Reviews for Maigret and the wine merchant

The average rating for Maigret and the wine merchant based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-04 00:00:00 Clinton Stoller Amazing; the 71st Inspector Maigret novel read, all in their order of publication. Penguin Classics have commissioned for them to be re-issued in order with modern translations. Maigret and the Wine Merchant was one I had previously read and returning to it again I was struck by the similarities with recent books in the series. The investigation comes immediately upon completing a senseless murder and there will be some similarities when an important businessman is shot outside a house of ill repute. The death of the Wine Merchant follows Maigret’s usual approach / getting inside the victim’s mindset and understanding the world in which he moved. Page 29; “ When he reached Quai des Orfèvres, the wine merchant was still in his thoughts, an indistinct presence he was trying to bring to life. He was certain the once he knew him better, he would have no trouble identifying his killer. “ There is always seems to be great emphasis in Maigret novels regarding the weather. Here we have a good deal of fog which at times reflects the muddled thinking in the investigation. I remember reading a quote that Henning Mankell was a modern crime writer of a new breed as he introduced medical ailments to his detective Wallender, I think diabetes, well think again. Simenon often has Maigret under the weather and his faculties are inhibited here as he fights off a raging temperature, throat infection (yuk, give me a Soother, rather than my throat being painted), or perhaps early man flu. Great police procedural with realistic motives and a victim it is hard to feel he didn’t deserve his fate. Perhaps when someone is killed who engenders such antipathy and ill-feeling the motive is clear but the number of suspects too many to interview.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-07-04 00:00:00 Per Elias Drabl�s This is one of Georges Simenon's later mysteries -- it was published in 1970 -- but it is every bit as good as his masterpieces of the 1930s. Maigret and the Wine Merchant is the story of the murder of someone who needed murdering. Occasionally, as in several of his earlier books, we see the Chief Superintendent sympathizing more with the murderer than the victim. The interest thing to me if that Simenon himself was something of an ogre, somewhat like his murder victim Oscar Chabut. Both Simenon and his murder victim were Casanovas and borderline rapists. My late friend Norman knew personally a woman who had been raped by the mystery writer. So, I think that, in a sense, Simenon was writing about himself and allowing himself, toward the end of his life, to be judged harshly by his police hero, Jules Maigret. About halfway through the book, we have a good idea who the murderer is: The problem is finding him. That is all the more curious since the murderer is tracking Maigret -- not to do him harm, but to have someone to talk to. Eventually, the two meet and ... and ... read the book, and you will see what happens. In all, it is a very satisfactory ending.