Maigret and Monsieur Charles

Last updated
Maigret and Monsieur Charles
MaigretEtMonsieurCharles.jpg
First edition
Author Georges Simenon
Original titleMaigret et Monsieur Charles
TranslatorMarianne Alexandre Sinclair
LanguageFrench
Series Inspector Jules Maigret
Release number
75
Genre Detective fiction
Publisher Presses de la Cité
Publication date
1972
Published in English
1973
Media typePrint
Pages189
Preceded by Maigret and the Flea  

Maigret and Monsieur Charles (French: Maigret et Monsieur Charles) is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon, and is the last novel featuring his long-running character Jules Maigret.

Contents

Synopsis

Maigret is a few years short of his retirement and has just refused promotion to the post of Head of the Police Judiciare, preferring the human contact he enjoys as Head of the Criminal Division. His wish is granted when Madam Nathalie Sabin-Levesque, an elegant but highly nervous lady insists that he personally investigates the disappearance of her husband Gérard, a highly successful and rich Parisian lawyer.

With the assistance of various other detectives, but principally Lapointe, Maigret soon discovers that Madam Sabin-Levesque is virtually an alcoholic and has lived an effectively separate life from her husband, who regularly vanishes for days or weeks to take up with various girls. These are mostly hostesses picked up in bars and cabarets, and he is known to them as 'Monsieur Charles'. It further emerges that his wife was also a call-girl in her youth, although she has claimed to be a legal secretary. She hoped for a life of comfort and security with her new husband, who owned a villa in Cannes and inherited money, but they soon grew to ignore and despise each other. She knows nothing of his professional life and is not well liked by the staff at the practice.

When Gérard's body is fished out of the Seine, Maigret's suspicions fall on her. But she is also being blackmailed by pimp-turned-barman-turned-gigolo Jo Fazio, her sometime lover. It turns out that Fazio killed Gérard and that Nathalie then killed Fazio. Maigret somewhat reluctantly arrests Nathalie, knowing that she is in poor health and will spend time in the prison hospital.

Publication history

The French title was first published in 1972.

The first English version appeared in 1973, translated by Marianne Alexandre Sinclair as Maigret and Monsieur Charles.

Adaptations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules Maigret</span> Fictional French police detective

Jules Maigret, or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a commissaire ("commissioner") of the Paris Brigade Criminelle, created by writer Georges Simenon. The character's full name is Jules Amédée François Maigret.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges Simenon</span> Belgian writer (1903–1989)

Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer, most famous for his fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most popular authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 novels, 21 volumes of memoirs and many short stories, selling over 500 million copies.

<i>Maigret at the Crossroads</i> Novel by Georges Simenon

Maigret at the Crossroads is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. Published in 1931, it is one of the earliest novels to feature Inspector Maigret in the role of the chief police investigator, a character that has since become one of the best-known detectives in fiction.

<i>Maigret and the Headless Corpse</i>

Maigret and the Headless Corpse is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon.

<i>Maigret Goes to School</i>

Maigret Goes to School is a 1954 detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Jules Maigret.

<i>Maigret and the Burglars Wife</i> 1951 novel by Georges Simenon

Maigret and the Burglar's Wife is a 1951 detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Jules Maigret. Maigret is spurred into action by a visit from a burglar's wife, whom he had known well many years before. She informs him that a few nights previously her husband had been in the act of burgling a house when he discovered a dead body on the floor. Horrified, he had fled the scene, and then left the country - writing to his wife by letter. Maigret is inclined to investigate a prominent dentist, who lives with his domineering mother, and has a wife who has apparently "gone away on holiday" - although Maigret knows he can prove nothing unless he can find the body.

<i>Maigret and the Mad Woman</i>

Maigret and the Mad Woman (French title: La Folle de Maigret is a 1970 detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Jules Maigret. Maigret regrets his folly in dismissing an old lady whom he had taken to be mad because of her claims she was about to be murdered, only for her to be killed shortly afterwards.

Maigret and the Hotel Majestic is a 1942 detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Jules Maigret.

<i>The Man on the Eiffel Tower</i> 1950 film

The Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1950 American Ansco Color film noir mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his detective Jules Maigret. The film was co-produced by Tone and Irving Allen as A&T Film Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Much of the outdoor action occurs in various familiar Paris locales.

<i>Maigret</i> (1960 TV series) British TV series or programme

Maigret is a British television series made by the BBC and which – following a pilot episode broadcast in 1959 – ran for 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963.

<i>Maigret and the Dosser</i>

Maigret and the Dosser is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Jules Maigret.

<i>Maigret Sets a Trap</i> (film) 1958 French film

Maigret Sets a Trap is a 1958 French-Italian crime film directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot and Olivier Hussenot. It is an adaptation of the novel Maigret Sets a Trap by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his fictional detective Jules Maigret.

<i>A Battle of Nerves</i> 1931 detective novel by Georges Simenon

A Battle of Nerves is a detective novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, featuring his character Inspector Jules Maigret. Published in 1931, it is one of the earliest of Simenon's "Maigret" novels, and one of eleven he had published that year.

Maigret's Revolver is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version Le Revolver de Maigret appeared in 1952. The theft of Inspector Jules Maigret's revolver from his home begins a detective story that leads to Maigret travelling from Paris to London to find the young man who stole it, and the woman who is in danger of being his victim.

Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper is a detective novel by the Belgian crime writer Georges Simenon published in 1950, featuring the author's most celebrated character Inspector Maigret. Its alternate English-language titles include Maigret in Montmartre and Maigret at Picratt's.

The Crime at Lock 14 is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his character Inspector Jules Maigret.

<i>Cecile Is Dead</i> 1944 film

Cecile Is Dead is a 1944 French crime film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Albert Préjean, Santa Relli and Germaine Kerjean. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same title by Georges Simenon featuring his detective Jules Maigret.

Maigret's Memoirs is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version, Les Mémoires de Maigret, appeared in 1950; it was first published in Great Britain in 1963. It was included, with Maigret and the Headless Corpse and Maigret and the Saturday Caller, in Maigret Victorious (1975).

The Death of Monsieur Gallet is a detective novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon. It is one of the earliest novels by Simenon featuring the detective Jules Maigret.

Le Cercle des Mahé is a novel by French writer Georges Simenon; it is one of the author's self-described roman durs or "hard novels" to distinguish it from his romans populaires or "popular novels," which are primarily mysteries that usually feature his famous Inspector Maigret character.

References