User Reviews

A judge is seen dragging a body from his house, and Maigret is the one who's seeing it. The judge claims to know nothing about whose body it is he's trying to hide. The murder victim-and the body is of someone clearly murdered-seems to be a stranger to the town. When did he arrive? Why is he there? And what was his last meal? Maigret will soon uncover family secrets and the body of another murder victim. The past directs much of the present.

In this episode of the excellent Maigret series Maigret has been transferred (demoted?) to a coastal French town. A mention of a mysterious body in a judge's house prompts hope of a case-something to occupy his mind. Bruno Cremer delivers another solid performance as the French detective. Love, sex, and betrayal drive the actions of the characters, and Maigret soon sorts through the connections. The script and the pacing stick to the book from beginning to end quite closely. As presented, Maigret's determining what happened and why is reasonable. The facts are there for him and for us. He and we see things. We are there when he questions the townspeople, the principal characters, and others (e.g., the judge's estranged wife, a secretary). From the facts Maigret forms the story of why the body of the murdered man was in the judge's house. Like a doctor who diagnoses a disease, Maigret, a crime specialist, diagnoses the causes of a horrific murder.

Simenon's Maigret novels are about more than quickly moving from setup to conclusion; rather, they evoke a sense of place with a past and provide an atmosphere of sights, sounds, and smells. This series understands this.

Yet again I have to confess disappointment at this French version of the famous French policeman. My main gripe is that the pace is simply too slow. Much of the one hour thirty minutes running time is occupied with Maigret just walking from one place to another or sitting staring into space whilst chewing on his pipe. Another irritating factor is the way he is able to work out exactly what has taken place with the minimum of information. I appreciate Maigret is supposed to be cerebral, intuitive and deductive but he seems to be privy to divine inspiration, introducing matters which have not been revealed to the audience. In this episode he works out why and how a man was killed in a judge's house when the judge himself is completely unaware of the victim's presence. Intriguing as the premise may be it is deadly dull in its presentation. Fortunately I tend to record the episodes so I can fast-forward the boring bits. Only another 50 episodes to go; if I can bear it!