My second Simenon novel, far closer to the normal crime fiction/whodunit genre he is popularly known for, as opposed to the extra dark roast flavor of Dirty Snow which I read a few weeks back. Having consumed a fair number of Agatha Christie book in my early, early reading days, the general structure of the novel seemed to match what I remembered of them although I imagine I have forget much in terms of differing styles.

While I was not blown away by this tale, it did hold my attention and I sped through it easily, one could even say that the ending seemed a bit too brief. Yes I did have a gut feel who the whodunit was pretty early and while correct in my guess there was an extra part that I missed. I can't be alone in spotting a healthy dose of humor in how Maigret plays the cultural and social differences of his characters, albeit not side-spliting stuff- more nuanced and wry, but still appreciated by this reader.

I'd like to say it was 4 stars, but I did feel it was a little too condensed, and the characters while iconic in their own may, seemed too quickly drawn and kind of thin. However I sense much of this opinion is based on the more normal tome length books we are used nowadays and I'm being unfair.