Two years ago, as I was deep into my “year of reading dangerously,” I came across Maigret and the Lazy Burglar and a full shelf of Maigret novels in the expansive mystery section of the wonderful Brookline Booksmith in Boston. Acting on the recommendation of one of their book sellers, I was introduced to this “stoic and practical Parisian policeman.” I promised at the time to definitely return to dive into more of the series, and now I’ve kept that promise, returning to the beginning.

Pietr the Latvian (1930) by Georges Simenon is the first installment in the legendary Inspector Maigret series. As the book begins Detective Chief Inspector Maigret receives notice from Interpol that Pietr the Latvian, an infamous con man, is on his way to Paris. Maigret rushes to intercept him at the train station but is confounded to find two men there who fit the description of the wanted man. One is alive, the other dead. So begins a masterful book that requires the Detective Chief Inspector to work through cons, doubles, intrigue, and hidden crimes. It is a thrilling tale where Maigret not only has to solve the murder but he must also search for the true identity of the victim.

Pietr may be a businessman. Or perhaps he is a bootlegger. Despite the title, it isn’t clear that he is Latvian. He may be from America or Russia. In this novel Simenon introduces the reader to Maigret’s “keen understanding of human nature, his gift for observation, and his famous instincts”—all of which are critical as he tracks down the true suspect.

Wikipedia reports that the character of Jules Maigret was invented by Simenon while drinking in a cafe and imagining a Parisian policeman: “a large powerfully built gentleman…a pipe, a bowler hat, a thick overcoat.” Some have suggested that Marcel Guillaume, an actual French detective, was the inspiration for the fictional character. Simenon apparently claimed not to remember the inspiration or that Maigret was influenced by his father.

The series began in 1930 and came about during the Golden Age of English Crime Fiction. One commentator notes an important difference between the two, which is certainly the case in Pietr the Latvian. Instead of taking place in private homes and spaces, we are introduced here to the evil in Maigret’s Paris.

“[T]he key differentiator is the series’ setting; whilst many Golden Age works explored the private and personal nature of crime, and were often centred around private homes and intimate, family settings, Simenon instead chose to explore the wider issues France faced at that time, and as such his novels are often set in Paris or other cities, with a focus on community and shared suffering.”

Simenon told an interviewer for the Paris Review that “Writing is considered a profession, and I don’t think it is a profession. I think that everyone who does not need to be a writer, who thinks he can do something else, ought to do something else. Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness. I don’t think an artist can ever be happy.”

Simenon may not have been truly happy in his life’s work, but these wonderful mysteries—beginning with the very strong Pietr the Latvian— have satisfied millions of readers for almost 100 years.

More to come . . .

DJB

Photo illustration of the silhouette of Maigret from the cover of Simenon’s book A Man’s Head.