Maigret and the Madwoman

The "madwoman" in “Maigret’s Madwoman” (1970) by Georges Simenon is clearly not mad — just maddening. This frail old woman persists in trying to see Inspector Maigret, believing that only he can solve the mystery of why her possessions often appear slightly moved when she returns to her apartment. She fears for her life, she says.

Maigret, busy with more important matters, promises to see her but puts it off. Then she is found dead, apparently smothered.

Feeling guilty about ignoring the woman, the inspector devotes his full attention the case. Suspects are few, and a motive seems nonexistent. The old woman apparently had nothing worth taking. Her only known visitors were a niece, a large woman with a long resentment against her show more aunt, and her son, a musician who sometimes came to the old woman asking for handouts. The niece's live-in boyfriend, a small-time criminal, is questioned several times. And very soon Maigret is questioning a big-time French gangster who pretends to be retired.

As usual, Simenon packs a lot of story into relatively few pages — just 168 here. And while Maigret's mind works in complex ways, the plots are usually comprehensible, as well as both logical and surprising. And that is the case here in another fine entry in this wonderful series of French mysteries. show less

If you need a little joy and comfortable pleasure in your life, reading Maigret and the Madwoman is a good place to start. This police detective novella was written toward the last of author Simenon's Maigret long series and retains a freshness, humanness, and vitality. There are two tv/cable series that are wonderful to watch about Inspector Maigret but reading about him and the Paris he lived in adds extra dimension, a bonus.

Quotes: (pages 6-7) “Everyone at the Quai des Orfevres had at some time or other had to deal with letters from lunatics or cranks, and the underlining of words was a characteristic of most of them.
'You'd better see her, Lapointe. Unless someone does, we'll have her calling every day/'
A few minutes later the show more old woman was ushered into the little office in the back. Lapointe was waiting there alone, standing near the window.
'Please come in madame. Take a seat.'
She looked him up and down in some bewilderment.
'Are you his son?'
'Whose son?'
'The Chief Superintendent's.'
'No, madame. My name is Inspector Lapointe.'
'But you are only a boy!'
'I'm twenty-seven.'”

(page 36) “Maigret ordered herring fillet as a first course, to be followed by the andouilllettes.
'What do you think?' asked Maigret, a little uncomfortably.
Lapointe was at a loss as to what to say.
'It never entered my head that she was telling the truth. I could have sworn that she was just imagining things, the way old people so often do.'
'She's dead.'
'And if the door hadn't been left ajar, it might have been days before anyone found her. The murderer must have been someone she knew, otherwise, he wouldn't have had to kill her.'”

(page 116) “As you see, you have been summoned here for an official investigation. Everything you say will be taken down, and, at the end, you will be required to read and sign the transcript. I may have to repeat some questions that I have already put to you, but this time your answers will be on record.'
'In other words, I'm suspect number one, is that it?'
'You're a suspect that's all. Numbers don't come into it.'
'You hadn't the slightest affection for your aunt. Isn't that so?'” show less

Maigret Regrets
Review of the Penguin Classics paperback (October 2019) of a new translation* by Siân Reynolds of the French language original "La Folle de Maigret" (1970)

[3.5]
Maigret's Madwoman is a fairly straightforward case for the Parisian Chief Inspector. An elderly woman persists in coming to the Quai des Orfèvres offices of the Police Judiciaire in order to attempt to see Maigret. The only reason she gives is that she has noticed things being moved around in her apartment. The police are doubtful about her story and think it is just the woman's elderly illusions, but Maigret finally takes an interest and agrees to visit her to take a look. Before he can do so, the woman is murdered. Stung with regret, Maigret persists in an show more investigation which has a limited number of suspects but for which the motive is mystery until all the pieces of the past fall into place.

See image at http://www.trussel.com/maig/covers/folle-76.jpg
The cover of the original French language edition of "Maigret's Madwoman" as published by Press de la Cité, France 1970. Image sourced from Maigret of the Month.

I read the first dozen Maigret novellas earlier this year and then intended to proceed with several of Simenon's romans durs (French: hard novels) which he considered his more serious work, as opposed to the lighter fare involving the Chief Inspector. The non-Maigrets are a bit more difficult to source however and there seem to be less than a dozen in current editions from Penguin Classics. Anyway, to keep the Simenon pipeline flowing, I thought I'd add several of the late Maigrets to my ongoing reading survey.

In a rarity for completists, this is Maigret #72 in both the recent Penguin Classics series of new translations (2013-2019) of the Inspector Maigret novels and in the previous standard Maigret Series Listopia as listed on Goodreads.

Trivia and Links
* Some earlier English translations have given the title as Maigret and the Madwoman.

There is extensive background and a detailed plot description (spoilers obviously) about Maigret's Madwoman at Maigret of the Month.

Maigret's Madwoman has been adapted for film twice: The first adaptation was in a 1975 French language television episode of the long running series Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (The Investigations of Inspector Maigret) (1967-1990) starring Jean Richard as Inspector Maigret.
The second adaptation was in a 1992 English language television episode of the series Maigret (1992-1993) starring Michael Gambon at Inspector Maigret.

There is an article about the Penguin Classics re-translations of the Inspector Maigret novels at Maigret, the Enduring Appeal of the Parisian Sleuth by Paddy Kehoe, RTE, August 17, 2019. show less

Such a simple but captivating story. Some items get moved around in a small apartment. If only Maigret had acted earlier he could have prevented the murder of the little old lady. Always following his wife's advice, Maigret takes his time to find the culprit including a day return to Marseille.

Take one of these along when going on vacation. Perfect book to read on a plane. Read this one to and from Mexico.

Perfectly plot and characters as always.

Read by Andrew Sachs. An excellent reader. Good mystery series.

Maigret fait aussi des erreurs ! Et là, une petite vieille – la folle – va en faire les frais.

Dans cet opus, qui compte parmi les dernier (mais aussi dans bien d’autres), il est intéressant de voir l’importance du « qu’en dira-t-on » et de son traitement par Simenon. Maigret qui n’ose pas embrasser sa femme sur un banc, mais qui – flegmatique – souligne les injustices faites aux femmes qui sont jugées bien plus sévèrement que les hommes ainsi que nombre de petites hypocrisies.

Simenon féministe ?