What do You think about The Flemish House (2015)?
She was not a feminine woman. She was large and solid, and not at all coy. Perhaps that’s why Maigret agreed to accept her request for help when she came to him. He would be functioning privately, not in his official capacity.Her name was Anna Peeters, and her brother, Joseph, was accused of murdering a local girl. Not just any local girl – the mother of his son and the one person who stood between his marriage with his beautiful cousin. Anna is as certain of his innocence as the townspeople are of his guilt. But who is right?Discussion.Maigret and the Flemish Shop was (in my opinion) much better than Maigret and the Apparition, from a moral as well as story-telling view point. The plot is more cohesive, the characters more clearly depicted, and the solution more sensible.As I already mentioned in the synopsis, Joseph Peeters had an illegitimate son with a local girl. While the affair is referred to, and the girl’s character (or lack thereof) described, there were few references to the situation (as compared to Simenon’s handling of romance in Maigret and the Apparition).All in all, I don’t find Maigret enjoyable as a detective. His mannerism are not endearing, nor are his deductions rewarding; they are often delivered with exhaustion rather than with the aplomb which Poirot or Holmes would use.Conclusion. Better than Maigret and the Apparition, but not by any stretch a favorite.Visit The Blithering Bookster to read more reviews!www.blitheringbookster.com
—Laura Verret
Thanks to Simenon's prolific output of Maigret novels and stories, we get to see the Inspector taking on official cases and also stepping in to lend an unofficial hand. The unofficial cases are intriguing because they seem to be more about Maigret satisfying his own curiosity and dispensing his own judgement rather than settling things with institutional justice. This story is also interesting because we see a hint of the story that will follow...if Maigret can push through the frustrating dead ends and wrap things up in the border town of Givet.
—Hans
Pur non coinvolto ufficialmente, e non è la prima volta ormai, ritengo che in questo episodio Maigret affronti l'indagine in una maniera più lineare (con tanto di deduzioni, prove, confutazioni durante il confronto con un ispettore locale) rispetto ai lavori precedenti, in cui - solitamente - poco spazio era destinato all'inchiesta e più allo studio delle persone coinvolte, aspetto quest'ultimo comunque presente.Per il resto Simenon ci porta nuovamente nei luoghi in cui è più usuale immaginarci di trovare il Commissario, ovvero in trasferta e possibilmente in una zona di canali, chiatte, fiumi, fra le nebbie e le piogge ai limiti della Francia con il Belgio.Altro elemento ricorrente, notato ormai in diversi suoi lavori, la presenza di un ambiente famigliare in cui le "prime linee" non sono più i genitori, ma i figli che seppur giovani badano ormai alla casa, alle attività, con le sorelle a stravedere per il figlio maschio (vedi Casa sul Canale). Anche in questo caso una presenza femminile, un amore, una trasgressione permea il tessuto famigliare per minarlo definitivamente.Ormai al ventesimo Simenon circa ho notato che mi piace citare un passaggio o una scena di quelle che ritengo meglio riuscite o più felici. In questo caso è magistrale la parte in cui Maigret al cafè si imbatte con Gèrard Piedboeuf (ma di più non svelo)
—Filippo Bossolino
