Félicie by Georges Simenon Translator: David Coward
Narrator: David Coward
Series: Inspector Maigret #25
Published by Macmillan Audio on March 17, 2026 (first published 1944)
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Vintage Mystery
Length: 4 hrs 18 mins
Pages: 152
Format: Audiobook
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It’s the height of spring, and Maigret is grappling with doubly unfamiliar circumstances. He’s in the surreal new village of Jeanneville, outside Paris, where an elderly bachelor has been shot dead in his home. Тhe prime witness, his twenty-four-year-old housekeeper, Félicie, may well be among Maigret’s most unnerving adversaries. Infuriatingly clever, singularly self-possessed, and overtly antagonistic, she is surely hiding something—but what?
As their battle of wits pinballs the investigation between toy land–like Jeanneville and Paris’s seedy Place Pigalle, Maigret wonders what preoccupies him more: catching the perpetrator of a brutal murder, or solving the psychological puzzle box of Félicie? A diamond-sharp gem of crime fiction, Félicie is Georges Simenon at his mischievous best.
Félicie is only the second Maigret book I’ve read and I don’t think I have a good feel for the character or the writing yet. This time around an old man is found murdered in his cottage in a picturesque village outside of Paris. The actual focus of the book though, is his young housekeeper, Félicie, who was the only other resident of the house and who inherits it, to everyone’s surprise.
Félicie is infuriating for Maigret, but has his full attention. She’s headstrong, impetuous, angry, and trying desperately to control what she allows Maigret to see and know, but there’s more going on than she realizes. Maigret’s team is methodical, while his instincts tell him to keep arguing, cajoling, and spending time with Félicie. Turns out he’s right and the clues she unwillingly gives him lead to the solution.
I listened to the audio and thought the narrator did a good job with Maigret’s voice and keeping the other characters distinct for the most part. And, as always, I enjoyed the French names and places pronounced with an appropriate accent.
There must be a “regular” Maigret book I should pick up. One that doesn’t take place in Holland or is more interested in the murder than the witness. Suggestions?
About Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life.
Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed.
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