The Cellars of the Majestic by Georges Simenon

The Cellars of the Majestic by Georges Simenon Translated from: French Rating: ★★★★ Series: Inspector Maigret #20 Publication Date: January 1, 1942 Genre: mystery: golden age (1920-1949) Pages: 170 ReRead?: No 'Try to imagine a guest, a wealthy woman, staying at the Majestic with her husband, her son, a nurse and a governess . . . In a suite that costs more than a thousand francs a day . . . At six in the morning, she's strangled, not in her room, but in the basement locker room' Below stairs at a glamorous hotel on the Champs-Élysées, the workers' lives are worlds away from the luxury enjoyed by the wealthy guests. When their worlds meet, Maigret discovers a tragic story of ambition, blackmail and unrequited love.

I always enjoy dropping into the world of Inspector Maigret. There are 75 entries in the series, the first published in 1930, the final published in 1972. Each book is novella length, usually under 200 pages, and briefly follows an investigation by Detective Chief Inspector Maigret of the French national police, who resides in Paris with his wife, Madame Maigret. There is no real reason to read the series in any particular order, since each book contains an independent story.

All of the Maigret stories are good – it’s just a question of what takes the reader’s fancy. Sometimes the investigation is centered in Paris, where Maigret lives. Sometimes, because he is part of the national police, he is dispatched to other areas to investigate a local crime with either non-local elements or that seems like it may involve international actors. Sometimes he takes a vacation and invariably ends up in the middle of a murder investigation.

Maigret is a cerebral detective. He is capable of defending himself, but, for the most part, he thinks his way to the solution. He is a preternaturally good judge of character and invariably sees the secrets that the characters involved in the crime would prefer remain hidden.

I thought this was quite a good entry into the series. Maigret digs out the truth, and is able to liberate a wrongly accused man and hold the real perpetrator accountable.