Maigret's Christmas [Paperback]

Georges Simenon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2003

Nine short stories make up this delightful holiday-themed collection, each featuring Georges Simenon's famous
detective, Jules Maigret. Christmas mysteries abound: an otherwise sensible little girl insists that she has seen Father Christmas, a statement alarming to her neighbors, Monsieur and Madame Maigret. Then, a choirboy helps the inspector solve a crime while he lies in bed with a cold; another boy, pursued by a criminal, ingeniously leaves a trail to help Maigret track him. Many of these stories feature observant and resourceful children, frightened yet resolute, who bring out a paternal streak in the childless Maigret. The rapport between the inspector and these youthful heroes imparts a delightful freshness to this holiday collection-
a cornucopia for fans of Maigret and mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR GEORGEs SIMENON AND HIS
MAIGRET MYSTERIES
"Simenon's Maigret, cool and classic as ever . . . All mystery buffs should celebrate."-Scott Turow

"Maigret . . . ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals."-People

"One of the great revolutionists of the detective story."-The New York Times Book Review

"The flood of Harcourt titles will reinforce the inescapability of Maigret, the second most famous Belgian literary detective, after Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot."-The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

10 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156028530
• ISBN-13: 978-0156028530
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, thoughtful, and cleverly plotted, April 8, 2004

By 

E. Clinton (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maigret's Christmas (Paperback)

These stories are excellent. All nine pose intriguing puzzles for Maigret and his colleagues to solve. What makes them special is the quality of the writing (just enough words to convey the image and no more) and the subtlety of the author who always seems to add a little bit more to the reader's perception of Maigret. There are great scenes between Maigret and his wife, Madame Maigret. Anyone married for any length of time will enjoy these little domestic battles. There are also some well drawn child characters whose interaction with Maigret is skillfully depicted. The reader always ends up admiring Maigret for his thoughtfulness and his persistance. He asks great questions of the witnesses to draw out the story. This collection of stories is outstanding.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Double Expresso of Maigret, May 21, 2004

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maigret's Christmas (Paperback)

Typically, a Maigret novel is easy reading. Four or five hours of light reading is all it takes to read a very good crime story. This lightness allows one to go on a Maigret binge where in the course of a week, two or three novels can polished off.

Miagret's Christmas is a collection of nine short stories. Some of the short stories are not so short, they are more like novellas. At 320 pages of small print, this book is by no means light reading. It took me a couple of weeks to finish the book.

Of the nine stories, I found four of them to be classic Georges Simenon. They were world class in their cleverness. The other five were good but not great. However, Georges Simenon's good is most writers very best. All and all a great book but a bit of slog.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice holiday treat, December 7, 2005

By 

Katie Bell "mphkatie" (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maigret's Christmas (Paperback)

for any Simenon fans. As always- Simenon is economical in expression- but still giving a full picture of the scene. I love this book because it allows- in one of the short stories- a closer look at Madame Maigret- and her personality. She is a shadowy character in the series, but always present.

The Holiday themed cover that is curently being used, makes it a nice Holiday gift as well. I also like that it is a bit longer than the usual Maigret- maning that it makes a good gift for someone about to go on a long train/plane or automobile trip!