What a festive treat! A proper old-fashioned detective story set on Christmas day. Nothing gory, no SOCO, no swearing. I loved it

What a lovely Book. My Father-in-law asked what I was reading and he told me he read this many Moons ago. 
So I ended up reading most of this book out loud to him. Special moments with him. It was lovely to read a book almost 70 years old. Plus No excessive violence or obscene language, it gave you a feel good factor at the end. 

This lovely collection brings together three of Simenon's most enjoyable Christmas tales, newly translated, featuring Inspector Maigret and other characters from the Maigret novels
My favourite Story was  set in Paris on Christmas Day. Inspector Maigret was on his the day off.  Madame Maigret, hoping to bring him croissants for his breakfast in bed, she usually does on Sundays and public holidays, was disappointed to find that he had got up before she returned from the corner shop. Both Maigret and his wife had no family to visit at Christmas.
They planned to spend a quiet morning cocooned in their apartment was disrupted by the arrival of two ladies, Madame Martin and Mademoiselle Doncoeur, who lives opposite them in the apartment in the Boulevard 

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley for an honest review. 5* review.

Reviews on Amazon UK and Good reads

IMG_2674I haven’t read Maigret for years but I’ve always had a soft spot for him so I jumped at the chance to review this!

It’s a collection of three stories all set in Paris at Christmas all newly translated so you’re unlikely to have read them before. I have only read the first story so far, the title story ‘A Maigret Christmas’.

In it, Maigret receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. He continues to conduct almost the entire investigation from his apartment and the apartment across the street where ‘Father Christmas’ had appeared. But despite this Simenon still manages to raise a 20th Century Parisian Christmas up around his readers.

The tale itself is the perfect length to read on a Christmas afternoon- about two hours, and the twists and turns are perfectly paced. If you’ve never read any Maigret You can still enjoy this, his character and those of the people around him are sketched in deftly but they are really there to support the mystery anyway. Hopefully it will give you a taste for more! I’m off to nibble at the next story now where I’m promised that ‘the sound of alarms over Paris send the police on a cat and mouse chase across the city’ before I finish up with ‘The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes (A Christmas Story for Grown-Ups) where a cynical woman who is moved to an unexpected act of festive charity in a nightclub – one that surprises even her…’

I love Maigret, but found this very stilted, it was supposed to be three stories but I only got the one.

Maigret seemed to just stay in his apartment, or go across the road where the 'crime' took place, everyone else did the running around.

It was OK for a short read but not great.

Ok read not long enough to get my teeth into fans of detective novels will enjoy it the relationship's I thought were a bit messy alright if you just have an half hour to spare not really my style of writing to be honest

Cleverly constructed, very more-ish and left me wanting more. I may have shed a tear or two at the end....

This was a very enjoyable escape into 1950s Paris. It was an intriguing story with some great descriptions and interesting characters

Four out of five stars for this - supposedly a set of three, but contained only one in the review edition .?

That said, it rattles along like the other translations being brought out; and it is as well done as the others. In keeping with earlier releases, it has the usual spare, crystalline description with less decoration and frippery.. you wonder who and why.. The ending was good, and had an appropriate festive treat. If you'v enjoyed the other Maigret omnibus' for kindle, this is a good short festive treat. One star deducted for the lack of the other two stories in my review copy.

A trio of classic festive adventures!

The opener, "A Maigret Christmas" is a truly delightful story. As if you can't tell by the title, it features Inspector Maigret on Christmas Day. Shockingly, this is actually my first Maigret experience. I remember there being a TV series when I was growing up but I never watched it, and if truth be told, it seemed slightly pedestrian and dull from the adverts for it. However, I am older now and appreciate the style far more. In fact, it made me positively gleeful! I enjoy my detective novels, but they can be pretty dark and heavy at times and can be fairly blunt and brutal. Maigret offered a more cultured affair. This short story is a true pleasure, delivering a wonderful blend of Christmas and crime to capture that slightly moody feel that is slipping from Christmas stories these days.

The eponymous hero only appears in that opening story, but the other two are both set in his Paris and hum with the same mood.

Which brings us to "Seven Small Crosses", the second short in this book and I believe the longest one. This is a very clever story, although I wasn't a fan of every aspect. The clever touch is the way the story is told, heavily focusing on one character's experiences of a fraught time. It's a deft piece of writing on the whole and an enjoyable trick. The only drawback for me? Phonecalls. And there are quite a few. The problem is we don't get the dialogue of the other side, instead, we get the protagonist having a slightly echoey conversation and repeating many things back to the person at the end of the line. I found it a little clunky at times, but it didn't detract enough to spoil the story. More intense than the first, and more suspenseful too, this still proved a superb Christmas tale.

And finally, we have "The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes (A Christmas Story for Grown-Ups)". I'm not sure the other two stories were for kids, but this one does have a more adult background for sure. This is the briefest of the trio, and also rather quirky. It offers a view of loneliness at Christmas, but in a way that feels warm and comfortable. Maybe it's less about loneliness and more about how easy it is to make connections. It's hard not to end this with a smile on your face, or perhaps a wry grin.

Overall, a marvellous collection of three shirt festive police stories. They are from another era, one which we can easily forget with the bright shiny nature of Christmas. A real delight to read, and well worth your time at Christmas.

I don't think I ever read any of the Maigret stories, but I am of an age that I watched seemingly hundreds of them on black and white TV. However, this reintroduction is useful as in book form I find the character of Maigret far more interesting and his gentle style more attractive. I shall now have to find some more Maigret stories to read!

My 84-year-old mother is a great crime fiction buff. When she saw I was reading A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon, she commented that it was a great pity “Mr Bean” had been given the part of the French detective in ITV's recent adaption, because “although he [Rowan Atkinson] is a very good actor, one keeps on expecting him to remove his trousers or do something equally silly in the middle of an important case.”

Mr Bean aside, the TV drama has merely brought renewed interest in Simenon's shrewd, trilby-hat wearing, pipe-smoking commissioner of the Paris 'Brigade Criminelle'. In 2013, Penguin Books started releasing new translations of his seventy-six Maigret novels, originally published between 1931 and 1972, and this collection of seasonal stories is the latest in their Classics' series.

Simenon (1903-1989) was a prolific author, his novels, novellas and autobiographical works numbering almost five hundred. He was Belgian born, the son of an accountant, starting out as a cub reporter for the Gazette de Liège, before moving to Paris in 1922 following the death of his father. However, it was during his time as a young journalist that he came to know the seedier side of his city – his familiarity with local prostitutes, criminals and notorious drinking dens prepared him well for his profession as a writer of detective fiction.

A Maigret Christmas is the title story from this newly translated book of short fiction, in which the burly detective receives an unexpected visit from two ladies on Christmas morning. Maigret and his stoical wife, Louise (referred to throughout as Madame Maigret) are a childless couple in their fifties, trying to appear festive for Noël, though actually feeling rather melancholy in their solemn apartment. He is thus quietly relieved to learn that his services are required by his neighbours following the appearance of a sinister intruder in their home. An intriguing case ensues.

The gruff but kindly Maigret was apparently based on Simenon's good friend, Chief Inspector Marcel Guillaume, a man said to be the greatest French detective of his day. Whether “Mr Bean” was quite what he had in mind for his serial protagonist, we shall never know, but his most famous fictional character would appear to be more popular than ever.

I’m grateful to Netgalley for a partial a r c of this publication in return for an honest review. I’ve been a fan of Georges Simenon’s Maigret since I was at school, rather a long time ago, and have 17 of his books in the original green and white 1950s Penguin format, not bought new.  I loved this new translation of a seasonal story. Pure Maigret. This is a long short story or  a short novel depending on which way you look at it. With his usual intelligent thought processes he solves the crime that is occurring in an apartment across the road from his It’s Christmas Day and he does it all in the day without going into the office, but with the help of his trusted lieutenants. As usual there’s plenty of Parisian atmosphere. I tried but failed to find the original publication date, but would guess it to be pre war.. I can’t comment on the other stories in the book, but if you are a Maigret fan this is definitely for you. If you’ve never read any of these tales, give it a go. This story is a quick read and you could well be hooked too.

I've long been a fan of Simenon's Maigret, and jumped at the chance to review this book. I received an ARC of this Kindle edition from NetGalley and the publishers (my thanks!) - however there was only one short story included, so my review is based solely on that story.

I found this an enjoyable read, not too taxing on the little grey cells, and appropriately themed for this festive time of year.

I like Simenon's characterisations - particularly of M. and Mme. Maigret - and the style of his prose sets the scene perfectly.

All in all a good read, and I would like to read the other two short stories that feature in the book.

My e-proof only had one of the three stories in it, which was disappointing because I really enjoyed the story that it did have.  I haven't read a lot of Maigret - but this makes me want to read more.

This is a short read that was originally written 70 years ago and it certainly get as a retro feel in the way a black and white movie has a wonderful warm nostalgic feel.  The characters are intriguing and the book is fast paced. I read this in one day.  Set on Christmas day howevery not too full of Christmas! !
Kept me hooked until the end, my only criticism is it felt a little rushed but perhaps because I'm used to reading longer books.

Penguin have republished a trio of seasonal Maigret short stories, collectively entitled A Maigret Christmas, and offered me a review copy of the first story. The only other Georges Simenon book I have read was very different and I never watched any of the television adaptations so I wasn't previously familiar with the Maigret crime mysteries. In some respects A Maigret Christmas was a good place to start discovering the series.

The short story is set over the course of Christmas Day in Paris and mostly takes place in Maigret's own apartment and that of his neighbour. I liked the strong sense of the time period - I believe the story was originally written in the 1950s and set in the 1930s - and the telling details of people's dress. You just know a woman isn't quite respectable if she leaves her home without stockings on! I liked the glimpses into a French Christmas Day such as bakeries still being open to buy fresh croissants. With regards to the case itself though, I found it hard to believe that so much of the research demanded by Maigret of his staff could have been carried out as swiftly as the tale's timescales required. Lots of the logic jumps and conclusions seemed just too convenient for my tastes and the small cast of characters made it pretty obvious where we would end up - although not exactly how we would get there. Overall I thought A Maigret Christmas was a quaint mystery with a nice seasonal vibe.

Georges Simenon, A Maigret Christmas, tr. David Coward, Penguin UK (2017)
	Despite the title, this is not ‘A Maigret Christmas’, or mostly not. The first story is an investigation by Maigret, with an unusual moment of feeling between Monsieur and Madame. The second and third belong to other Inspectors. As ever, most of the characters we meet are relatively poor, wracked by drink and debt, and often unattractive. Not all, however. I sometimes wonder if Simenon had read O. Henry, and here, particularly, I think of ‘The Gifts of the Magi’. Christmas being Christmas, there is a degree of redemption which lifts some characters out of the morass of their everyday lives. I’d say that ‘A Little Restaurant near Place des Ternes is also redemptive, although it begins with a suicide. ‘Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook’ focuses on the night shift of telephonists who keep track of the Paris nicks, their vans, motorbikes, bicycles, and foot patrolmen. The man whose notebook contains the small crosses is one of those individuals with very low self-esteem. What Simenon was so good at was ordinary conversation and how it functions. Here his manipulation of the men manning the phones and in the nearby Quai des Orfevres officers moves from suspected murder to murderer to fear for a ten-year-old, and then a denouement I won’t spoil. If you wanted a short collection of stories for Christmas, this wouldn’t be a bad choice. It would be a good one.

Enjoyable light read.  Good plot and storyline held your attention even though it was only a short story.

A Maigret Christmas, which was originally published in 1950, is a lovely read at this time of year. Having read so many modern police procedural books it was wonderful to read a short story written almost 70 years ago, not any excessive violence or obscene language, and a feel good factor at the end.
Also the language of the author was more complex than some of the lessor modern authors who seems to churn out a huge number of books every six months or so (no names mentioned of course!)
I cannot comment on the other two short stories as sadly, my copy, (which I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review) only contained A Maigret Christmas. 
Highly recommend for a great Christmas read and a change to the modern police procedural books.

Good, typical Simenon and Maigret. Not a jolly Christmas story (and not PC by modern standards) but if you can accept that and wind back to Maigret's time, still enjoyable. (If you are old enough, Rupert Davies as Maigret comes to mind.)