| Plot Summary of Death of a Harbor Master |
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"A man found wandering around Paris, unable to speak, is finally identified as the harbor-master of Ouistreham, Capt. Yves Joris. His house-keeper and companion, Julie Legrand, comes to Paris to get him, and Maigret accompanies them back to Ouistreham. Joris had been shot in the head, and excellently operated on, but doesn't seem aware of who he is. Among his letters had been found a bank statement that someone had deposited 300,000 francs to his account. Maigret has hardly passed the night at his hotel when he is called to the Joris house: Capt. Joris has been poisoned, and dies. Julie's brother, Big Louis, is an ex-con seaman who works on the Saint-Michel. Maigret visits the Saint-Michel, which has docked again, and meets Louis Legrand (Big Louis) and Capt.Yves Lannec. Louis leaves to sleep on a dredge, and Maigret discovers that someone else had been there as well, but no one is talking.
Maigret visits the house of the mayor, Ernest Grandmaison, president of a shipping company, who is not helpful, and trails Julie to a shrine in the dunes, where she has wished for "success for her brother's project". But she won't reveal what it is. Maigret sends for Lucas, who follows the man from the dredge to near the mayor's house, where he loses him. In the house they see Big Louis and the mayor, normally unacquainted. Maigret sets the forces of the police to work and has the missing man arrested and brought back to Grandmaison's, where he confronts Louis and the mayor with Jean Martineau, a nationalized Norwegian. All refuse to talk. Maigret learns that the mayor's wife, Hélène Grandmaison, knows Martineau as Raymond.
He returns with Grandmaison to his offices in Caen, where Ernest Grandmaison shoots himself, and the story is revealed. The Norwegian was his cousin, Raymond Grandmaison, who'd been in love with Hélène. He'd been caught dipping into the company funds, and Ernest had forced him to leave France forever, after which he himself married Hélène. But she'd been pregnant with Raymond's child. 15 years later Raymond had been trying to steal back his son, and enlisted the help of Louis and Joris, as well as the Saint-Michel. A slip-up resulted in Joris being shot, the plan aborted. Martineau managed to get Joris patched up, but when he returned, the mayor feared he'd reveal the truth if he came to his senses, and poisoned him.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Death of a Harbor Master |
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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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
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:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- politician/elected ruler
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
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?
- 2
Unusual forms of death
- poisoning
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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