Maigret in Vichy

Simenon's novels about Commissioner Maigret differ from most other detectives, which are based on complex crimes, and their investigation resembles a clever puzzle. Simenon aims to explain the social and political motives behind the crime. His characters are not professional killers and fraudsters, but ordinary people who break the law not due to their criminal tendencies, but because of circumstances that are stronger than them and human nature in general. At the insistence of a doctor, Mrs. Maigret and her husband went to Vichy for treatment – the commissioner needs rest and care at the resort. They stroll, drink water as prescribed by the doctor – and observe those around them. They are drawn to one lady – "the lady in lavender," as Maigret called her. When it became known that she was murdered, the commissioner of the Paris criminal police, who was bored at the resort, could not help but get involved in the investigation of this crime.