The Flemish House by Georges Simenon

JetBlackDragonfly
Dec 3, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Apr 7

This 14th Inspector Maigret mystery by Georges Simenon has the weight of a wet overcoat, taking place on the border of Belgium and France, with the river Meuse in spate, overflowing the banks of the port town.

Anna Peeters asks for Maigret's personal help in a family matter, meeting him at the windswept Givet station.

Calm and unsmiling, having nothing to make herself attractive, Anna pleads "if you don't ageee to look at our case, my parents and I will be lost, and it will be the most hateful miscarriage of justice..."

The Peeters family run a Belgian grocery avoided by the French. Madame Peeters is the most Flemish; the children are Anna, Maria, who teaches at the convent, and Joseph, pledged to marry a cousin, but sleeping with a local factory girl. She disappeared a few weeks ago after asking Joseph for more money for the child she claims is his, and has not been seen since. The village rumours always questioned if the Peeters smuggled, and now they are accused of kidnapping or murder when they couldn't even be sure she was dead.

Maigret speaks with Inspector Machere in a purely unofficial capacity - and the child does look like Joseph.

There is no proof of anything except she is gone - and anyone could be swept away in the violent river. The Peeters grocery is filled with waiting bargemen drinking Genever, with all boat transport on the raging river suspended. The rain never stops.

Maigret delves into the family secrets, and there is solid tension throughout the household. When Maigret works out what happened to Germaine, the quiet confrontation as he reveals his findings is electric.

This has the gloomy atmosphere of a rainy day. Anna is a solid character, unmoving in her stance Joseph is innocent. There is a strong sense of place, and a tragic story for all concerned. As always I recommend George Simenon's Maigret series, and this is another original.

1932 / Tradeback / 160 pages