| Plot Summary of A Battle of Nerves |
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"Inspector Maigret requests permission to let a prisoner from a maximum security prison “escape”. He was convicted of having killed a rich American, Mrs. Henderson and her French maid, Elise Chatrier, at saint Claud. But Maigret is convinced that this man, Joseph Heurtin, was either innocent or mad, even if his fingerprints and footprints were found everywhere, he was seen in the neighborhood and he dropped a Paris-Saint Calud ticket. What puzzles maigret is that he seemed to have absolutely no reason, nothing was stolen from the house but the convicted refused to say anything in his favour. The accused does not seem surprised to find the note for the escape plan, this is why Maigret thinks that there is someone else involved. The day after his escape, he finds a note telling him that this was just a police setup, a note received from someone who knew something. The paper of the note was from the American bar Coupole, where Maigret goes and sees Johann Radek, a Czech medical student. Heurtin, who had managed to elude his police followers, seems to be waiting outside for Radek, who has himself arrested for failing to pay his bill.
Radek gives Maigret banknotes which can easily be traced to William Kirby, Henderson's nephew, who had also been in the Coupole. Maigret goes back to Saint-Cloud, and finds William-Kirby in the house, but by the time he reaches him he's killed himself, shot in the head. Radek taunts Maigret, who continues to silently follow him everywhere. Finally they return to the Citanguette, where Heurtin had first slept on escaping from the Santé, and they see Mrs. Kirby go to his room and tear up a mattress. They then follow her taxi to Saint-Cloud, where she goes into the house, returning in half an hour with a small package. But Maigret refuses to follow her and brings Radek into the house, where he reveals Edna Reichberg, Kirby's mistress and his wife's friend, in a closet. Radek realizes he's caught, and shoots at Maigret, but the inspector has had the bullets removed.
Even if Maigret had known all along that Radek was the brain behind all these murders, he still has a hard time proving his gilt, because, apparently, there is nothing to connect him with the crimes.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Battle of Nerves |
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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 - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
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?
- Moderately Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- nearly 100%
Special suspect?
- chronically deranged person
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
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?
- just the right amount
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:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Genius
Physique
- physically sick
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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