The Cellars of the Majestic by Georges Simenon

JetBlackDragonfly
Jun 4
2 min read

This is the twenty-first Detective Chief Inspector Maigret novel by Simenon, a mystery so involved it morphs into another. Like the frantic activity in the basement workings of the Majestic Hotel, I found this mystery little too crowded.

Prosper Donge rises early for his job as head coffee maker at the luxurious Majestic Hotel, where, within the gray rooms of the lower levels, the domestics, cooks, and wait staff bustle around the clock.

At 9:04, Prosper entered the cloakroom to find the body of an American guest, strangled and collapsed in an unused and unlocked locker. The wife of an American industrialist, her husband had left for Rome that day, and her son, the governess, and the nanny were in their room upstairs. The management wished it hushed, and the police warned Maigret off the case; they were better suited to help a foreigner who could not speak French. With the day in full swing, there were over one hundred workers bustling through the maze of hidden halls and secret stairways, including the Argentinian dancer, the night porter, and Ramuel the bookkeeper.

Discovering the body, Prosper is arrested. He once knew the woman; as does Charlotte, the woman he lives with. They once worked in a low-class bar in Cannes with the dead woman, known then as 'Mimi', before she married the wealthy American. What was she doing in the basement that morning? The only one who could have seen her is the night porter, and he was also just found strangled to death. The husband is unconcerned - he was not in Rome that night and plans to marry the governess as soon as possible.

There are many characters, each with a storyline, which felt convoluted. Slowly, this changes into a deeper mystery about blackmail, secret bank accounts, sex work, and illegitimacy, with Prosper Donge, a simple man always trying to better himself, caught in the midst.

This was not the best Maigret, too much plot for me, but Simenon's writing is always a pleasure.

1942 / Tradeback / 176 pages