Maigret's Christmas

Penguin have republished a trio of seasonal Maigret short stories, collectively entitled A Maigret Christmas, and offered me a review copy of the first story. The only other Georges Simenon book I have read was very different and I never watched any of the television adaptations so I wasn't previously familiar with the Maigret crime mysteries. In some respects A Maigret Christmas was a good place to start discovering the series.

The short story is set over the course of Christmas Day in Paris and mostly takes place in Maigret's own apartment and that of his neighbour. I liked the strong sense of the time period - I believe the story was originally written in the 1950s and set in the 1930s - and the telling details of people's dress. You just know a woman isn't quite respectable if she leaves her home without stockings on! I liked the glimpses into a French Christmas Day such as bakeries still being open to buy fresh croissants. With regards to the case itself though, I found it hard to believe that so much of the research demanded by Maigret of his staff could have been carried out as swiftly as the tale's timescales required. Lots of the logic jumps and conclusions seemed just too convenient for my tastes and the small cast of characters made it pretty obvious where we would end up - although not exactly how we would get there. Overall I thought A Maigret Christmas was a quaint mystery with a nice seasonal vibe.