Needless to say, a Maigret novel, atmospherically set in a French coastal town. The town is dominated by a quadrumvirate who meet in the local cafe every night and from time to time enjoy the services of the waitress: the Mayor, the Doctor (who doesn't practice), the ex-Journalist and the Wine Dealer. The last is mysteriously shot in the stomach and there is a yellow dog skulking around at the time. is it the vagrant with the larger feet who is to blame?
I think the appeal of Simenon is that he can use a few sentences to swiftly create a mood or a character:
- "Here and there a scrap of paper scuttles along the ground."
- "Maigret seemed to have the awkward manner of a petit bourgeois visiting an aristocratic house."
It is sparse and underwritten but that is how it achieves its bleak mood.
A nice bit of noir. July 2017; 134 pages
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