The tenth and final Maigret  published by Simenon in 1931, the year he introduced our ‘broad shouldered’ Paris Chief Inspector.  Once again, the action is not in Paris but in Leige, Belgium the home of Simenon.  Not sure why the author chose to exile Maigret to rural France, Holland, and Belgium for these first 10 books, but hope that he can get him back to Paris soon.  This may be my least favorite Maigret with a rather silly plot line and distractions galore.  Maigret doesn’t even appear until more than halfway through the story by which time I was almost ready to chuck the whole book.

Although I wouldn’t recommend any of these first Maigret’s from 1931, it has been fascinating to see how Simenon has begun to work his way towards a more refined and detailed portrait of our Chief Inspector.  My hope is that we move to 1932 and beyond, the Maigret that I’ve always found fascinating emerges sooner rather than later.  Ten down and 64 to go!