Safe Return Doubtful

translated from the French by Shaun Whiteside

I consider it essential when in Belgium to read Simenon. I thought I’d give a Maigret a try, usually favouring his stand-alone romans durs, and was rewarded greatly.

Maigret is roused from his slumbers at 5:30 am, and for a moment, can’t recall where he is. He has come to the town of his birth, after receiving an anonymous note, stating that a crime will be committed there during the early mass on All Souls’ Day.
He ponders nostalgically until mass, when an old woman whom he recognises as the Countess of Saint-Fiacre is found dead, sitting in her pew, her head in her hands. There is no apparent sign of murder, but on some investigation Maigret uncovers several people who wanted her dead, but still no sign of foul play.

This, the 13th Maigret, is much stronger on character and place than it is on plot, much more like one of his psychological stand-alone novels, and for me, all the better for it.
I can see from other reviews that those wanting a police procedural, or even a tidier plot with a climatic ending that uncovers a killer, are likely to be disappointed.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5