On This Page
Description
A visit from the tall, thin woman he arrested many years ago - now married to a hapless burglar - leads Maigret on a tortuous investigation in which he struggles with a formidable suspect. 'When he had set them to work, Maigret had had a merry, almost fierce glint in his eye. He had set them loose on the house like a pack of hounds on the trail of a scent, encouraging them not with his voice, but by his whole attitude . . . would events have played out in the same manner, if the man from Rue show more de la Ferme hadn't been a heavyweight like him, both physically and psychologically?' Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Burglar's Wife. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Oh Georges Simenon. Your tight, witty prose is so cool I feel more socially desirable just reading one of your books. It's a pity this is an ebook, otherwise my fellow commuters might've caught a glimpse of the cover and secretly hoped I'd be their friend.
Maigret and the Tall Woman is the 38th of the 76 novels Simenon wrote about his titular inspector, and as about a typical example of the series as you could hope for. That's not a criticism; with their low page counts and procedural nature, the Maigret novels have the feel of a quality television crime drama.
In each one we're presented with an intriguing or baffling situation, Maigret huffs show more around, has a few beers, puffs himself up for a fight – and we've quickly rattled through to the resolution. No padding, no fluff, just an absolute confidence in the author and the crime genre's literary ability.
My God Maigret, you're just so cool. show less
Oh Georges Simenon. Your tight, witty prose is so cool I feel more socially desirable just reading one of your books. It's a pity this is an ebook, otherwise my fellow commuters might've caught a glimpse of the cover and secretly hoped I'd be their friend.
Maigret and the Tall Woman is the 38th of the 76 novels Simenon wrote about his titular inspector, and as about a typical example of the series as you could hope for. That's not a criticism; with their low page counts and procedural nature, the Maigret novels have the feel of a quality television crime drama.
In each one we're presented with an intriguing or baffling situation, Maigret huffs show more around, has a few beers, puffs himself up for a fight – and we've quickly rattled through to the resolution. No padding, no fluff, just an absolute confidence in the author and the crime genre's literary ability.
My God Maigret, you're just so cool. show less
First published in English in 1955 with the better title of Inspector Maigret and the Burglar’s Wife, Maigret and the Tall Woman was a book I simply couldn’t put down, as cliché as that sounds. A former prostitute who had had a run-in with Maigret some 17 years earlier has since married a safecracker, Alfred “Sad Freddie” Jussiaume. Madame Jussiaume pops into Maigret’s office to advise him that her husband had fled the scene of his impending crime on Tuesday night when he found a bloodied woman’s body.
Meticulous as always — and as daring as always — Maigret goes step by step, deploying his loyal police officers, tirelessly questioning witnesses and suspects alike, until he brings the culprits to justice. An incredibly show more fine read that I highly recommend.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Penguin Classics in exchange for an honest review. And thank you, Penguin Classics, for reissuing the entire Maigret series a book at a time. show less
Meticulous as always — and as daring as always — Maigret goes step by step, deploying his loyal police officers, tirelessly questioning witnesses and suspects alike, until he brings the culprits to justice. An incredibly show more fine read that I highly recommend.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Penguin Classics in exchange for an honest review. And thank you, Penguin Classics, for reissuing the entire Maigret series a book at a time. show less
Simenon published nine books in 1951; Five of them starred Commissaire Maigret of the police judiciaire de Paris. It is a heatwave in Paris during August and many of the staff of the PJ are away on holiday and Maigret pretty much has the place to himself. A large lady (Le Grande Perche) steps into his office and he recognises her from a case he worked some 17 years ago. She is now the partner of Alfred-le-Triste who has gone missing. Alfred is a notorious safe breaker and while cracking a safe in a large house he was surprised to see a dead body of a female, he panicked and left his tools behind. He is now in hiding and Le Grande Perche fears for his life. Maigret believes the story and starts an investigation. There is no trace of a show more body or a crime scene when he visits the house which is occupied by a dentist and his elderly mother, but Maigret is convinced there has been foul play.
Characterisation is important in this story and Guillaume Serre the dentist is well portrayed. He looks like a bigger version of Maigret himself (and that is big) and the story develops into a battle of wills between the two men. When Maigret finally calls him into the PJ for an interview in his office, it becomes a marathon session with Maigret's pipe smoking and Guillaume Serre smoking cigars, they end up by hardly being able to see each other. Maigret has to get up to open the window despite the heatwave. Inspector Janvier is around to do the leg work and madame Maigret puts in an appearance sitting downstairs on the terrace of the Brasserie Dauphine while her husband goes back and forth to his office. She wonders whether the four or five calvados that he drinks with her, will affect his work. When Maigret arrives for a steak-out of the dentists house, he sits in the restaurant opposite the large house and does not miss his aperitifs. It's all a bit different from the TV series Engrenage (2005-2020) where the team are usually huddled in the back of a van in the poor suburbs of Paris and must piss in a waterbottle.
The story is up to the usual standards of Simenon's police tales and although it is not difficult to guess the outcome, all the fun is in the getting there. Charming and 3.5 stars. show less
Characterisation is important in this story and Guillaume Serre the dentist is well portrayed. He looks like a bigger version of Maigret himself (and that is big) and the story develops into a battle of wills between the two men. When Maigret finally calls him into the PJ for an interview in his office, it becomes a marathon session with Maigret's pipe smoking and Guillaume Serre smoking cigars, they end up by hardly being able to see each other. Maigret has to get up to open the window despite the heatwave. Inspector Janvier is around to do the leg work and madame Maigret puts in an appearance sitting downstairs on the terrace of the Brasserie Dauphine while her husband goes back and forth to his office. She wonders whether the four or five calvados that he drinks with her, will affect his work. When Maigret arrives for a steak-out of the dentists house, he sits in the restaurant opposite the large house and does not miss his aperitifs. It's all a bit different from the TV series Engrenage (2005-2020) where the team are usually huddled in the back of a van in the poor suburbs of Paris and must piss in a waterbottle.
The story is up to the usual standards of Simenon's police tales and although it is not difficult to guess the outcome, all the fun is in the getting there. Charming and 3.5 stars. show less
Look, I personally love classic crime - and Maigret (recently brought to life by Rowan Atkinson), definitely falls into this category.
The "tall woman" is the wife of a career safe-cracker (a woman whom Maigret knew from years gone by). There is a murder, and the safe-cracker vanishes. In his usual style, and sometimes with the thinest of evidence, Maigret investigates. There is nothing seemingly rushed about this man, and at times you wonder if Maigret will ever solve the puzzle. But you know he does.
This style of crime fiction is classic for a reason, and will never go out of style. I was introduced to Maigret and others of his ilk many, many years ago, and then sometime ago, I indulged myself in reading a vast array of classic crime show more (for the pure joy of it) - Simenon was among the many authors. And yet their characters are still fresh as if it were only yesterday. That is the power of Simenon and his ilk - they still have the power to captivate an audience years later.
Well worth the effort to seek out more from Georges Simenon and the full list of Maigret titles, which you can do here @ Penguin Books show less
The "tall woman" is the wife of a career safe-cracker (a woman whom Maigret knew from years gone by). There is a murder, and the safe-cracker vanishes. In his usual style, and sometimes with the thinest of evidence, Maigret investigates. There is nothing seemingly rushed about this man, and at times you wonder if Maigret will ever solve the puzzle. But you know he does.
This style of crime fiction is classic for a reason, and will never go out of style. I was introduced to Maigret and others of his ilk many, many years ago, and then sometime ago, I indulged myself in reading a vast array of classic crime show more (for the pure joy of it) - Simenon was among the many authors. And yet their characters are still fresh as if it were only yesterday. That is the power of Simenon and his ilk - they still have the power to captivate an audience years later.
Well worth the effort to seek out more from Georges Simenon and the full list of Maigret titles, which you can do here @ Penguin Books show less
My first ever Maigret and - I'm impressed! It has a flavour and style all of it's own, and although recognisable as something akin to Golden Age Crime fiction, it's sufficiently different - to whit the focus on the process of questioning. There's a certain psychological aspect to it which I wasn't entirely expecting either. Pretty much the bridge of what I'd call British Golden Age books and the American crime writers. Quite wonderful.
when i was really into mysteries i didn't really like maigret. his constant pipe and pernod i found pretentious. and mrs maigret! i decided to try again. it was ok. i'd try another. nobody reads old mysteries and that's too bad. they're short and concise. the new ones are all 500 pages!
Classic French crime freshly translated for Penguin. Maigret is contacted by the wife of a safe cracker. He has gone missing - after finding a dead body in a house he had broken into...
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Reading LIst
648 works; 1 member
Author Information
1,315+ Works 62,765 Members
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
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Maigret and the Burglar's Wife
- Original title
- Maigret et la Grande Perche
- Alternate titles
- Maigret and the Tall Woman
- Original publication date
- 1951 (original French) (original French)
- People/Characters
- Jules Maigret; Albert Janvier; Louise Maigret; Joseph Moers; Boissier; Dambois (show all 22); Dubuc; Alfred Jussiaume; Ernestine Jussiaume; Marileux; Gertrude Oosting; Orin; Alain Serre; Guillaume Serre; Madame Serre; Maria Serre; Émile; Eugénie; Joseph [in Maigret and the Burglar's Wife]; Joseph Torrence; Inspector Vacher; Vanneau
- Important places
- Paris, France
- Related movies*
- Maigret Complete Collection DVD series 1 episode 2 (Michel Gambon); The Burglar's Wife (1960 | IMDb); Maigret et la grande perche (1974 | IMDb); Maigret et la grande perche (1991 | IMDb); Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1992 | IMDb)
- First words
- Maigret read the docket that the office clerk had had the visitor fill out and handed to him[.]
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He continued to drink red wine in the little bar and every time, before he went in, he would glance anxiously up and down the street.
- Original language
- French
- Disambiguation notice
- In the French original, Maigret et la Grande Perche (1951).
Published variously in English as:
(i) Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (trans. Julian MacLaren-Ross) (1955);
(ii) Maigret a... (show all)nd the Tall Woman (trans. David Watson) (2016).
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 509
- Popularity
- 58,743
- Reviews
- 20
- Rating
- (3.66)
- Languages
- 12 — Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 44
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 33
