Not so mad after all

The "madwoman" in Maigret's Madwoman (1970) by Georges Simenon is clearly not mad — just maddening. This frail old woman persists in trying to see Inspector Maigret, believing that only he can solve the mystery of why her possessions often appear slightly moved when she returns to her apartment. She fears for her life, she says.

Maigret, busy with more important matters, promises to see her but puts it off. Then she is found dead, apparently smothered.

Feeling guilty about ignoring the woman, the inspector devotes his full attention the case. Suspects are few, and a motive seems nonexistent. The old woman apparently had nothing worth taking. Her only known visitors were a niece, a large woman with a long resentment against her aunt, and her son, a musician who sometimes came to the old woman asking for handouts. The niece's live-in boyfriend, a small-time criminal, is questioned several times. And very soon Maigret is questioning a big-time French gangster who pretends to be retired.

As usual, Simenon packs a lot of story into relatively few pages — just 168 here. And while Maigret's mind works in complex ways, the plots are usually comprehensible, as well as both logical and surprising. And that is the case here in another fine entry in this wonderful series of French mysteries.