Maigret's Failure

Maigret's Failure
First edition
AuthorGeorges Simenon
Original titleUn échec de Maigret
TranslatorDaphne Woodward
LanguageFrench
SeriesInspector Jules Maigret
GenreDetective fiction
PublisherPresses de la Cité, Hamish Hamilton
Publication date1956
Published in English
1962
Media typePrint
Preceded byMaigret Sets a Trap 
Followed byMaigret's Little Joke 

Maigret's Failure (French: Un échec de Maigret) is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his famous creation Jules Maigret. It was written in Cannes, France from 26 February to 4 March 1956. It has been translated into English by Daphne Woodward in 1962 and by William Hobson in 2017.

Synopsis

Maigret is abruptly transferred from investigating the disappearance of an Englishwoman from a tour group when his superior orders him to protect Ferdinand Fumal, the owner of meat-packing conglomerate. His chief had gotten a call from the Minster of the Interior, so neither has any choice in the matter. Fumal has been receiving death threats, and has access to the Minister, having given millions to the ruling party.

Maigret, who has no truck with politics, recognizes Fumal as a bully from his childhood—his personality has not changed—and only stations a policeman to watch the house overnight. Before a proper investigation into the anonymous death threats can even begin, Fumal is shot to death at home, surveillance notwithstanding. What was once cursory and "political" is now no such thing. Maigret blames himself and goes about investigating the death of a man who was universally disliked, not missed by anyone, and who wrote the death threats to himself.

Publishing history

Originally published in French in 1956 by Presses de la Cité as Un Echec de Maigret, the first English translation (translated by Daphne Woodward) was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1962. It was included in two anthologies, A Maigret Quartet (1972) and A Maigret Trio (1983).

Adaptations

A BBC TV version of the book first aired on November 6, 1961, under the title Death of a Butcher with Rupert Davies playing Maigret.

Jean Richard played Maigret in the 1987 French TV version and Bruno Cremer in the 2003 adaptation.

It was adapted again as the third and fourth episodes of the 2025 PBS Masterpiece series Maigret with Benjamin Wainwright in the lead.

References

  1. ↑ "Notice bibliographique".
  2. 1 2 "Maigret's Failure". www.trussel.com.
  3. ↑ "Maigret Bibliography".
  4. ↑ "Maigret Films & TV".
  5. 1 2 "Maigret Films & TV". www.trussel.com.

See also