Megre i stara dama

The story takes place in Étretat on the Normandy coast. The old, charming widow Valentine Besson visits Maigret in Paris and asks for help: she believes someone tried to poison her nightcap (arsenic-laced somnifers). Her faithful maid Rose Trochu dies instead, having taken a sip from the glass. Valentine insists that she was meant for her.

Maigret goes to Étretat, where he meets a complex family: Valentina's son Charles (a deputy), her stepson Théo (suspicious and cynical), her daughter and son-in-law, and other relatives. All have motives - a rich inheritance from her ex-husband, the owner of a cosmetics company. Maigret discovers that the murder was a double murder: first Rose, and then another attempted or related murder.

The investigation lasts only two days, but it is deeply psychological: Maigret observes family relationships, greed, lies, and old secrets. Valentine is charming but manipulative; Théo is suspicious; Charles is an ambitious politician. Maigret uses his method – compassion, intuition and understanding of human weakness – to uncover the truth: Valentine is actually a double murderer, motivated by the fear of losing control of her property and inheritance.

The novel is classic Simenon: an atmospheric depiction of provincial life, small trains, the sea, a green flash on the horizon, melancholy and a subtle critique of bourgeois greed. Without violence or action, the focus is on human motives and Maigret's empathy. One of Maigret's best novels, adapted for the screen (e.g. with Bruno Crémer), praised for its nostalgic atmosphere and masterful depiction of family drama.