Maigret Has Scruples [Paperback]

Georges Simenon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was born in Lie`ge, Belgium. As a young man he worked as a baker, journalist, and bookseller and published his first novel at seventeen. He went on to write more than two hundred novels, becoming one of the world's most prolific and bestselling authors. His books have sold more than 500 million copies and have been translated into fifty languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company (1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156551608
• ISBN-13: 978-0156551601
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of ominous atmosphere, August 8, 2009

By 

Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maigret Has Scruples (Paperback)

A man comes to the Quai des Orfèvres to tell Maigret that his wife is trying to poison him. He's the head salesman in the toy department of a big store. His wife sells lingerie in a high-end boutique.

Lots of cranks want to see the chief inspector and never get past the door, but it's a slack period in the office, and so Maigret listens, with half an ear, to the curious complaint of Xavier Marton.

Later in the day his elegant wife shows up to inquire about her husband's visit. She describes Xavier Marton as an overworked, despondent man who needs psychiatric help.

Intrigued, Maigret surreptitiously skims a volume on psychiatry. He goes from neuroses to psychoses to paranoia, finding that the symptoms under any given heading might apply to both husband and wife. The potential victim of their mutual hatred could be either of them!

Maigret is admonished by the Public Prosecutor not to waste time on a non-crime. But his scruples will not let him rest.

Ultimately who dies, and why, may or may not be a surprise. But it's the contrast between Maigret's loving marriage and the hateful atmosphere of the Marton marriage that makes this book so fascinating.

There are subtle touches here that will reward the careful reader. Maigret fans should not miss this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maigret reflects upon himself., September 12, 2006

By 

James Davison (Nashville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maigret Has Scruples (Paperback)

A mild-mannered Paris toy salesman seems an unlikely candidate for murder. Nevertheless, he has come to ask Maigret's help -- convinced his wife is planning to poison him with white phosphide. Is he a lunatic, a manipulator -- or a victim? Maigret finds himself pulled into one of the most difficult investigations of his career -- to determine the cause of a murder that has not yet been committed. The counterpoint explores Maigret's own relationship with his wife, his feelings about love and aging, and the scruples that make him unable to turn away from this seemingly minor matter. Simenon's deft handling of events and personalities makes this an exceptionally enjoyable novel. Paris may be half a world away, but visiting a Simenon novel is like dropping into the Taverne Pousset for a extra jeton or two. But like an aperitif -- it is over too quickly. -- JD

4.0 out of 5 stars The crime to come, March 17, 2010

By 

hrladyship (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maigret Has Scruples (Paperback)

As most of the reviewers have described, this is a mystery about who is going to be killed as much as who is the killer. In an unusual period of calm at the Quai des Orfevres, the reader gets an opportunity to see more of the interactions among its inhabitants against a background of general boredom. It's that boredom that allows Maigret to become involved in the machinations of the Martons, he an expert in electric trains, and she a sales lady of expensive lingerie. Both seem to fear that one of them will be murdered by the other.

As is usually the case with Maigret, the psychological interplays are at the core. Maigret and the Martons and her sister, Maigret and the Director, the inspectors and Maigret, and of equal importance, Maigret and Mrs. Maigret. The cast is still rather small, even so. And the contrast in the relationship of the Martons and that of the Maigrets is poignant, indeed.

Like nearly all of the Maigret mysteries, Maigret Has Scruples has the same charm and introspection. It is one of the newer novellas, but it is fresh enough to enjoy. Like the Napoleon Bonaparte mysteries by Arthur Upfield, they are always a pleasure to read in spite of their overall age and the somewhat exotic locales.