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I have always loved Simenon’s writing, it is clean and focuses on the action (for the most part) but you still know what is happening inside the characters’ minds somehow. His writing is like a breath of fresh air: original and very readable at the same time. The plot of this one is simple compared to more modern mysteries and police procedurals, but somehow that doesn’t matter, you are drawn into a realistic world with Maigret at the center of it.

Note - 4 stars for me is an excellent review,I save the 5 stars for books that belong in my top 50 books of all time.

I’m filing this under “not to my taste”. I adore fantasy and science fiction of all kinds, but I couldn’t get into this book.

Definitely not as good as the first one, or even the second one in the series, and the treatment of the son and the sister was a bit forced (won’t go into details). Manon is still compelling, but the hyper-realistic writing with the details of marriage and kids was getting old and even boring. The actual police work part is great and kept me reading.

Not quite as good as the first, but still a fun read.

Really want to give a 3.5, which is a solid read for me, it has some flaws, which I why is don’t think it is a 4 star (I’m a tough reviewer!). The main reason I liked this is because the lead character is compelling and the plot was better than the usual police procedural (I’m not complaining - a well written procedural with great characters is a Good Thing).

Loved it.

Um, it was okay? Had to start skimming toward the end, the book was starting to plod along and I didn’t care about the characters enough to slow down and catch everything. I don’t think she’s a bad writer at all, it just didn’t suit my taste.