The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin

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By Georges Simenon & Sian Reynolds

Publisher Description

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré

The city of Simenon's youth comes to life in this disturbing Inspector Maigret mystery set in Liège

“In the darkness, the main room is as vast as a cathedral. A great empty space. Some warmth is still seeps from the radiators. Delfosse strikes a match. They stop a moment to catch their breath, and work out how far they have still to go. And suddenly the match falls to the ground, as Delfosse gives a sharp cry and rushes back towards the washroom door. In the dark, he loses his way, returns and bumps into Chabot.”

Inspector Maigret observes from a distance as two boys are accused of killing a rich foreigner in Liège. Their loyalty, which binds them together through their adventures, is put to the test, and seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship and their freedom.

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9 Reviews

3.5

Sue

Created 10 months ago

Thomas Goddard

Created over 1 year ago

“My first Simenon, recommended (the author generally, not this particular title) by Scott Bradfield (link on my blog) who I hold in high regard. I'm a big fan of YouTube book review channels I've never read Simenon before, but after this one I'll be far less hesitant. I really enjoyed it. I actually have 22 of his books in the old style green/orange Penguin Classics imprints. I found them in a charity shop last year for £5. I can never resist a deal like that. I think at least 70% of my shelves are preloved. Anyway, it was long overdue that I read a bit of Simenon. I just picked one up at random, because I was in a bored mood. No real formula to the move. I definitely need to read more of these books. I felt like my introduction to Jules Maigret was a little jarring and abrupt. I still like the idea of him, but I feel like this is a story where his character is actually largely absent and just drops in to quickly solve things. It might be the case for all his books... I'd not know. But I think maybe the earlier novels in the chronology would follow him a little more closely and describe him a bit more. Give me more of a sense of who he is. Long review short... Great writing. Good plot. Great overall characterisation, slight blip with Maigret being a bit vague. Conclusion was rewarding. I'll rate this one 3 until I've read some of the earlier works and then I'll bump this up to 4 if it makes a difference. My heart says it will.”

Tracy

Created over 2 years ago

“The underbelly of the seedy private dancer bars of Liege are brought to life. Maigret is the bloodhound on the scent of a mysterious so called gangster who requires protection from a nefarious assailant. With the author weaving many strands in this compelling novel, the reader was spoilt for choice with the wide variety of characters on display.”

Granny Janet

Created over 4 years ago

Kathryn

Created almost 5 years ago

About Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon (1903–1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of more than four hundred novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe.

Siân Reynolds has translated many books from French, including the Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery series by Fred Vargas, Georges Simenon, Virginie Despentes.