Maigret's Boyhood Friend Author:Georges Simenon The device, in this newest Maigret, is a highly astute one. One a fine summer day, Maigret receives the visit of a former schoolmate of his, who alerts him to a murder. As the Chief Inspector delves more deeply into its puzzling circumstances, he matches his impressions of the mature man with his recollections of the boy who was a compulsive j... more »oker at school. Though a number of clues seem to point to him as the murderer, Maigret has his nagging doubts. Florentin as he was and is is not the killer type, though there is something lethal in his unscrupulous self-seeking.
Patiently, Maigret wrestles with an innate liar and deceiver and with a janitress who evidently knows more than she tells but is so formidable that she keeps even the police at boy. In the end, he outwits them both and confronts them with the startling truth - revealing the innocence of the technically guilty and the guilt of the technically innocent.
A suspense story of remarkable subtelty and psychological finesse.« less