More Maigret
Jun. 30th, 2020 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: Night at the Crossroads, by Georges Simenon
Another light read, the second of the two Maigret books I picked up in January (it turns out we have a third, so there is more to come). I remembered this one from one of the recent Rowan Atkinson adaptations, though my recollection of the conclusion of the TV version is confused, and I have to say the book is distinctly better. There are enough standard "Golden Age" tropes in here, with suspicious foreigners and obfuscated relationships, but Simenon also throws in originality, such as a second death very quickly after the first, and a distinctly menacing organised crime syndicate. It's a short book; unlike the earlier one, this feels quite action-packed, with the contrast adding to the sense of originality, and although Maigret has much more of a presence, he still has little to describe him. Simenon wraps this up coherently.
Another light read, the second of the two Maigret books I picked up in January (it turns out we have a third, so there is more to come). I remembered this one from one of the recent Rowan Atkinson adaptations, though my recollection of the conclusion of the TV version is confused, and I have to say the book is distinctly better. There are enough standard "Golden Age" tropes in here, with suspicious foreigners and obfuscated relationships, but Simenon also throws in originality, such as a second death very quickly after the first, and a distinctly menacing organised crime syndicate. It's a short book; unlike the earlier one, this feels quite action-packed, with the contrast adding to the sense of originality, and although Maigret has much more of a presence, he still has little to describe him. Simenon wraps this up coherently.