| Dr. Pardon has convinced Maigret he needs a vacation, so Maigret decided to spend his two weeks off in Paris, enjoying himself with Mrs. Maigret and totally avoiding the Quai des Orfèvres, where he had left Les Sables-d'Olonne as his forwarding address. An interesting case has come up, with Janvier in charge, and Maigret follows through the newspapers. The nude body of a doctor's wife, Éveline Jave, was found in a cupboard in his office. Both were supposed to have been on the Côte d'Azur, the practice cared for by young Dr. Gilbert Négrel. But Philippe Jave had secretly come to Paris that day, and in fact he had a girlfriend, Antoinette Chauvet, the young daughter of one of his maids, Josépha Chauvet.
Then it is revealed that Gilbert Négrel had apparently been having an affair with Jave's wife, although he had a fiancée, Martine Chapuis, whose father, Noël Chapuis, the barrister, took over Négrel's defense.Chapuis went down to Concarneau, where Éveline was from, and discovered that her past included a history of affairs. Maigret keeps his promise to avoid the Quai, but occasionally sends an anonymous note to Janvier, or makes an anonymous call to a reporter. In the end, his realization of Philippe Jave's awareness of his wife's secret trip to Paris provides him the clue, and he transmits it again to Janvier, who wraps up the case. Jave had been in the house when his wife arranged to meet Négrel, who had kept his office hours, but gone home early after the confrontation with her. Jave had killed her with an injection, then stripped her to make it seem she'd met her lover. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - jealousy How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Europe Yes European country: - France Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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