As others have written elsewhere (see especially Len Flesig's review on Amazon of The Madman of Bergerac), George Simenon was a prolific author of over 100 Maigret novels and many other darker psychological investigations that he called 'romans durs' or 'hard novels' (see Simenon's Dirty Snow (New York Review Books Classics)).

Set in Paris, as nearly all Maigret stories are, 'Maigret and the Bum', published in 1963, comes fairly late in the series. Maigret does not live outside of time. He shows signs of weariness and a desire to reflect back on days of a more vigorous youth as he strolls along the Seine in the book's opening pages. A down-and-out bum has had his skull cracked and been thrown in the river.

Maigret is there to investigate. Rescued by two rivermen, the bum survives and Maigret learns much about the man's past - he is, or was, a doctor. Who would try to kill a down-and-outer? Does the man's distant past hold the answer? Or was it something more recent? Can Maigret get to the bottom of it? Well, yes, but can he get the truth out of the perpetrator.

Simenon unwinds the tale in a way that compels the reader to rush to the finish; the book is only 147 pages and so the task is not so difficult. Having finished one Maigret tale, the reader wants more of Maigret's compressed psychology. ( )