| Plot Summary of Maigret in Court |
"Maigret is in the Assize Court, waiting to testify in the trial of Gaston Meurant, picture framer, accused of killing his aunt, Léontine Faverges, for her money, and a 4-year-old girl, Cécile Perrin, who she was taking care of. The evidence had been inconclusive, and he was not a suspect until an anonymous phone call told of his blue suit in his closet, which was bloodstained. At the trial Maigret testifies that he'd continued the investigation "unofficially" as he hadn't been convinced of Meurant's guilt. They'd found that Ginette Meurant, his wife, had been seen at a hotel with a short, heavy-set man she'd called Pierrot. As the other evidence was unclear, Meurant was found not guilty and released.
Maigret had both him and his wife followed. She soon moved into a hotel, and he wandered the streets, eventually coming to see Maigret, not believing the stories about his wife. Maigret told him more, including that his brother Alfred Meurant had been with her, and that she'd had numerous boyfriends. Meurant goes to Toulon to look for his brother, whom he finds in the Eucalyptus bar, with other shady characters. Meurant talks to him for a while, then returns to Paris, followed all the while, and heads towards Chelles. Lapointe follows him there, where he sees him shoot a man, Pierre Millard, apparently his wife's accomplice. Alfred had given him a gun and directions to the man's location, apparently his grandmother's duck and goose farm. He appears to look at Maigret with gratitude when arrested. Maigret had known he'd had a gun, but neglected to tell Lapointe, who'd been following him.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret in Court |
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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%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- "All in the family" murder
- 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
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
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?
- 3-4
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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