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"One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." --The Guardian A moving novel about the destructive power of greed starring the unrivaled Inspector Maigret "Poor Cécile! And yet she was still young. Maigret had seen her papers: barely twenty-eight years old. But it would be difficult to look more like an old maid, to move less gracefully, show more in spite of the care she took to be friendly and pleasant. Those black dresses that she must make for herself from bad paper patterns, that ridiculous green hat!" In the dreary suburbs of Paris, the merciless greed of a seemingly respectable woman is unearthed by her long suffering niece, and Maigret discovers the far-reaching consequences of their actions. show lessTags
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A nervous spinster, Cécile Pardon, has been telling Chief Inspector Maigret a ridiculous tale: that someone has been breaking into the apartment she shared with her invalid aunt and rearranging items and furniture. The entire Police Judiciare attribute Cécile’s reports to her having a crush on Maigret or too much time on her lonely hands. However, when Cécile awaits for Maigret with a message that “something terrible happened last night” and awaits him, she’s gone by the time Maigret tries to see her. She turns up strangled in a broom closet at the police station. And her Aunt Juliet Boynet turns up strangled in her apartment.
Why would someone kill this harmless spinster? Maigret soon figures out the why, but discovering who show more killed Cécile and her aunt, the cold, tight-fisted, avaricious owner of their apartment building, takes longer. Just as well, as I thoroughly enjoyed Georges Simenon’s 22th Maigret novel and welcomed every twist and turn — especially the very shocking reveal. show less
Why would someone kill this harmless spinster? Maigret soon figures out the why, but discovering who show more killed Cécile and her aunt, the cold, tight-fisted, avaricious owner of their apartment building, takes longer. Just as well, as I thoroughly enjoyed Georges Simenon’s 22th Maigret novel and welcomed every twist and turn — especially the very shocking reveal. show less
Cécile has been coming to see Maigret for some time to complain about mysterious nocturnal goings-on in the apartment she shares with her elderly aunt, to the extent that she's become a standing joke with Maigret's subordinates, but so far the police haven't found any sign of wrong-doing. But then the aunt is found murdered and Cécile goes missing, only to turn up dead in a broom cupboard in the Palace of Justice. Embarrassing for the police, to say the least, but it gives Maigret an excuse to shift his attention from a tedious surveillance operation elsewhere and dig into the backgrounds of the miserly aunt and her downstairs neighbour, a shady debarred lawyer from Fontenay-le-Comte.
A fairly routine sort of Maigret, but with enough show more nice touches to keep the reader's attention. show less
A fairly routine sort of Maigret, but with enough show more nice touches to keep the reader's attention. show less
Maigrets are always a good read, even though some are better than others, and there is often a sameness about them. This one, however, surprised me. It occurred to me while reading that this was written in 1942, so, during the German occupation of France.
Can't quite put my finger on why I didn't love this one as much as others. Still very good though. Took me forever to finish, I guess I thought the premise of this one was a little much, though a couple of the characters are classics.
Sad, but also the specter of vice!
Esta novela forma parte del proyecto «releer Maigret por orden de publicación». Es el número 43, incluyendo novelas y relatos.
Probablemente es una de las que más me han gustado últimamente, tanto por el ambiente como por la trama. La introducción como testigo mudo a partir del último tercio del policía estadounidense es tan genial (no tiene nada que ver con la trama policiaca, es solo arquitectura narrativa, así que no estoy destripando nada) que me ha dejado picueta.
Creo (no puedo estar segura) que no la había leído antes, con lo que el placer ha sido infinitamente mayor, aunque también disfruto mucho cuando me toca una que he leído con gusto y en la que voy anticipando las cosas que recuerdo.
Probablemente es una de las que más me han gustado últimamente, tanto por el ambiente como por la trama. La introducción como testigo mudo a partir del último tercio del policía estadounidense es tan genial (no tiene nada que ver con la trama policiaca, es solo arquitectura narrativa, así que no estoy destripando nada) que me ha dejado picueta.
Creo (no puedo estar segura) que no la había leído antes, con lo que el placer ha sido infinitamente mayor, aunque también disfruto mucho cuando me toca una que he leído con gusto y en la que voy anticipando las cosas que recuerdo.
Sep 23, 2023Spanish
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The prolific Belgian-born writer Georges Simenon produced hundreds of fictional works under his own name and 17 pseudonyms, in addition to more than 70 books about Inspector Maigret, long "the favorite sleuth of highbrow detective-story readers" (SR). More than 50 "Simenons" have been made into films. In addition to his mystery stories, he wrote show more what he called "hard" books, the serious psychological novels numbering well over 100. The autobiographical Pedigree, set in his native town of Liege, is perhaps his finest work. The publication of Simenon's intimate memoirs also attracted considerable attention. Simenon himself once said that he would never write a "great novel." Yet Gide called him "a great novelist, perhaps the greatest and truest novelist we have in French literature today," and Thornton Wilder (see Vol. 1) found that Simenon's narrative gift extends "to the tips of his fingers." The following are some of Simenon's novels, exclusive of the Maigret detective stories, that are in print. (Bowker Author Biography) Georges Simenon was born on February 13, 1903 in Liege, Belgium. He wrote more than 200 fiction works under 16 different pseudonyms. His first book, The Case of Peter the Lent led to 80 more of the like including the main character, Inspector Maigret. He published over 400 books that were translated into 50 different languages and sold by the millions. He also wrote psychological novels, including The Man Who Watched the Train Go By. He died on September 4, 1989 in Lausanne. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Cécile is Dead
- Original title
- Cécile est morte
- Alternate titles
- Maigret and the Spinster
- Original publication date
- 1942
- People/Characters*
- Jules Maigret
- Important places*
- Parigi, Francia; Bourg-la-Reine, Francia; Francia
- Related movies*
- Cécile est morte (1944 | IMDb); Maigret dirige l'inchiesta (1956 | IMDb); Poor Cecile! (1963 | IMDb); Un'ombra su Maigret (1964 | IMDb); Cécile est morte (1967 | IMDb); Cécile est morte (1944 | IMDb)
- First words
- The pipe that Detective Chief Inspector Maigret lit on coming out of his door in Boulevard Richard-Lenoir was even more delicious than usual.
- Quotations*
- Maigret solía encogerse de hombros cuando, en su presencia, alguien se sorprendía de la resignación de los humildes, de los enfermos, de los inválidos, de los miles de seres que viven como reclusos, sin horizonte, en algu... (show all)no de los suburbios de la gran ciudad; sabía por experiencia que el hombre se conforma con cualquier nido, con tal de que pueda llenarlo con su calor, su olor y sus costumbres.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And never mind the fact that he, Maigret, owed Monfils for the idea of taking the photograph frame apart . . .
- Original language*
- Francese
- Disambiguation notice
- In the French original, Cécile est morte.
Variously published in English as (i) Maigret and the Spinster (1977) (tr. Eileen Ellenbogen); and (ii) Cécile is Dead (2015) (tr. Anthea Bell).
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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