"An attempted murder of a down-and-outer: While he was sleeping under the Pont Marie, someone had hit "Doc" over the head and tossed him into the Seine to drown, but a couple of Belgian bargemen nearby had fished him out in time to save him. His identity card reveals that he is François Keller, from Mulhouse, where, coincidentally, Mrs. Maigret's sister lives. Thus Maigret learns that he had been a doctor there, left his wife and daughter and gone off to Gabon, in Africa, to work "like Dr. Schweitzer." But things hadn't gone the way he'd hoped, and for the past 15 years or more, he'd been a clochard in Paris, sleeping under the bridges, working as a sandwich man to buy his bottle of wine.
Maigret interviews his daughter and mother, but there seems to be no motive or contact. He goes down the Seine to find the bargeman again, and learns that his wife's father had owned the barge until he'd drowned in the Seine two years before, near the bridge at the Quai de la Rapée, where Doc had slept at the time, but not since. Maigret is convinced that the bargeman Jef van Houtte is guilty, but he denies all, and Doc is no help — he refuses to say anything. Maigret is finally forced to let van Houtte go, but a few months later a chance comment by Doc that "it's impossible to pass judgment" convinces Maigret that he was right, though Doc maintains that he'd said nothing.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Maigret and the Dosser
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 40% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% 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%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- solving long-past murder
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:
- small businessman
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?
- 1
Unusual forms of death
- drowned
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
