| Plot Summary of Maigret Takes a Room |
"Janvier is shot in the chest while keeping watch outside Miss Clément's boarding house waiting for the return of Emile Paulus, a young man who lived there, suspected of having robbed a bar. Maigret, his wife in Alsace caring for her sister, moves in the the house. He discovers Paulus hiding under Miss Clement's bed, but he appears to be unconnected to the shooting. A boarder, Miss Blanche Dubut, mentions to Maigret the occasional strange condition of the blinds in the house opposite, where Mrs. Francoise Boursicault, the invalid wife of a ship's purser lives, and Maigret goes to interview her. He realizes that the person who shot Janvier was apparently someone who came to visit her from time to time, and forces the issue, eventually discovering that Julien Foucrier, her lover from long ago, who had fled France twenty years earlier to escape apprehension for a robbery-murder he had committed, had returned to France, and was her visitor. He had shot Janvier to flee the apartment before the return of her husband, wrongly assuming that the watch in the street was for him. He turns himself in after Maigret agrees to keep the woman's connection to the affair a secret. "
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret Takes a Room |
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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 - 50% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30% 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:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate 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
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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