A Maigret Christmas contains three very different stories by Georges Simenon – A Maigret Christmas, Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook and The Restaurant near Place des Ternes – yet they all share a similar sense of melancholy and loneliness.

In Simenon’s world, Christmas is not a time for goodwill and cheer, so seasonally well-adjusted readers beware! Instead, in these three stories, we visit long, cold night shifts, suicides and lonely prostitutes. The title story (first published in 1950) is the only one that features Maigret though. The other two are set in his world, his time and his place and provide an interesting backstory or subtext to his other stories.

Classic Maigret and an essential and pleasant read for a gloomy day stuck inside. You won't be dissapointed if you're a Maigret fan.

Thanks to Penguin Classics and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read this book because I am such a fan of Rowan Aitkinson's portrayal of Maigret and really wanted to read George Simenon's novels. This is a collection of 3 Christmas stories, one of them featuring Maigret, and the others very interesting protagonists. I was concerned that the humour you get from the series would be lost in translation but Maigret's quirkiness is still apparent.
The writing makes the reader feel as if they are walking through the streets of Paris at Christmas. It's a very atmospheric collection and the mysteries are wonderful. If you like classic literature and cleverly woven mystery, then you will love this book.

Coming into December this seemed a fantastic, short read to enter the festive season. When two women from the apartment building across the road knock upon the legendary Inspector’s door, his Christmas Day will be anything but festive and jolly. What starts out as a mystery of an unexplained figure dressed as Father Christmas in a girl’s room in the depths of night searching for something beneath the floorboards. This puzzling event caught the Inspector’s attention from the outset.

Barely leaving his apartment, Inspector Maigret sets an investigation in motion. He dispatches officers to unravel the loose threads of this curious case that ends in murder, mystery and intrigue.

While most versions of this book appear to be a collection with other Maigret stories, the version I read was just the one story. Short though it was, I loved it. It moved along well, and I loved the way the strands of the mystery unravelled to an intriguing conclusion. I would definitely read further Maigret stories.

Really enjoyed this book and will be reading more. Really enjoyed the characters. Highly recommended.

I have enjoyed this well-crafted short story which is the first I have read by Simenon - although I enjoyed the TV series very many years ago. The dynamic between Maigret and his wife is spot-on and the plot satisfyingly complex. You'd never guess that this is a translation which is a big bonus as that can detract from works that have been translated from the original.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the first story in this book in exchange for an honest review.
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My review is of the story in the ‘galley’ I received - A Maigret Christmas

Maigret is enjoying a quiet Christmas at home when two neighbours arrive. One of the neighbours who has crushing on Maigret has brought her rather reluctant neighbor to tell of a curious incident the night before. The woman’s niece who is staying with them claims to have be woken in the middle of the night by a Santa character searching her room.

The attraction of this story is the depiction of Maigret’s domestic life in a traditional French neighbourhood at Christmas: the interaction with the neighbours the slow pace of life. There are phone calls made to the police station, policemen conduct chases on foot and Maigret takes a taxi when he needs to travel any distance.
There is also a sense of melancholy and the feeling that Mme Maigret’s concern for the child maybe exaggerated by the lack of children in their own household.
This is a gentle story with Maigret taking time to think through the problem, being firm but polite.


I enjoyed it very much and I only wished there was more, which is a good thing.

It’s wonderful to see this reissue, which is both an engaging Christmas read and a good introduction to this work.

This is a review of only the first story (ARC from the publisher via NetGalley).

First Inspector Maigret story that I've read and I enjoyed it. Its a short story, so your thrown straight into the case after a little setup - it's Christmas morning when two women appear at the inspector's home with a case. The whole thing happens over the course of the day with a nice conclusion.

I'll be looking out for some more Georges Simenon books when I get the chance.

Like others who received this book from Netgalley, I was disappointed to find just the title story when I finished.
The story was an excellent introduction to the great French detective, at least I hope it is representative of the rest. I got the Paris atmosphere beautifully, and the fog was even better. The Simenon style is easy to slip into, and the puzzle suitably puzzling.
My brother is a huge Maigret fan, and I can see why; I’m looking forward to reading more.

This contains three short stories on one of my favourite detective characters, Maigret.

Like all of the Maigret books this one is written with a simpleness that can be deceptive. The plots are full of complexity as the case is slowly explored, clues found and Maigret adds to his overall understanding of what is happening.

I've always loved Simenon's writing (and the thankfully good translation into English) because the way that both characters and plot are written is lovely. It keeps you reading. The story is well-paced and characters rounded enough to be realistic. Simenon isn't a writer who goes into unnecessary detail and that really works well in all the Maigret books.

If you enjoy crime thrillers and haven't already read a Maigret book, then this is actually quite a nice introduction.

Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

As beautiful, satisfying and soulful as all his Maigret books are, Nothing more needs to be said about this modern classic

There are three short stories in this timely collection from Penguin Classics. The first is the eponymous:

Maigret’s Christmas

A delightful and festive introduction to the Inspector Maigret character for those who may have heard of him or experienced the new television characterisation by Rowan Atkinson but never read any of George Simenon’s work.

Here we have a Parisian Christmas in the middle of the last century. A different time, with a different pace of life when the holiday was a much shorter affair and people celebrated in a simpler, less ostentatious way. Maigret and his wife are gearing up for a slow day of food and relaxation when neighbours bring around a mystery to solve. As the detective digs deeper into this unofficial case we learn much about the mutual respect and intimacy of this husband and wife team.

As with all good detective stories, this one is slow to unwind. Piece by piece the clues are unearthed and put together until the mystery is finally solved. The characters are sufficiently developed to make them interesting and not overburdened with obscure background that might just serve to confuse. There is a simpleness and freshness about Simenon’s writing - and the English translations presented here by Professor David Coward - that belies the clever plotting and detail. The reader is treated with uncommon respect by the author. He doesn’t try to confuse or confound or dig deep in to the human psyche; merely presents a mystery that needs explaining and entertains as he does so.

I’m not going to give the plot away but it works well. The reader doesn’t even know what crime, if any, has been committed at the beginning, just that a mysterious Father Christmas has turned-up in a small, grey flat on Christmas Eve with no sleigh or reindeer in tow. This single fact alone is all Maigret has to go on as he works his way to the surprisingly complex conclusion.

Penguin UK have released this collection in time for those long, cold nights over the Christmas holiday when a warm fire, a comfortable chair and a good book are the perfect way to spend dark evenings away from work, the weather and those High Street crowds. As an introduction to Inspector Maigret and his world, this is a very agreeable collection.

A good read, typical Maigret, Keeps you guessing.8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

I felt that this book dragged on a little much. The storyline is ok but it wasn't steady paced enough for me.

My first book by this author. Really enjoyed it. Definitely won’t be my last. It was a fast paced novella which I thoroughly enjoyed

I love the feel of Parisien life that the novels of George Simenon evoke, and the yesteryear mode of living and detecting.

Unique, enthralling and compelling, they are always a pleasure to read.

It's a perfect read for a cosy afternoon curled up on the sofa. The stories were clever, intriguing and entertaining while Maigret's private life offers another pleasant focal point. Did not disappoint!

A Maigret Christmas is a collection of three stories chronicling the investigative exploits of France’s greatest detective during the festive season (or seasons, to be more accurate). As ever, Maigret is a formidable detective and you have to pity any criminals who attempt to deceive him. He is a tenacious, thoughtful detective with the ability to see through the fears and deceptions of others. The title story, A Maigret Christmas, is arguably the best in the collection. In it, Maigret’s Christmas Day with his (long suffering) wife is interrupted by a neighbour who suspects that there is more to a child’s claim of seeing Santa Claus during the night than meets the eye. Maigret finds himself embroiled in a years-old murder case and he is forced to spend his holiday sifting through secrets and lies in an effort to uncover the truth. In the second story, Seven Crosses in a Notebook, one of Maigret’s colleagues must follow events from affair when it appears that one of his relatives might have been involved in a deadly crime spree. Maigret puts in only a brief (and, in fact, anonymous) appearance, but the story itself is solid and the mystery unravels nicely. In the third and final story, The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes, a suicide provokes an act of unexpected human kindness is perhaps the most unlikely of settings. It is a rather sedate story in which not much really happens, but like all of Georges Simenon’s work, it is an excellent character study. I would heartily recommend this book to both fans of Maigret and those looking for a new detective series to follow.

A collection of 3 short stories set in Paris at Christmas. Nice to read, but personally (I do not like the Christmas period ;) ) I do not like the setting.
Simenon is off course a master story teller and these stories are fully part of his legacy and fame. Who wants to read something else then the unseal Christmas stories will enjoy him-herself with this book.