| Plot Summary of Maigret and the Concarneau Murders |
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"Maigret, assigned for the past month to Rennes to reorganize the Flying Squad [Brigade Mobile], is called to Concarneau, where Mr. Mostaguen, Concarneau's biggest wine dealer, was shot after leaving the Admiral Café. Circumstances make it appear that it was only chance that made him the victim. When Maigret arrives at the Admiral Hotel, and is drinking with the other members of Mostaguen's group, Ernest Michoux, a non-practicing doctor and real estate dealer, notices powder in the drinks which turns out to be strychnine. The next day, Jean Servières, another member, disappears, his blood-stained car found abandoned. Journalists descend on Concarneau, and a vagrant is arrested, a giant bear of a man, but he breaks free. Apparently it is his yellow dog which has been noticed around since the first shooting. Maigret arranges with his assistant, Leroy, to watch a room across the street, where they see the escaped man meet with Emma, the waitress at the hotel. Meanwhile Maigret has had Michoux arrested, apparently to protect him: Yves Le Pommeret, another member of the group, had been found poisoned in his home.
Then there is another shooting, and the customs officer is slightly wounded in the leg. Servières is found in Paris, and brought back to Concarneau, where Maigret arranges a confrontation of all the main characters: Dr. Michoux, Servières, Michoux's mother, who had returned to Concarneau, the giant man, Léon Le Glérec and Emma, who'd been caught at the railroad station, and the mayor, who'd been pressing Maigret for a conclusion. The story went back 5 or 6 years, when Le Glérec had started making payments on his boat, and planned to marry Emma. Michoux, Servières and Le Pommeret had approached him to carry cocaine to America instead of vegetables to England, but when his boat had arrived he'd been immediately arrested. He learned in prison that they'd set him up to receive a bounty on smugglers, and when he was finally released he vowed to have them imprisoned, even if it was for killing him. He'd shown himself to the doctor, who'd tricked Emma into writing a note to meet him at the doorway where Mostaguen was shot by mistake. Michoux had poisoned Le Pommeret when he'd apparently had a change of heart, and Michoux's mother had shot the customs officer to make her son, in jail, appear innocent.
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Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret and the Concarneau Murders |
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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 - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
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%
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:
- doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- jealousy
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
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?
- 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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