Maigret and the Saturday Caller

Last updated
Maigret and the Saturday Caller
Maigret and the Saturday Caller book cover.jpg
Author Georges Simenon
Original titleMaigret et le Client du samedi
TranslatorTony White
LanguageFrench
Series Inspector Jules Maigret
Genre Detective fiction
Published1964 Hamish Hamilton (UK) [1]
Media typePrint
OCLC 504333131

Maigret and the Saturday Caller is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version Maigret et le Client du samedi appeared in 1962. [1]

A man visits Inspector Jules Maigret at his home to tell him he wants to kill his wife and her lover. Although it is not an official case, Maigret is interested, particularly when the man later disappears.

Summary

Maigret's expected Saturday evening in January, of a meal and watching his recently installed television, is suspended when Léonard Planchon, a nervous man with a hare lip, visits him. He has often called at Police Headquarters on a Saturday and left before seeing Maigret; this time he has followed Maigret home. He tells him he wants to murder his wife and her lover. Maigret has not been sought out at home before and is interested in Planchon. In a long conversation, Planchon, who has a decorating business, tells Maigret how he met his wife, and about Roger Prou, an employee. Prou has moved into his house and into his bedroom; Planchon has to sleep on a camp bed. In the evenings he visits bistros and gets drunk. Maigret tells Planchon to phone him every day.

On Sunday morning Maigret phones Headquarters and asks if there are any reports from the 18th arrondissement of Paris, where Planchon lives, thinking there might be a murder. In the afternoon, Maigret and his wife take a walk past Planchon's home; on Monday he gets colleagues, pretending to be council surveyors, to look round the house. In the evening Planchon phones, but he does not phone next day. On Wednesday, having still not heard from him, Maigret phones the house; Prou replies, saying Planchon will not be back.

Maigret visits the house and sees Planchon's wife Renée; she says that Planchon left with suitcases on Monday evening, and that three weeks earlier he had signed the business over to Prou.

Although Maigret is not sure what sort of case he is investigating, he manages to get permission from the Deputy Prosecutor to interview Planchon's employees. The last interview is with Prou, who explains how he found the cash for Planchon's business, some of it borrowed from relatives. During the interview Maigret borrows the transfer document and a graphologist examines it: he thinks Planchon's signature on it may have been forged.

Maigret's colleagues check the bars frequented by Planchon. A prostitute is found who knew him: on Monday he was so drunk she helped him back to his house. Maigret, aware that Planchon could not have left with suitcases if he was too drunk to stand, persuades the Deputy Prosecutor to give him a search warrant, and the house is searched. When a bundle of banknotes is found under floorboards, the case soon reaches a conclusion.

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>The Strange Case of Peter the Lett</i> 1931 novel by Georges Simenon

The Strange Case of Peter the Lett is a 1931 detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. It is the first novel to feature Inspector Jules Maigret who would later appear in more than a hundred stories by Simenon and who has become a legendary figure in the annals of detective 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 Has Scruples</i> Novel by Georges Simenon

Maigret Has Scruples is a 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>Night Passage</i> (novel) 1997 novel by Robert B. Parker

Night Passage is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the first in his Jesse Stone series.

<i>Maigret and Monsieur Charles</i> 1972 detective novel by Georges Simenon

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

<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>Red Lights</i> (novel)

Feux rouges is the title of a short novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon. It is one of the author's roman durs or "hard novels".

<i>The Bottom of the Bottle</i> (novel) 1949 novel by Georges Simenon

The Bottom of the Bottle is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version Le Fond de la Bouteille, written in 1948 when Simenon was living in Arizona, appeared in 1949. The novel is among his romans durs, a term roughly translated as hard, or harrowing, novels; it was used by Simenon for what he regarded as his serious literary works.

<i>Maigrets Revolver</i> 1952 detective novel by Georges Simenon

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.

<i>The Crime of Inspector Maigret</i> Novel by Georges Simenon

The Crime of Inspector Maigret is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French-language version Le Pendu de Saint-Pholien appeared in 1931: it is one of the earliest novels by Simenon featuring the detective Jules Maigret.

<i>Act of Passion</i>

Lettre à mon juge was written by Belgian author Georges Simenon in 1946 during his stay at Bradenton Beach, Florida and published in Paris the following year by Presses de la Cité. It is a dark psychological account of a man overcome by buried passions, who becomes a murderer.

Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre is a 1959 French crime film directed by Jean Delannoy that stars Jean Gabin as the fictional police detective Jules Maigret. Adapted from the novel l'Affaire Saint-Fiacre by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon, it tells how Maigret goes privately to the aid of his late father's employer who has received an anonymous death threat and, though unable to prevent the death, unmasks the plotters.

The Watchmaker of Everton is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version L'horloger d'Everton appeared in 1954. This novel and Red Lights, both translated by Norman Denny, were published together in 1955 by Hamish Hamilton as Danger Ahead.

The Night Club is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The original French version L'Âne Rouge appeared in 1933; the English translation was first published in 1979.

<i>Maigrets Memoirs</i> 1951 novel by Georges Simenon

Maigret's Memoirs is a novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. Unlike other Maigret novels, there is no plot; Jules Maigret himself writes about his life and work, and about his relation with the novelist Georges Simenon.

<i>The Mahé Circle</i> 1946 novel by Georges Simenon

Le Cercle des Mahé (1946), translated as The Mahé Circle, is a novel by Belgian 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.

<i>The Glass Cage</i> (novel) 1971 novel by Georges Simenon

La Cage de verre (1971), translated as The Glass Cage, is a novel by 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

  1. 1 2 Carter, David. The Pocket Essential Georges Simenon. The Pocket Essentials, 2003.