Maigret’s World

Georges Simenon’s 75 novels and 28 short stories that feature Chief Inspector Jules Maigret provide us with a great deal of information about the French police detective—but only in small, episodic doses. As readers become acquainted with Maigret one detail at a time, he slowly takes on a flesh-and-bone realism—not merely a character in a story, but someone we would like to meet in real life. This book presents all the canonical facts and details about the detective and his world in one place, presented with tabulations and analyses that enable a better understanding of the works and of Maigret himself.

Murielle Wenger, a former teacher, has spent ten years studying Simenon’s works. She is webmaster of the site on the series Maigret with Bruno Crémer, and that of the series Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret with Jean Richard. A regular contributor to Cahiers published by the Association des Amis de Simenon, she lives in Switzerland.

Stephen Trussel is a retired professor of English from Sanno College in Tokyo. He created and maintains the eminent Maigret site Simenon and his Inspector Maigret, which celebrated 20 years online in 2016. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Murielle Wenger and Stephen Trussel

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6977-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2925-4
Imprint: McFarland

A Note from John Simenon vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
I. Maigret the Man
1. Life Overview 5
2. Appearance 16
3. Facing the World 31
4. At Home 59
II. The Policeman at Work
5. “Methods” 83
6. Work Places 89
7. Collaborators 101
8. The Judiciary 133
9. Maigret’s Paris 139
10. Transportation 152
III. The Saga
11. Investigations 165
12. Characters 174
13. Novels 202
Appendix 1: Maigret Novels and Stories 213
Appendix 2: ­Non-Maigret Works by Simenon 217
Appendix 3: Works by Simenon Published Under a Pseudonym 219
Bibliography 221
Index 223

“This book has quickly become an invaluable tool, an indispensable reference for me and all those who, like me, work with this prodigious saga.”—John Simenon, Georges Simenon’s son and Maigret scholar.