From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives

The Saint-Fiacre Affair
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Start date
September 15, 2023
Finish date
October 7, 2023
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The Saint-Fiacre Affair by Georges Simenon (Maigret #13) (Sept/Oct 23)
By Susan · 7 posts · 13 views
last updated Sep 22, 2023 03:18AM
The Saint-Fiacre Affair - SPOILER Thread - (Maigret #13) (Sept/Oct 23)
By Susan · 6 posts · 16 views
last updated Sep 24, 2023 07:19AM

What Members Thought

Adrian
Lunchtime Listen January 2025

Well in many ways, I have to agree with my original review of the book below, it is a story in which Maigret doesn’t really take a leading role in the solving or final stages of this mystery.

The newly “crowned” Count of St Fiacre does most of the interviewing at a final dinner party where all the suspects are present and the Count’s late mother is laying out for the benefit of the locals in the bedroom above. Completely broke and a bit of a scoundrel, Maigret initia
...more
John
Mar 20, 2017 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: georges-simenon
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
KOMET
In The Saint-Fiacre Affair, Inspector Maigret finds himself back in his hometown, having been in receipt of the following message: A crime will be committed ,,,during first mass .... There an old countess, whose family had long held sway over the town, has died in the pews of the local church under seemingly mysterious circumstances. Her death brings back into town her son, Maurice de Saint-Fiacre, who had lived a dissolute life in Paris with his mistress.

The story reveals a cast of characters,
...more
John Frankham
Dec 01, 2016 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: crime-detective
One of my favourite Maigrets. He back in his home village (where his father was estate manager for decades) for only the second time in 30 years, after a warning that a crime will be committed at the first Mass on all-saints' day. The picture created of the isolated village in winter, the insulated villagers, and the primitive life-style, is memorable. As well as the murder in church, and the case to be solved .... ...more
Shabbeer Hassan
Nov 10, 2018 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: 2018, whodunit
Maigret goes back to the place of his childhood to find his old familiar home become mishappen and unrecognizable by murder, blackmail, threats and fraud, OR so he thought! Its only in the post-climactic scene when sipping Calvados, he realises that much water has passed through his familiar childhood haunts, and people have changed in their own indeterminate ways that he can recognise his home anymore! And that speaks volumes, in my opinion.

My Rating - 4/5
Sandy
Maybe even more atmospheric than other Maigret's and with a strange ending. Enjoyable evening's read. ...more
Tony Fitzpatrick
Maigret returns to his boyhood town on a tip off that a crime will be committed during first Mass one Sunday morning. The local Countess dies at the end of the service, a heart attack brought on by a nasty printed note containing a revelation, which has been slipped into her missal. Maigret tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, and finds himself having to deal with impecunious sons, toy boys, lawyers, crooked estate managers, and corrupted altar boys. Unusual in that Maigret is rarely on to ...more
Jill
Sep 07, 2023 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: georges-simenon
Police, having received a short anomalous note warning of a crime which will be committed at a certain place, and at a certain time, tended to ignore it. Maigret having seen the note and that the place indicated is where he grew up, decides to follow it up. He attends the church stated at the given time and waits and watches. It is not until the sermon is over, that a woman there has died while Maigret looked on. The woman is the Countess of St Fiacre, who was the person his father served when M ...more
Nanosynergy
Inspector Maigret returns to the village where he was born. His father had worked as estate manager for Madame la Comtesse at Comte de Saint-Fiacre. He is drawn back to his home village after receiving a note that someone will die in mass. And, indeed, Madame la Comtesse is discovered dead in her pew having died of a heart attack. But how could someone have predicted this? Is it murder?
Sarah
Sep 05, 2023 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Le meilleur de Maigret, même s'il n'est pas "l'Inspecteur" ou "Commissaire" ici, mais le fils du régisseur des Saint–Fiacre. A la recherche du temps perdu, écrit par Simenon. ...more
Dipanjan
Jan 27, 2016 marked it as to-read
Shelves: own-in-kindle
jaadhimalli
Mar 17, 2018 rated it it was ok
Laurel
Jul 21, 2019 marked it as to-read
Ivana
Aug 27, 2023 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Judy
Sep 22, 2023 rated it really liked it
Tom
Oct 25, 2023 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Fern
Mar 22, 2025 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition