- Paperback: 137 pages
- Publisher: Harcourt Publishers Ltd; 1st Harvest/HBJ Ed edition (Nov 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156551586
- ISBN-13: 978-0156551588
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.7 x 1 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 516,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Synopsis
Inspector Jules Maigret takes to the streets and bars of Cannes searching for clues to the apparently motiveless murder of a poor, middle-aged Australian named William Brown.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A breezy little masterpiece
13 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's a love story and a drinking story both. Simenon has a positive genius for transforming scenes of boozy low life into a comic mix of poetry and passion.
Maigret has been sent to the Côte d'Azur to investigate the stabbing to death of William Brown. The greatest tact is required because Brown in some unspecified way has important connections.
Brown was living on the Riviera in a modest villa with a woman and her mother. In addition to this unsavory relationship, he leads a second secret life, for a few days every month, drinking himself into oblivion at the Liberty Bar.
Liberty is something Brown seems to have pursued relentlessly since he left his hard-working family and their vast sheep farms in Australia.
Maigret uncovers plenty of suspicious characters: the two dubious ladies who form Brown's untidy household, the two delightfully disreputable women who drink with him, the sleazy casino waiter, the coldly efficient Brown son visiting from Australia.
It so happens that William Brown looked a bit like Maigret, a moving discovery for the chief inspector. Maigret, like Brown, is hard pressed to take anything seriously in this land of shimmering sunshine and mimosa-scented breezes.
I wish the present-day writers of bestsellers would study Simenon. Every sentence of this little book is perfect. The plot is sparely told, the all-too-human characters deeply understood.
Maigret has been sent to the Côte d'Azur to investigate the stabbing to death of William Brown. The greatest tact is required because Brown in some unspecified way has important connections.
Brown was living on the Riviera in a modest villa with a woman and her mother. In addition to this unsavory relationship, he leads a second secret life, for a few days every month, drinking himself into oblivion at the Liberty Bar.
Liberty is something Brown seems to have pursued relentlessly since he left his hard-working family and their vast sheep farms in Australia.
Maigret uncovers plenty of suspicious characters: the two dubious ladies who form Brown's untidy household, the two delightfully disreputable women who drink with him, the sleazy casino waiter, the coldly efficient Brown son visiting from Australia.
It so happens that William Brown looked a bit like Maigret, a moving discovery for the chief inspector. Maigret, like Brown, is hard pressed to take anything seriously in this land of shimmering sunshine and mimosa-scented breezes.
I wish the present-day writers of bestsellers would study Simenon. Every sentence of this little book is perfect. The plot is sparely told, the all-too-human characters deeply understood.
Murder in a warm climate
20 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of Simenon's short Maigret-on-the-road novels in which the Superintendent of the Paris Judiciary Police is dispatched to Antibes to discreetly investigate the murder of an Australian who has had connections to the French Intelligence Agency but who has been more recently living the life of a social dropout i.e. women, booze and relaxation in the sun. Maigret, also finds himself succumbing to the languid southern climate and finds it hard to concentrate on the crime. Eventually, however, he finds that he is dealing with four women who were in orbit around the murder victim, but who had no obvious motives for killing him. As is often the case in Simenon stories, the basest of human motives proves to be the reason for the crime--in this case, one of passion.
This short tale is loaded with red (and pink) herrings, moving pretty slowly toward denouement. The author's narrative is as evocative of place as always, and the reader really gets the feel of the Cote d'Azur and its seductive and corrosive effect on ambition and energy. At the same time, it's very fuzzy on time period--written in 1940, but some references don't match the date clearly. The later translation may have been purposely updated. Perhaps not the strongest of Simeon's many Maigret books, but entertaining enough.
This short tale is loaded with red (and pink) herrings, moving pretty slowly toward denouement. The author's narrative is as evocative of place as always, and the reader really gets the feel of the Cote d'Azur and its seductive and corrosive effect on ambition and energy. At the same time, it's very fuzzy on time period--written in 1940, but some references don't match the date clearly. The later translation may have been purposely updated. Perhaps not the strongest of Simeon's many Maigret books, but entertaining enough.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
