Maigret Sets A Trap is pure gold

 Maigret Sets A Trap is probably my favorite Maigret work that I’ve read so far. There are over sixty books I haven’t read yet and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read up to this point so that isn’t too strong a statement. 

Georges Simenon’s Maigret stories was a long running and internationally famous mystery series. Except, apparently, in the US. Or I’m just an idiot. Regardless, they’re good reading.

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Maigret Sets A Trap begins in media res. The book starts five months after a serial killer has been terrorizing the streets of Paris, killing seemingly random women. The book itself takes place over four or five days during which Maigret sets in motion a plan to draw the killer out.

(While the Maigret books do have a darker, gritty take on the world, they aren’t _that_ dark and Maigret does catch the killer. Just in case you were wondering)

Maigret Sets A Trap may be the most plot-centric book in the series I’ve read so far.  There is still plenty of psychological focus. However, since Maigret spends a good chunk of the book finding the suspect before he can get into their mind.

And when Maigret does get his suspect? Then Simenon takes a deep dive into the psychological aspect of the story. The killer is a petty, nasty little piece of work. The serial killer is in no way a larger than life figure. They are terribly, perhaps even pathetically, human.

I also like how, as has been the case in every book I’ve read except arguable Yellow Dog, Maigret is not a one-man police force. We see him working with and depending on the rest of the force. In this book, as he orchestrates an elaborate trap and dragnet, more than ever.

I’ve become a fan of Maigrat over the past few months. And, if you wanted to start reading the series, Maigret Sets A Trap would be a great place to start.