Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our July/August 23 buddy read of The Shadow Puppet aka Maigret Mystified / The Shadow in the Courtyard. This is the 12th in the Inspector Maigret series, first pusblished in 1932.

A gripping domestic tragedy starring Inspector Maigret and set in Simenon’s very own neighborhood

“One by one the lighted windows went dark. The silhouette of the dead man could still be seen through the frosted glass like a Chinese shadow puppet. A taxi pulled up. It wasn't the public prosecutor yet. A young woman crossed the courtyard with hurried steps, leaving a whiff of perfume in her wake.”

Summoned to the dimly-lit Place des Vosges one night, where he sees shadowy figures at apartment windows, Maigret uncovers a tragic story of desperate lives, unhappy families, addiction and a terrible, fatal greed.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

I'm just opening up our latest Maigret discussion - who is reading it? I haven't done yet but will aim to do so in the next few days. It sounds quite noir from the description in the introduction that Susan has kindly posted.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I didn't like this one as much as I have the previous books. I had worked out the murderer a long time before the end. Maigret worked in his normal way but it seemed like he was not really finding things difficult also.
I loved the part where he had been out for a great length of time, and all his wife said was "Have you eaten?". She is a very understanding wife.

This was the first Maigret I listened to and it worked quite well. The book was over in a single afternoon, the plot was easy to follow, and the characters well-defined. I noticed Maigret was not forced to stay up for days on end, nor was the weather too hot or too cold. He probably found this one of his easier cases. He and I both felt sorry for the mistress who is unlikely to get her fair share.

I felt this was weaker than the previous ones but I still enjoyed the atmosphere and the characters. I thought the killer was obvious too early (the rummaging in the bin for a start) and Maigret didn’t spend enough time with the other suspects to put doubt in my mind. Also the way he heard about the 1000 franc notes while on the tram seemed a bit lame. Still even a weaker Maigret is pretty entertaining.

Jill wrote: "I loved the part where he had been out for a great length of time, and all his wife said was "Have you eaten?". She is a very understanding wife."

I agree - I think she's great. I was just wondering if Madame Maigret had a first name. I googled it and apparently it is Louise, although I haven't noticed it being mentioned unless I forgot it - then again I haven't noticed anyone calling Maigret Jules!

I agree with comments that the plot wasn't as complicated as some of the others and it was pretty evident that one of the couple was the killer - the "shadow puppet" title chosen for the Penguin edition also pointed to this.

Pamela, I do agree that the hearing about the money in the water while on the tram was a bit of a weak plot twist, and I also found it a bit unlikely that so many of the characters lived in the same building! But I also agree that the book was enjoyable for its atmosphere and characters. Like Sandy, I listened to it on Audible and found it good to listen to.