| Plot Summary of Maigret and the Killer |
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"While Maigret is dining at Pardon's a neighbor, Gino Pagliati comes in to report that a young man has been stabbed in the Rue Popincourt. He was Antoine Batille, son of the owner of Mylène perfume and beauty aids. He'd been wearing a tape recorder, as his hobby was recording and collecting sounds and conversations. He died upon arrival at the hospital. There seemed to be no motive for the crime, but one of his last recordings included a conversation at the Café des Amis, which sounded like a robbery was being planned. Some of the men on the tape are identified, and watched, and with the assistance of Superintendent Grosjean of CID, are caught in the act of burglarizing a villa outside of Paris. But the men do not seem likely to be involved in Batille's stabbing, and furthermore, hadn't taken the recorder, which would have been their only motive.
Maigret has photos taken of everyone who attended Antoine Batille's funeral, and finds a man wearing the same outfit as the killer's, who appears frequently. A photo of one of the men in the robbery with the caption "Is this the killer" brings an anonymous response of "No", and further responses are followed by phone calls to Maigret from the killer, who finally appears in person at Maigret's home to surrender. He was Robert Bureau, who had killed a boy when he was 14, and been haunted by the urge to kill ever since. He'd kept himself in control until the evening of Antoine Batille. Though Maigret hoped he'd receive treatment, he was sentenced to 15 years.
"
Dana Samson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Maigret and the Killer |
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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 - 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?
- 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:
- killer
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- insanity
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
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
- perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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