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The Carter of 'La Providence' (Maigret, #2)

Georges Simenon

Start date: November 15, 2021

Finish date: December 7, 2021

Discussion: Buddy reads

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What Members Thought

Apr 18, 2019 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: france, police

I'm a big Maigret and Simenon fan. But I think this one was lost in my Kindle for a while.

I like the ones where he gets out of town. I think this is the second in the series. It goes under several names. It was recently nominated for a monthly read in a group and I was surprised to discover that I was reading it - only under a different title! ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Nancy Oakes added it

Shelves: crime-fiction-belgium, crime-fiction, translated-crime-fiction

I think a 3.5 on this one.

Sometimes when I've finished a book and have all the relevant information in my head, I can't help but to feel sorry for the villain, and that's certainly the case in this second novel in Simenon's Maigret series. This one is set along France's Canal latéral à la Marne, where two kilometers from Dizy stands Lock 14 and the nearby Café de la Marine, where "the rhythm of life ... was slow. " For a few days, life here is interrupted with the discovery of a body, which bri ...more

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May 14, 2022 Bev rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2016, mystery, vintage-mystery, mount-tbr-2022, french-mystery, set-in-france

Inspector Maigret is brought in to investigate a murder at Lock 14 on the Marne Canal. A strangled woman is found in the stable's hay at an inn along the waterway. She's soon identified as Mary (Marie) Dupin Lampson, the wife of an Englishman taking a yacht up the canal. Since none of her jewelry has been taken, it looks like a crime of passion. But Sir Walter Lampson, retired colonel, seems very lacking in passionate feelings about his wife and there are few others to suspect. Lampson and his p Inspector Maigret is brought in to investigate a murder at Lock 14 on the Marne Canal. A strangled woman is found in the stable's hay at an inn along the waterway. She's soon identified as Mary (Marie) Dupin Lampson, the wife of an Englishman taking a yacht up the canal. Since none of her jewelry has been taken, it looks like a crime of passion. But Sir Walter Lampson, retired colonel, seems very lacking in passionate feelings about his wife and there are few others to suspect. Lampson and his passengers are questioned, as well as the owners and crew of barges that lay nearby--especially those aboard the Providence. It seems odd that the Providence's carter, who normally slept in stables along the way, didn't hear or notice anything that night. But he seems to be a simple soul, incapable of harm. Then a second member of yachting party is murdered and Maigret has to determine what secrets are being kept by all concerned.

I keep reading Maigret books and trying to convince myself that I like them. It's not working so well. It's not that the mysteries are bad--there's a good solid plot here and an interesting character study that could have been even more interesting if I didn't constantly feel like I was missing something. I think one problem may be with translation. For whatever reason, the conversations always seem a bit off and disjointed to me--like maybe the translator left out a word or three because he couldn't figure out what fit best in the context (we'll just leave that out...nobody'll notice). The non-dialogue portions of the story don't seem to suffer as much from this. So, perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe it's just the way Simenon wrote. But it comes across as if his characters have telepathy going on for parts of the conversation and he doesn't feel like he needs to report the portions that aren't said out loud. One thing I've learned about Maigret: Apparently the good inspector is in much better shape than I've previously imagined. He bikes like mad up and down along the canal all through the book. Makes me tired just reading about it. Solid mystery disrupted by the difficulties with the conversations. ★★ and 3/4 (rounded up here)

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks. ...more

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Oct 31, 2021 Susan in NC rated it it was ok · review of another edition

2.5 stars, as in ok plus on my personal scale. I wanted to try a second Maigret to see if he grew on me.

I find this one tough to review, so many unsavory characters, but I still like Maigret as an inspector. I just found it tough to tell what he was thinking, where his investigation was leading. About halfway through I was sure I knew who had done the murder, but turns out I was wrong!

Maigret is certainly a dogged investigator, peddling along the towpath on a borrowed bicycle, but I have to ad ...more

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Nov 16, 2013 KOMET rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zz-out-of-residence, georges-simenon, mysteries-and-thrillers

In "LOCK 14", Simenon makes alive to the reader the lives of the people --- bargees. boat owners and sailors, carters, barmen, cafe owners, restauranteurs, and lockmen --- whose lives and livelihoods were intimately or tangibly linked to the network of locks and canals of France's network of inland waterways of the Marne River and its tributaries. Indeed names such as Epernay, Vitry-le-François, and Chalon are often mentioned. (Any reader well-versed in French history will have already known of In "LOCK 14", Simenon makes alive to the reader the lives of the people --- bargees. boat owners and sailors, carters, barmen, cafe owners, restauranteurs, and lockmen --- whose lives and livelihoods were intimately or tangibly linked to the network of locks and canals of France's network of inland waterways of the Marne River and its tributaries. Indeed names such as Epernay, Vitry-le-François, and Chalon are often mentioned. (Any reader well-versed in French history will have already known of these places, which figured prominently in the First World War and some other key historical eras in the life of la belle France.)

A woman's corpse is found near one of the locks in a stable, hastily concealed in the hay. Cause of death: strangulation. Maigret is brought in to investigate. As he begins to piece together the case, a number of suspects come to the fore. The woman's husband ("the colonel"), a tight-lipped Englishman in his 60s, who, in an earlier life, had been a privileged army officer in India, but is now retired and lives aboard his own yacht: The Southern Cross. Vladimir, an expatriate White Russian and former sailor, who is the Colonel's special attendant, and has full run of the yacht. Willy Marco, another of the colonel's attendents travelling on the Southern Cross, who, at the Colonel's behest, fields Maigret's initial queries. (The colonel, for his part, avoided speaking directly with Maigret as if the chief inspector were beneath him.) And a Madame Negretti, a Spaniard, and the colonel's mistress who is also a passenger on the Southern Cross.

As the story unfolds, the reader is made aware that the murdered woman (Mary Lampson) and her husband had a rather loose, if not wholly open, marriage. The colonel's apparent unconcern about her death made me suspect him immediately as a suspect. But as I read more of the book, Willy and Vladimir became prime suspects. Usually, when I read a mystery, I try to keep an open mind because I'm always fearful of guessing who the suspect(s) is (are). Nevertheless, I can't help but try to determine who committed the foul deed and the reasons why.

Simenon did not disappoint me. "LOCK 14" has a number of subtle twists and turns which lead to a rather unexpected denouement. All in all, this was a satisfying story. (I leave it to the reader of this review to find out who really "done it" should he/she be keen on reading this compact, easy-to-read novel.) ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 Ruskoley rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-2, mystery

Having grown up on an island amidst rivers and lakes and having wiled away many an afternoon watching boats come through locks, I did appreciate the setting of this story.

But I like the setting much more than the story itself. Maigret is as expected - rock-solid. Still, the resolution seemed a little less resolving. I just didn't like it. Came too quickly and didn't go in a more expected direction, I guess.

Overall, it's not really a good read. However the unique setting and the brooding Maigret ...more

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Jun 09, 2025 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-thriller

Good story. Narration well done.

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Mar 27, 2015 Nanosynergy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015read, translated, france, fiction-1930s, mysteries-thrillers-espionage, reviewed, fiction, series

Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret investigates a murder in the foreign world of boat travel in the canals. This was an interesting look into 1930's canal travel in France. A world of yachts, bargemen, carters, and lockkeepers. ...more

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