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Loading... The Yellow Dog (1931)by Georges Simenon, Donald R. Hall (Editor), Eve Katz (Editor)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. "El inspector Maigret llega a la localidad de Concarneau para investigar el intento de asesinato de uno de los prohombres del pueblo. En mitad de las pesquisas, una serie de sucesos confusos parecen indicar que un asesino imparable trama una venganza colectiva. La única pista que parece firme es un perro canelo que nadie había visto antes y que merodea por el vecindario". (Descripción editorial). Summary: Maigret is called in when a distinguished wine merchant is shot, followed by a murder, a disappearance and another shooting in which a common element in several instances is a yellow dog. A well-thought of wine merchant makes a late night of it at the Admiral Hotel in the seaside village of Concarneau. Making his way home, he stops to light a cigar, and is shot, though not fatally. A yellow dog shows up nosing around the wounded man. Maigret, setting up a mobile unit, is nearby and called in by the town mayor. He stays at the Hotel and meets an interesting cast of characters. Shortly after he arrives, the doctor, who never practiced but is involved with real estate, recognizes poison on a drink being served. The next day another associate, Jean Serviere vanishes, leaving behind a car with blood-stained seats. Then the doctor has a drink with the third in this circle, Pommeret, who goes home and drops dead of poison. Hysteria in the town is rising. The dog has been seen several times around the time of the murders as well as a giant vagabond, who becomes the prime suspect in the eyes of most. He is sought–and captured only to break free and elude re-capture. The mayor wants Maigret to do something. Yet he seems curiously inactive, baffling his assistant, who he tells: ‘You’re lucky my friend! Especially in this case, in which my method has actually been not to have one … I’ll give you some good advice: if you’re interested in getting ahead, don’t take me for a model, or invent any theories from what you see me doing.’ Pressed by the mayor to arrest somebody, he arrests the doctor, who is terrified for his own life after what happens to his two associates. While waiting for events to develop that will reveal the murderer, Maigret observes Emma waitress at the Admiral and sometime mistress to the doctor. He senses she knows more than she tells. When another assault on a customs official occurs, suspicion centers on the vagabond, who is re-captured. But because Maigret has been watching Emma, he knows better as he reveals in a final scene in the doctor’s prison cell. I have to admit that I was as perplexed as the mayor and the assistant with Maigret, so this was not at all predictable to me, and made Maigret all the more fascinating, particularly for the generous act on his part at the end. Simenon does all this in a short work that can be read in an evening. The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon is part of the Inspector Maigret series. It opens in the coastal town of Concarneau with the strange shooting of a local wine merchant. He had stepped into a doorway to light a cigar and was shot by way of the house’s letterbox. The wine merchant was part of a group of local business men who met at the Admiral Hotel for drinks and cards. All too soon other members of this small group are attacked, causing panic and fear in the small town. One thing each attack has in common is the strange yellow dog who turns up at each scene. Inspector Maigret arrives to investigate and needs to sort through the rumors, hysteria and a mayor who wants someone – anyone arrested immediately. With the setting and the characters, Simenon creates an intense, mysterious atmosphere that plays on ones anxieties. Maigret’s secret but clever unravelling of the case makes for a spellbinding ending as he fits all the pieces together. This is my second book featuring Maigret and I am enjoying learning about his intelligence and perception. The Yellow Dog was first published in 1931, when Georges Simenon (1903 – 1989) blasted out a bunch of Maigret novels. The title is kind of subtle, yes there is a blonde dog in the novel. But the phrase is moreso a euphemism for one of the characters. This novel, like the other Maigret stories I have read, has the potential to frustrate a reader because this is not a “typical” mystery in which the reader is also on the case with the detective. We are not given all the clues and insights and backstories. Its not fair-play, its not really a “traditional detective” story. Simenon’s storytelling is a little to one side of the detective story genre. I recommend this one for those readers who do not care for the whodunits, but who might like a novel adjacent to that genre. At 134 pages (in my edition) it is not anything a reader would struggle with.
Pienessä merenrantakaupungissa tapahtuu murha, sitten murhayritys, sitten itsemurha, sitten katoaminen. Tapahtumien ketju näyttää selvittämättömältä. On yksi ainoa lähtökohta, johon Maigret joutuu yhä uudelleen tarttumaan – likaisenkeltainen, pitkäjalkainen, hyvin laiha koira, joka näyttää isännättömältä ja ilmestyy aina sinne, missä jotain tavallisuudesta poikkeavaa tapahtuu…
Inspector Jules Maigret investigates the murder of a prominent citizen of a little town on the coast of Brittany and, rather than make a quick arrest of a sad-eyed waitress who has seen too much, stays until justice is done. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)843.912Literature French and related languages French fiction Modern Period 20th Century 1900-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Maigret is on one of his many secondments to Brittany, and also in one of his most quixotic moods, presenting himself as bumbling, unconcerned and obtuse, all the while unerringly closing in on his suspects. ( )