MAIGRET SETS A TRAP

The hunt for a serial killer has become such a convention of today's crime fiction that it's almost surprising to find it treated as a fresh subject in this tense, cat-and-mouse detective thriller, written in the mid-1950s. It's a hot August in Paris, and Inspector Maigret is setting a trap for "the Montmartre killer," who in the past six months has killed five women on deserted streets--suddenly, leaving no witnesses, following no apparent pattern or motive. Simenon, famous in his lifetime as a master of compression and plot structure, adapts perfectly to audio; his prose is already abridged, his pace is brisk and compact, but rich in atmospheric detail. And Sachs's reading is a marvel: subtle and precise, he changes effortlessly from voice to voice, keeping pace with a story that relies heavily on dialogue. One forgets his Madame Maigret is not a woman, and forgets that he is not Maigret himself. D.A.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]