Currently reading
Sin Titulo
The Old Gringo
Domnei
White Apples
Tarzan of the Apes
The Dead of Night: The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural)
Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1)
The Land of Laughs
Voyage Along the Horizon
Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
i liked this maigret one even more than the first i read. i was worried when it began, that the books would be too formulaic, as there was a prisoner condemned to die right at the beginning of this one as well. but in this one, he isn't set free so that maigret may solve the crime, he is executed, as ordained but! not before he tips off maigret to another unsolved murder which takes him away to a little weekend hideaway, outside of paris, where he comes upon a group of people who really live only for flitting and frisking and fishing and fun on sundays on the seine. aside from the mystery, one begins to know maigret a little better: his desire for comfort and his wife, conflicting with his drive to see a case through, and a crime solved. one begins to see that maigret is a lonely man, wanting a friend for himself, one that he can be quiet with, comfortable with, who wants to be around him. several odd friendships are observed here, and i can safely say that though these friends are loyal to each other as much as they can be, they're not certain to give each other what they want, though they sometimes get what they need: cue mick jagger.
but these are not books to ruminate over, as far as i can see. these maigret books are like the very french macarons i bought the other day: they have light and airy shells with rich fillings at the centre, and are very easily consumed.