| Plot Summary of Maigret and the Countess |
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"Maigret goes to Saint-Fiacre, his home town, after noticing a note that had been received by the Moulins police, and sent up to Paris, warning that a crime was going to be committed in the Church at Saint-Fiacre, during the first Mass. And in fact, before Maigret's very eyes, the old Countess de Saint-Fiacre dies during the mass... of heart failure. Maigret locates her missal, in which a fake newspaper story of her son's suicide had been planted. Her son, Maurice de Saint-Fiacre appears with his mistress, Marie Vassilief. He is broke, as usual, had come to borrow more from his mother. His mother's secretary and lover, Jean Métayer is quick to protest his innocence. The steward, Gautier, who lives in the house that had been Maigrets's father's, tells Maigret that the Countess had been going broke as well, and that he had been paying many of her debts. His son, Émile Gautier, works in the bank in Moulins, where Maigret verifies the state of the estate.
Maurice schedules a dinner, at which all concerned are invited, including the priest and Dr. Bouchardon, and Jean's lawyer. During the dinner Maurice promises that the murderer will be dead by midnight, and at midnight Émile shoots him, and then explains that he'd known he'd done it. But the gun contained blanks, and Maurice is quick to show that it was the steward and his son who had done the deed, which, however, was unpunishable as a legal crime. "
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret and the Countess |
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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?
- Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- nearly 100%
Special suspect?
- relative
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:
- servant
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
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
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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