Why did a stripper feel the need to turn in a drunken complaint about a possible murder--only to retract it a few hours later? Who is the Countess--for that matter who is Oscar? Is he real, or a figment of the girl's imagination? And what about young Albert?The ending made a great deal more sense to me in the reading than the rather confused scenes in the films--I realise they had cut a few vital scenes and made a few changes that didn't help the viewer. I did have a little trouble with the translation, such as the consistent use of the verb "take" instead of "have" (for example, "take a coffee"). Don't know if this was meant to give a "French Flavour" to the text, but after awhile it became annoying.
Surete detectives wander on foot through the rain-swept night from cafe to bar to nightclub downing a brandy at every stop, relying on luck and hunch rather than forensics. As usual with Simenon's books this is mostly character-driven. Surprisingly for a story with Montmatre in its title there isn't much sense of place - certainly less than in some of the Maigret stories set outside Paris. But then this is a winter Montmatre in the 1950s before the tourists arrived en mass. And to be fair it was originally published as 'Maigret au Pickratts' and has also more memorably seen the light as 'Maigret and the Strangled Stripper'.
What do You think about Maigret In Montmartre (1989)?
Bettie's Books
—Bettie☯
Oh joy! Oh bliss! a new mystery writer whose wonderful policiers aren't full to the brim with the blood and guts that seems to mark the majority of crime writers - these books by Simenon are subtle, slow and full to the brim with wit and joie de vivre and my do you feel like you are traversing the streets of Paris as you follow Maigret to the scene of the crime and best of all - like my current favourites Camilleri and Arnaldur Indridason - there's a melancholy feel to these splendid books - I've gobbled up six and there are loads more to find and savour!
—Jeffrey
