| Plot Summary of A Crime in Holland |
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"Maigret goes to Delfzijl, in the Netherlands, as an unofficial representative of the Police Judiciaire, for a French professor, Jean Duclos, from the University of Nancy, is being detained in the case of the murder of Conrad Popinga, a retired sea captain, whose guest he'd been while delivering a lecture on criminology. Popinga had been shot from his bathroom window, as he was returning to his house by bicycle, after seeing home Beetje Liewens, a neighbor. Duclos had heard the shot and rushed into the bathroom, and picked up the gun. A sailor's cap belonging to the seaman Oosting and a cigar butt are found in the house, but Maigret dismisses these as red herrings. In the house at the same time were Popinga's wife, Liesbeth Popinga, her sister, Any Van Elst, an unmarried lawyer, and a maid. Neighbors, Carl Weinand and his wife and children had been there, as well as Cornélius Barens, a cadet on the training ship Popinga taught at. The Dutch inspector, Pijpekamp, is anxious that the town not be disturbed, and hopes Maigret will agree that a foreign sailor did the crime and left by ship. But Maigret reconstructs the evening, and reveals that Any Van Elst, jealous of Popinga's attention to Beetje Liewens had decided to kill him. Beetje Liewens had been looking for anyone to take her away from Delfzijl. Maigret returns to Paris without being thanked. Any Van Elst later killed herself before the trial, and Beetje escaped Delfzijl to Paris, having married a light bulb salesman. "
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Crime in Holland |
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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 - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
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?
- Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- nearly 100%
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?
- 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:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- jealousy
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Netherlands
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
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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