How Inspector Maigret Transformed Detective Fiction
MASTERPIECE on PBS has announced an exciting new adaptation of author Georges Simenon’s iconic Maigret stories, bringing the legendary Chief Inspector back to the small screen in a fresh light. When Simenon introduced Maigret in 1931’s novel Pietr the Latvian, he essentially created literature’s first true police detective. The world was soon hooked. Dive into the legacy of Simenon’s book series, the famous actors who’ve brought Maigret to life, and why a modern remake is welcome news.
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There are 75 Maigret Novels, 28 Short Stories
To say the Belgian author Georges Simenon was prolific is an understatement. His first ten Maigret novels were published in 1931, with seven more in 1932. He’s said to have devoted only about 10-11 days of writing per title. Each novel stands alone and “the books are short, averaging about 150 pages or so,” says The New York Times. “An Inspector Maigret mystery is like a shot of good liquor: sharp, tasty stuff that delivers a sock to the senses when you swallow it in a single gulp.”
Despite cranking out titles at an unprecedented rate, Simenon was critically praised for his work. More than 800 million copies of the Maigret books have been sold in more than 50 languages, making them the second best-selling detective series ever, behind only Sherlock Holmes.
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Georges Simenon Toppled Detective Tropes
Police procedurals are now so commonplace it’s hard to recall a time when detectives weren’t cops. But with his gruff French inspector, Simenon basically invented the fictional police detective. The author further pushed into new territory by exploring crime as a product of human nature. Simenon wasn’t interested in Agatha Christie’s plot-driven puzzlers or in the genius deduction of a Sherlock Holmes. With Inspector Maigret, we get a police officer who solves cases through impartial observation, intuition, and a patiently pursued, empathic understanding of a criminal’s motives. Maigret is “a man of moral restraint who practices the art of listening, not interrogating,” says The New Yorker. “He knows people will share their stories when given the chance.”
And there’s more: Simenon incorporated real social issues and moral complexity into his books. The chief inspector sympathizes with the criminals he investigates, recognizing how their motivations and choices are shaped by their situation. In highlighting social injustices and personal struggles, Maigret narratives are far more than just simple whodunits; they paved the way for more nuanced storytelling in the genre.
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Paris Pulsates as its Own Character in Maigret
We’ll always have Paris—and we truly will when we follow Jules Maigret. Simenon is credited with first making setting its own character in a detective novel. His stories are set in the 1940s and ‘50s, frequently in the working-class district of The Marais on the city’s Right Bank. The author “crisply encapsulates [a] Paris of neighborhood bars and bistros, of payphones and platform buses, sparing us neither the gloom of November nor the heat of August,” says France Today. He “gratifies us with the smell of floor polish or the cooking smells of ragoût de mouton or tripes à la mode de Caen. With Maigret in hand you can comb every corner of Paris.”
The details of the chief inspector’s daily life, grabbing a drink at a tiny bar near the Police Judiciaire, walking along Canal Saint-Martin, or considering a case amid the chaos of a lively bistro on Place des Vosges, convey how embedded he is in the city’s fabric. “Each book captures another nuanced corner of the city,” says Crime Fiction Lover. “Maigret’s soaking up of the Paris that surrounds him [captures] the very public and social mentality central to Paris life.”
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Over 30 Actors Have Portrayed Maigret
Many a thespian has found it hard to resist the chief inspector’s iconic pipe and trench coat—and they’ve had their opportunity in the myriad adaptations made for film, radio and TV. Remarkably, French movies emerged almost as soon as the first novels published. According to World Literature Today, at least 34 actors have brought Inspector Maigret to life, including Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, The King’s Speech, Little Women, Churchill’s Secret) on MASTERPIECE Mystery! in the early 1990s. Gambon’s indelible performance earned a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nomination.
More recently, Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English, Bean) played Maigret in the 2016-2017 British TV series while Gérard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac, Green Card) portrayed the chief inspector in the 2022 French film Maigret. The latest adaptation will debut on MASTERPIECE with Benjamin Wainwright (Belgravia: The Next Chapter, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim) in the lead.
