Maigret Hesitates 1968 detective book

Maigret Hesitates (1968, Belgium)

Original title: Maigret hésite

Inspector Maigret receives an anonymous letter warning him that a murder will take place soon, but without providing any details. On the surface, Maigret sees it as a work of a madman or a poor quality joke, but since it was sent on an expensive paper, with perfect grammar and the author appears to be very precise in using words, the inspector decides to at least snoop around a little bit. As it turns out, this particular type of paper is rare in Paris, only two shops have a supply because it is expensive and there is very little call for it. The policemen quickly establish that only one person puts regular orders for this paper, an attorney called Parendon, who lives in an exclusive house, is married to a rich wife, the descendant of a well-known judge. All of this makes Maigret doubt if there is any point of pushing the investigation forward, but just for his own peace of mind he gets in contact with Parendon, who is a worldwide expert in maritime law. The inspector pays a visit to the wealthy family, still unsure if it is not just a complete waste of time. Parendon is excited to meet famous inspector Maigret, despite his small stature, he seems lively and does not seem at all worried about the letter. Maigret looks around the vast apartment belonging to the attorney and his family, but finds no clear signs that there is anything nefarious is lurking in the household. But when Maigret returns to his office on Quai des Orfèvres a new anonymous letter awaits him. Seems like his visit to the Parendon family made the things worse.

One of the best Maigret books, while keeping the style and manner of other stories, here the plot is in a way reversed. Usually, each book starts when a body is found and Maigret starts the investigation, here the investigation begins before any crime took place and the mystery is not only who the killer is, but also who the victim could be. Georges Simenon used that formula a few times in his novels, but in Maigret Hesitates it reached a new level - most of the time the inspector is struggling to make any sense of what is going on around him and despite nothing really exciting taking place most of the time, the book is hard to put aside until you reach the end.

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