| Plot Summary of Maigret's Little Joke |
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"Dr. Pardon has convinced Maigret he needs a vacation, so Maigret decided to spend his two weeks off in Paris, enjoying himself with Mrs. Maigret and totally avoiding the Quai des Orfèvres, where he had left Les Sables-d'Olonne as his forwarding address. An interesting case has come up, with Janvier in charge, and Maigret follows through the newspapers. The nude body of a doctor's wife, Éveline Jave, was found in a cupboard in his office. Both were supposed to have been on the Côte d'Azur, the practice cared for by young Dr. Gilbert Négrel. But Philippe Jave had secretly come to Paris that day, and in fact he had a girlfriend, Antoinette Chauvet, the young daughter of one of his maids, Josépha Chauvet.
Then it is revealed that Gilbert Négrel had apparently been having an affair with Jave's wife, although he had a fiancée, Martine Chapuis, whose father, Noël Chapuis, the barrister, took over Négrel's defense.Chapuis went down to Concarneau, where Éveline was from, and discovered that her past included a history of affairs. Maigret keeps his promise to avoid the Quai, but occasionally sends an anonymous note to Janvier, or makes an anonymous call to a reporter. In the end, his realization of Philippe Jave's awareness of his wife's secret trip to Paris provides him the clue, and he transmits it again to Janvier, who wraps up the case. Jave had been in the house when his wife arranged to meet Négrel, who had kept his office hours, but gone home early after the confrontation with her. Jave had killed her with an injection, then stripped her to make it seem she'd met her lover.
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Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret's Little Joke |
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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 - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
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?
- Moderately 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?
- none
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:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- jealousy
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
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?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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