Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine [Paperback]

Georges Simenon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1990

During a final visit to the cell of condemned prisoner Jean Lenoir, Maigret picks up a negligently dropped remark about an unsolved-in fact, unreported-murder committed in Paris six years before. It seems Lenoir and his partner witnessed the dumping of a body in the Saint-Martin Canal and used the information to blackmail the murderer. Translated by Geoffrey Sainsbury. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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: 182 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 30, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156551640
• ISBN-13: 978-0156551649
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,626,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Maigret's, May 1, 2000

By 

George Grella "Urbane citizen" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine (Paperback)

One of the very finest novels among the phenomenon that is Maigret. As usual, Inspector Maigret solves a murder through empathy, by understanding the lives of the people involved in the case, but this time, the linchpin is an enigmatic Englishman, a man Maigret both likes and loathes, and, next to the great detective, one of the most fascinating inventions of Simenon. A superb and satisfying book for the fan or the first time Maigret reader.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maigret on the Seine, August 21, 2010

By 

Douglas S. Wood "Vicarious Life" (Monona, WI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine (Paperback)

Maigret delivers the bad news in person to an inmate that clemency has been denied. Before he leaves Maigret learns of a murder six years earlier that the condemned man and a pal had witnessed. The pair blackmailed the murderer until the pigeon flew the coop, the prisoner informers Inspector Maigret but then he clams up with only a vague hint of the location and none as to the identity of the killer. Maigret hangs about and figures out the location from some overheard words. He manages to ingratiate himself into an odd mix of city folk who take a weekly holiday at this village and its bar on the Seine. Inevitably Maigret puts it all together.

This Maigret story needs a couple of implausible coincidences to make it get started, but then it flows. Why is James plying Maigret with Pernods every day in Paris? Mado, the alluring wife of one of the gang, sleeps around and her husband seems to know, but does that have anything to do with the murder(s)? The same cuckolded husband is in debt up to his eyeballs. Plausible suspects abound. This one kept me up late to get to the finish. Highly recommended.

This title has been re-issued as The Bar on the Seine (Penguin Modern Classics)

3.0 out of 5 stars A newcomer's perspective, November 21, 2011

By 

Karl Janssen (Olathe, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine (Paperback)

This is my first experience with a Maigret novel. Though not an avid reader of detective fiction, I had heard good things about Georges Simenon and thought I'd give it a try. What I encountered was an unconventional crime novel that left me feeling satisfied but not impressed.

Maigret visits a condemned prisoner shortly before his execution. This prisoner, Lenoir, confides to Maigret that he once witnessed a man dumping a body into the Canal Saint-Martin. He then blackmailed this murderer for months. Lenoir provides Maigret with neither the identity of the murderer nor that of the victim, but he recalls that the killer used to hang out at a tavern on the Seine called the Guinguette à Deux Sous. Even with so little to go on, Maigret decides to pursue the case. He soon locates the tavern in Morsang, and becomes involved with the clique of regulars who flee Paris every weekend to gather there for recreation.

Some suspension of disbelief is required to make it through chapter one. Why would this prisoner, apropos of nothing, confide such a secret to Maigret? And what reason would Maigret have to believe him? The main reason, of course, is that if Maigret didn't follow up on the dubious lead, there would be no novel. Maigret displays a rather passive method of detection. He insinuates himself into the crowd of possible suspects, becomes a fixture among them, then says little, and waits for them to spill the beans to him. Which they do. On the one hand, I was disappointed by the lack of action, suspense, and even intellectual challenge in this mystery. On the other hand, I admire Simenon for eschewing the cliches and conventions of the genre, and creating a police procedural that is truer to life than the stereotypical heroes vs. villains narrative. He is less concerned with any cat-and-mouse game and more interested in the workings of human psychology. What I enjoyed most about the book was just the atmosphere that Simenon creates. The view he presents of life in France is refreshingly unglamorous and unglorified. While an American author would have given us gunfights under the Eiffel Tower, Simenon instead provides a realistic portrayal of how the middle class lives. Despite the lack of excitement, I can't deny that I did look forward to diving into each new chapter. Simenon is known for stripping all the unnecessary adornment from his prose. Often the words between two periods fail to constitute a complete sentence. The choppy rhythm of his phrasing takes some getting used to, but soon the cadence becomes second nature and the pages flow by briskly.

Though the Tavern by the Seine achieves mixed results, I'm eager to give Maigret another chance in hopes that he may surprise me yet. If, however, what I've read online is true, and this is "one of the best" offerings in the series, then I'm probably not going to stick with him for long.