Waterstones A Maigret Christmas
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Price: £9.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: Three seasonal stories set in Paris at Christmas, from the celebrated creator of Inspector Maigret. It is Christmas in Paris, but beneath the sparkling lights and glittering decorations lie sinister deeds and dark secrets. This collection brings together three of Simenon's most enjoyable Christmas tales, newly translated, featuring Inspector Maigret and other characters from the Maigret novels. In 'A Maigret Christmas', the Inspector receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. In 'Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook', the sound of alarms over Paris send the police on a cat and mouse chase across the city. And 'The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes (A Christmas Story for Grown-Ups)' tells of a cynical woman who is moved to an unexpected act of festive charity in a nightclub - one that surprises even her.
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9780241356746
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9780241356746
Author: Margaret Smith
Rating: 5
Review: This book was bought as a Christmas present for my husband who is a Simenon fan. Last year I bought him one of Simenon’s non Maigret stories (by mistake) so putting it right this year with a proper Maigret collection which I know he will love.
Author: Graham G Grant
Rating: 3
Review: The first story in this short collection is the only one to feature Maigret, so you may feel a little short-changed. Maigret’s Christmas Day is interrupted by neighbours reporting the apparent appearance of Father Christmas in an apartment opposite, spotted by a little girl. Maigret takes times out of his festive celebrations to investigate further, peeling back the layers of a clever little mystery. The common factor of all the stories is the gentle but evocative descriptive writing about Paris at Christmas-time, and the contrast between brightly-lit homes where children are sleeping or decorating the tree - and the seedy underbelly of the city streets. The middle story is probably the best, even though Maigret isn’t in it. It’s a cat-and-mouse story set in a police control room with the switchboard operator as the central character. It’s all a bit implausible but I liked the premise, the Hitchcockian suspense, and the claustrophobia of the setting. The final story is bleak and shocking, with a poignant ending, though it’s short on plotting - more of a vignette, but again with moments of brilliant descriptive writing.
