"Civilised men fear wild creatures, especially wild creatures of their own kind who remind them of life in the primeval forests of past ages."
"Civilised men fear wild creatures, especially wild creatures of their own kind who remind them of life in the primeval forests of past ages."
Despite some unfortunate anti-immigrant sentiment and Simenon's strange habit of presenting a woman with one breast exposed, this is one of the strongest Maigret stories I've read so far. A little longer than the others, which perhaps explains the deeper characterisation of the inspector, for which the story is the better. The opening really hooked me in, and the unexpected plot development, which could have been jarring, was expertly handled.