| Plot Summary of Maigret and the Spinster |
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"Maigret had been receiving regular visits from Miss Cécile Pardon, who claimed that someone was coming into her house at night and rearranging the furniture. It had become a joke at the Quai des Orfèvres. But this time when she came and left a message that "something terrible happened last night," she has disappeared by the time Maigret gets around to calling for her. Maigret goes to her house in Bourg-la-Reine, and discovers that her aunt, Mrs. Juliette Boynet, the owner of the building, with whom Cécile had lived, has been strangled. Later Cécile's body is found in a closet in the Police Judiciaire, also strangled, and her purse missing.
Maigret discovers that Cécile's out-of-work brother, Gérard Pardon, had slipped into the building the night of the aunt's murder. Juliette's downstairs neighbor, Mr. Charles Dandurand, a disbarred lawyer, had been her business manager, helping her acquire interest in numerous houses. He had been the one moving the furniture, and her aunt had drugged Cécile's herb tea on those nights he came for business meetings. But the night Gérard came, he drank her tea by chance, and so Cécile had heard everything.
Confronting her aunt, she wound up strangling her, but Mr. Charles, in the apartment below, had overheard what happened. Realizing that she had the papers which would show that he and Juliette had killed Juliette's husband, Mr. Charles follows Cécile to the Quai Des Orfevres, where he induces someone to bring her to him. He kills her and leaves her body in a closet, taking the incriminating papers. But Juliette had sent an incriminating letter into safekeeping with a relative in the country, and Charles's guilt is established.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret and the Spinster |
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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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
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
Any non-mystery subplot?
- theft/fraud investigation
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:
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
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?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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