| Plot Summary of Maigret and the Old Lady |
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"Maigret is visited in his office by Valentine Besson, a lively old widow from Étretat, whose maid, Rose Trochu, has been poisoned — or at least she'd drunk poison that apparently was intended for Valentine. Valentine's step-son, Charles Besson has recently become a Deputy, and the Minister has asked the Chief to send Maigret.
At Étretat Maigret is met by Inspector Castaing, of Le Havre, who was in charge of the case. So far nothing was clear, but Valentine's daughter, Arlette Sudre, had stayed in the house and been visited by a man Hervé Peyrot, who wasn't her husband. Maigret visits Valentine's house, and has a chance to interview Arlette, and so gets some of the background of the family. Arlette and her mother weren't fond of each other. Maigret had also seen Valentine's two step-sons, Charles and Théo Besson, the latter with Henri Trochu, Rose's brother. Maigret takes a trip to Yport to visit Rose's family, and discovers that she had an emerald ring of great value. He returns to Étretat with Henri, who is soon to set to sea, and charges Castaing with keeping an eye on Théo, who he has learned had been seeing Rose. But Théo has left his room without being spotted, so Maigret and Castaing rush to Valentine's, where they find she has shot Henri through the door, assuming he was trying to break in. But Maigret has understood. Rose had found the emerald, and Théo had learned of it from her, confirming his belief that his step-mother still had her real jewels. Valentine had tricked Rose into drinking the poison once she'd learned Théo was seeing her, afraid of what he'd learn. She called Théo to come up to her house, but he'd sent Henri ahead, and he'd gotten shot in his place.
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Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret and the Old Lady |
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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:
- Female
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an above average 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
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Unusual forms of death
- poisoning
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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