| A quiet, unobtrusive man, Raymond Auger, has spent the entire day, 16 hours, sitting in the Café des Ministères, on the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue des Saints-Pères. Joseph, the waiter, had gotten so upset that he'd even called Janvier, to whose sister-in-law he was married, to come and check him out. When he finally left, a few seconds later a shot rang out, and a man was found dead outside the café... but it wasn't him. Maigret starts his investigation with the café directly across the street, Chez Léon, and in fact the dead man had spent most of the day there. A little further along, Maigret finds the restaurant, À l'Escargot, where the woman who seemingly brought something to Auger in the Café des Ministères had waited and eaten. A train ticket in the pocket of the dead man, Ernest Combarieu, leads Maigret and Janvier to Juvisy, where it is a simple matter to locate the hotel Combarieu had been staying in, and the home of the Augers. Isabelle Auger is quick to admit she shot Combarieu, who she claimed was about to shoot her husband. Or was it? Her identical twin, Marthe Combarieu, who had died two years earlier, had been married to Combarieu, who claimed, when he returned from Gabon, that in fact, Isabelle was Marthe... | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Misc. Murder Plotlets - "All in the family" murder Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % 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: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - France Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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