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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Simenon's best,
By
This review is from: Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (Mass Market Paperback)
This is one of the best novels of a superb series. For anyone who is only fleetingly acquainted with Maigret or who does not know him at all, you are in for a great surprise. Maigret is a Paris police detective whose stories span from his humble beginnings as a constable's secretary to his rise to success, fame and retirement as the Chief Superintendent of the crime Squad at the Quaise des Ofevres.Maiget novels are intensely psychological and the distinction between heroes and villains is not comparable to the one between the police and criminals. One senses that Maigret empathizes with the criminals he pursues and even respects them to a considerable degree. Each novel is essentially a study of character and an exploration of how individuals react to their environment. Often it is not solving the crime that is important--indeed Maigret sometimes fails in this endeavor--as much as understanding the people and circumstances the crime entails. Maigret novels are also wonderful because they take you through the Paris of Simenon's time. You go to the neighborhoods, hear the various dialects and eat the food of France from the 1920s to the 1950s. Many American writers hardly pay attention to the environment. They describe an item or detail, here or there, but it is often rough craftsmanship. Simenon uses the environment as a painter uses colors. He experiments and absorbs with compelling results. I have been reading Maigret novel since high school and I think that "Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets" is one of the most fascinating and certainly the most haunting one. In this novel, Maigret stumbles upon what he thinks is a black mailer or thief. He attempts to flush him out by stealing his money only to be surprised by the man's sudden resolve to kill himself. Further investigation reveals that the man is involved in an elaborate revenge plan against himself and his former classmates for a crime they committed years ago. The passion and fanaticism in this novel are extreme yet highly believable. It is also based on real events in Simenon's youth which are described in his most recent biography. I recommend most if not all Maigret novels for anyone interested in psychology, well crafted mystery, and travelogues.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's not who did it, but what did they do?,
By Tom Bruce (East Moriches, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (Mass Market Paperback)
While on a visit to Brussels, as a lark Inspector Maigret follows a seedy looking character whom he found mailing large amounts of money to himself. It's a puzzle that intrigues Maigret, and to bring the situation to a head, he switches suitcases with the unfortunate and follows him to his flop-house hotel. Maigret takes an adjoining room, peeks through the keyhole as the stranger opens the case. Shocked by what he finds there, he kills himself. Maigret, to assuage his guilt, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, which introduces him to four middle-aged, successful businessmen who are acting very suspiciously, even to the point of attempting to kill Maigret; not once, but twice. We know they are guilty of something, but what? And that's the mystery that keeps the inspector, and us, enthralled. But wait, we're not done yet. Once Maigret solves the riddle, we have one more huge surprise in store for us. It's a taut story that keeps us involved to the very last paragraphs. It's a quick, satisfying read filled with interesting characters and a thought-provoking solution. It's another fine story in the Maigret series.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Early Maigret - a delightful psychological thriller,
This review is from: Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (Mass Market Paperback)
IN the first year of publication of Maigret novels almost a dozen were published. The rapidity with which Simenon produced the books in that first year did not detrimentally effect the quality. Having read Maigret novels from throughout the series I am of the view that those novels in the first years are as good as any Simenon produced: Lock 14, The Yellow Dog, A Man's Head, The Bar on the Seine (each of which has recently been reprinted in the UK), are each of the highest quality. But for me The Hundred Gibbets tops these and is on a par with the best of Simenon's fiction (such as The Blue Room).Through his curiosity as to why a man was packaging 30,000 francs in Brussels posting the money on Maigret resolves to follow Louis Jeunet. His trailing of Jeunet and switch of Jeunet's suitcase leads Jenuet to commit suicide in Bremen and places in Maigret's possession of a blood stained suit. The wonderful opening chapter sets in motion a densely plotted well characterised thriller based around Simenon's birthplace of Liege in Belgium. Maigret has a depth here that some of the later novels lack, and the sense of place is palpable. The plot involves uncovering an incident from many years before. The Belgian characters involved in the incident are well drawn, most memorable being the businessman van Damme. His confrontation with Maigret and continual appearances around peculiar incidents are delightfully done. Highly recommended I would suggest that this is an excelletn strating place in reading Maigret and if you enjoy this would recommend any of the Maigret volumes referred to previously, or the Zen novels of Michael Dibdin.
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