Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret)

An evocative tale from Georges Simenon that unearths the inspector’s past: Maigret finds an anonymous note predicting a crime in his hometown. I wish to inform you that a crime will be committed at the church of Saint-Fiacre during first mass on All Soul’s Day. This handwritten note is deposited at the headquarters of the Police Judiciaire in Paris. Maigret sets off for the village, having been there last for his father’s funeral. As bleary-eyed people depart the service the next day, Maigret thinks the note must be wrong—until the motionless Countess of Saint-Fiacre, upon closer look, is found dead in her pew. Who is responsible for the crime, so cowardly and so skillful? Could it be the countess’s young secretary and alleged lover; the tight-lipped priest; the profligate Count of Saint-Fiacre, home to seek money for his bounced check; or the new estate manager, who has taken over Maigret’s father’s position? All the while inundated with troubling memories from his past, Maigret remains steadfast in his hunt for clarity on this sinister turn of events.