Maigret investigates when a body is found in a locker in the cellar of an upscale Parisian hotel. This was a nice light read with a satisfying conclusion. ( )

My first Maigret, which is kind of unbelievable given how much I like mid-century mystery, but there you go. I chose it somewhat randomly from my library's collection. It is #20, but all the books are basically standalone, so I was fine. Apparently there have been retcons and other variations across the years, but I was ignorant.

Maigret is called to investigate the murder of a wealthy American woman whose strangled body is found in the basement work areas of the luxury Hotel Majestic. She turns out not to be American, and suspicion falls on Prosper Donge, the still-room employee who has a connection to her. But her (genuinely American) husband and her son's governess are having an affair, so what about them?

Unraveling the connections and solving the mystery requires Maigret to investigate all kinds of Majestic employees, as well as take a quick trip to Cannes to check out Prosper's previous job and friends.

Like so many before me, I loved Maigret. He is a terrific character who figures things out by paying attention to the people around him, listening, and sifting through clues. He's confident but not hubris-filled, and he has a happy marriage. Zut alors! And Simenon's evocation of Paris and Parisians is wonderful. The style is compact and minimalist, with no wasted words.

I am so happy that I have dozens more ahead of me, not to mention the non-Maigrets. ( )

A nice, undemanding novel-length Maigret from the late thirties/early forties (No.41 in the usual lists), with a below-stairs setting in a big Parisian luxury hotel. Fun to see that the arrangements in the hotel basement in those days still include a dining-room reserved for the personal valets and maids of guests staying in the hotel! A guest's body is discovered in a locker in the staff changing-room, and the obvious suspect is Prosper Donge, the man in charge of the hotel's coffee and tea service. The Examining Magistrate arrests him and assumes the case is closed, but Maigret isn't so sure... ( )

As always, a solid entry. I would love to know if there was ever an explanation on why in one novel Maigret is retired in the country, and the next he is back in Paris. I am reading them in the order they were re-released by Penguin, but hopefully the next one is the one originally written after Simenon decided to bring Maigret back, a la Doyle and Holmes. ( )

Una delle inchieste di Maigret che mi è piaciuta di più. Un bell'intrecciarsi di esistenze, il fato che ci mette sempre lo zampino, un Maigret che arresta il suo colpevole cenando con lui. Bello, mi è piaciuto tanto quanto il caso Saint Fiacre. ( )