Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our buddy read of The Carter of 'La Providence'
aka The Crime at Lock 14/ Maigret Meets a Milord / Lock 14 and the second book in the Inspector Maigret series, first published in 1931.

One rainy night, a canal worker stumbles across the strangled body of Mary Lampson in a stable near Lock 14. The dead woman's husband seems unmoved by her death and is curt and unhelpful when Maigret interviews him aboard his yacht. But gradually Maigret is able to piece together their story - a sordid tale of whisky-fuelled orgies and nomadic life on the canals. Can the answer to this crime be found aboard the yacht? Or is the murderer among the bargees, carters and lock-keepers who work the canal? In Lock 14, Simenon plunges Maigret into the unfamiliar canal world of shabby bars and shadowy towpaths, drawing together the strands of a tragic case of lost identity.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

In the first book, he is described as a "rock of a man", so I had some difficulty imagining him zooming about on a bicycle, however he does do that in this book. He does indeed cover forty miles in one day riding one.
I had no real idea of the murderer. I do think though that this book was less a who-dun-it than a drama, examining various relationships between people. I have been told by several people that the books do improve as the series goes on, however, I was quite satisfied with book.

Yes, I may read on to the third book for a further taste - Maigret is an intriguing character, and the spare writing is a change of pace. I too was shocked at his 40 mile bike jaunt - seemed out of character from what I read in first book! Took it as a sign of his dogged determination- but I don’t feel there is really “fair play”, as we are not given access to police info, beyond his first informal briefing with Lucas while he dresses and shaves in his shabby temporary quarters!

I agree with Jill, this was more a drama, and a shabby, sad one at that - not a likable character in the bunch. And the end, where Maigret fingerprints and interrogates a dying man with horrible injuries is not only grim, but unbelievable from the doctor’s report of the injuries; that the suspect survived, let alone left the hospital and managed to move around seems incredible. But I found the death scene poignant and sad, especially after learning the background story. Again, info the reader has no access to until the end.

If I can get the third, I may eventually read it, but I won’t be in a hurry.

I know the book pointed towards the murderer, but I really didn't want it to be him.

I agree the title rather gave away the murderer (like Jill, I also hoped it wasn't true), and the mystery was more his motive and connection with the victim. I like Maigret and the writing style so plan on continuing for at least the two additional books in my omnibus.

This book has a couple of alternative titles, so perhaps it would have been better if Penguin had chosen a different one for the reissue!

Sandy wrote: "I agree the title rather gave away the murderer (like Jill, I also hoped it wasn't true), and the mystery was more his motive and connection with the victim. I like Maigret and the writing style so..."

Same here - the motive was so dark and sad, his life so miserable…

I think I won´t get a big fan of Maigret or rather the mysteries he´s supposed to solve. He does so here too, but again the murderer escapes his punishment. I had this as a German audiobook from my library, so - though the performer wasn´t perfect - it seemed to me livelier than when I had read it.

My second Maigret books and still "acculturating" to Simenon's style. Both here (the title being a dead giveaway) and in Pietr the Latvian, we know who the guilty person is, so not really classic who-dunnits. Different, but I am definitely going to read more of Maigret's adventures

That's good Wayne, as we have the next book The Death of Monsieur Gallet coming up in January.

Jill wrote: "That's good Wayne, as we have the next book The Death of Monsieur Gallet coming up in January."

I will join the posse.

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!

Marie wrote: "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 edi..."

Glad you found some time to yourself; it can be a rare commodity. I also quite like Simenon's style; it is very different from my other reads.