Marie’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2016)

Marie’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I read this a couple of years ago and liked it. I agree that I felt I was missing some characterization coming in on the 3rd book but I would read the first 2 if I could ever find them.

I can't quite pin point why, but I really liked this one!

That's an interesting point about Maigret. I've been reading some Poirot lately and while he also has a sweet spot for lovers, he is also at times OK with extralegal justice. I can't remember specifically from the previous Maigret books because it has been a bit, but I wonder where Maigret stands on that spectrum.

I finally was able to read this today and I enjoyed it. I thought it was a little less gritty than some of his previous titles.

I've been enjoying our Maigret reads but I think this was my least thus far. It was just so dark. The suicide and Maigret's possible role in that was really dark but the cult like atmosphere towards the end was just too much for me. I did enjoy the cat and mouse with Van Damme and I liked Belloir's character. Lombard's sketches would have creeped me out if I was his wife. I wouldn't want those hanging in my house. I also would have liked more development of Janin. At the end when we know the role of the body in the river it puts Van Damme's attempt to push Maigret into the river in new light - an interesting detail by Simenon.

Looking forward to another Maigret! I have not started yet, but I agree with you both, Judy and Sandy, regarding Simenon's ability to paint a picture. I find it easy to "get lost" in his writing in a good way.

Thank you!

I have been using Good Reads order which I think is taken from the recent Penguin translations. I also have The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien as the next read too. I think part of the issue is Simenon was so prolific that he had multiple publications in the same year.

Sandy and Jill - I agree about the timing being perfect on the heels of The Hollow Man. This was my 4th Maigret, and again I enjoyed it. I did not expect the sale of the name/title, so that was an interesting twist. I was having a hard time seeing the man who died as the same Gallet that was overseas who sounded like a very unsavory character. I just hadn't put the trading places possibility together. (For a split second it reminded me of The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier which I read last year - this isn't a spoiler, that is the premise of the story). I did expect an automated gun after the assistant was shot as well. Then at the end, the real question came down to whether or not Maigret was going to leave things as they were or upset all of the status quo with everyone "at peace" so to speak.

I finished this a few days ago, and liked it overall. Initially, there were a lot of characters to keep track of and sometimes my eyes glaze over in the analysis of locked room mysteries, but liked the atmospheric quality of Carr's writing.

I did have trouble with the idea of someone wearing a mask just walking around freely without anyone stopping them but maybe that was/is more common with Guy Fawkes than anything that I am familiar with in the US. People in masks tend to creep me out!

Finally, another detail that stuck out to me was that Carr used the name Cagliostro for a street. I was perplexed why he would use an Italian name with -gli- in it because it is usually mispronounced. Upon searching the internet I found that he took that name from an 18th century magician who evidently was quite famous. I appreciate it when authors are that thorough with their details.

I'll be joining in a few weeks

I haven't started this yet (hope to soon) but I just realized Aird published in this series as recently as 2019, how neat is that?!

Secret Adversary has always been a favorite of mine. I loved the premise of Death Comes as the End, and I enjoyed revisiting They Came to Baghdad.

An interesting fact that I learned from Edwards was that Catherine Aird (one of our upcoming January authors) is related to Josephine Tey.

I was able to find Death In High Heels and Murder on the Lusitania at my local used book store today, so I guess I will be joining in on those reads.

Thank you so much for recommending this book. I read it over the weekend and really enjoyed all of the background information. I may want to do a reread after we finish next year's challenge because I will have a better idea of some of the authors at that point.

If I wanted to go back and join in with the Heyer buddy read is it starting with Footsteps in the Dark and going in publication order? I didn't like Heyer at first but she grew on me by the second book that I read from her. I might give her another try...

I finally got some time to myself so I was able to read it all in one sitting today.

I do wish that I had read it with the Lock 14 title instead of the Carter of La Providence that my penguin edition used because it did really give it away. That said, I am starting to believe that Simenon is more about the whydunnit instead of the whodunnit. He does like to really delve into the psyche of the characters to figure out their motivations.

I am a big fan of Simenon's writing style, it's terse yet sufficiently descriptive. The pictures he paints make me feel transported. I can't say that I want to spend much time in the muck of the canal or the horse stalls but it showed the grittiness of the setting. He focuses a lot on the weather (I noticed this in the previous title as well) but again it really helps draw me in as a reader.

Finally, I couldn't help but think of Puccini's Il Tabarro a one act opera (usually performed as the first act of Il Trittico - first performed in 1918) which takes place on a French barge and has to deal with complex relationship issues. It's short, suspenseful, and can provide a visual for barge life, although set in Paris.

I am looking forward to our next installment!

I'll be joining.

Marie wrote: "I think that I read this over 10 years ago but can't remember much so I am looking forward to a reread."

I just went and checked my shelf and realized I actually have not read this, I was getting it confused with Murder is Easy. Oops!