In this, the second Maiget novel, one once again sees a world of stereotypes and presumptions about people of different “ethnicities,” levels of education and geographical background. This is even less a mystery than was Simenon’s first Maigret novel--instead it is an exploration of a way of life of which even many people living in France at that time would have been quite unaware. Maigret, or rather Simenon, finds the lives of the working class fascinating and especially the lives of those who have been buffeted about by chance, circumstance and misfortune. At the end Maigret feels no sense of triumph that the murderer has been found out. Simenon does not explore the psychology or methods of his detective but rather uses his experiences to paint as small portrait of a type of life and the people who inhabit it.