Search - A Man's Head (Inspector Maigret Mysteries)

La Tête d'un homme was originally translated as A Battle of Nerves and is in print nowadays under this title. This early (1931) Maigret story brings to mind the novels of crisis and destiny that Simenon wrote in the US in the Fifties. Maigret and his crew are baited by a man whom they suspect was the culprit in two brutal murders but no evidence as to motive or opportunity links him to the deed. Simenon refers to a similar situation that was recent when the book was written: the real-life murder of William Desmond Taylor is a Hollywood scandal that movie buffs will dig. Maigret breaks the rules with warrantless searches, hassling witnesses, and helping a prisoner escape just to see where he will go.