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| Plot Summary of The Evidence of the Altar Boy |
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"When commissar Maigret is sent to a provincial town for six month in order to reorganize their Flying Squad he has to handle a strange case where different witnesses, all of the having the highest credibility, testify in different ways. Justin, a 12 year-old altar-boy reports that he has seen a dead body in the Rue Sainte Catherine on his way at the morning mass to the hospital. But, the body has disappeared without a trace. At the same time the Judge in the house opposite where Justin said he saw the body pretends that he did not hear anyone go past, but Maigret remembers that a few houses before a man said that he had heard somebody running. When the commissar interviews again Justin and the Judge, he realizes that the boy had actually seen the body before the Judge's house and that the killer had run after Justin and not in the opposite direction, as he has first declared. Maigret has Besson, one of his inspectors, bring a list of the tenants of the street because this first mystery of the disappearance of the body being solved but, there comes another one: who killed the dead man, who proved to be a member of a jewelry stealing gang and why did the boy lie."
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Evidence of the Altar Boy |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- nearly 100%
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- French
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Genius (really!)
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Georges Simenon Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Dana Samson
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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