Inspector Maigret's Case Files: Murder Ala Carte

Description for INSPECTOR MAIGRET'S CASE FILES: MURDER ALA CARTE: MAIGRET AND THE PICPOCKET; MAIGRET AND THE TOY VILLAGE; MAIGRET'S RIVAL; MAIGRET IN VICHY by Georges Simenon:

MAIGRET AND THE PICKPOCKET:

When Inspector Maigret's wallet and badge are stolen on a bus, it sets off a chain of events culminating in a grisly murder case

A pickpocket steals Maigret's wallet only to contact him the following day, returning the stolen items on the condition that he come to the thief's apartment. When the agitated young thief leads Maigret to the body of his wife, dead of a gunshot wound to the head, he implores Maigret to take the case. Unsure whether he can trust him, the inspector becomes embroiled in a most unusual murder investigation.

Putting the detective's knowledge of Paris's underworld to the test, Maigret's Pickpocket is a shocking mystery from Georges Simenon.

MAIGRET AND THE TOY VILLAGE

: A story of love and obsession featuring a most memorable femme fatale, starring the intrepid Inspector Maigret

Peg Leg Lapie, a crusty old sailor, is found mysteriously murdered in a most incongruous setting: a picturesque cottage near Paris, where he lived attended only by his young housekeeper, Félicie. But Lapie was not alone -- Maigret, chief inspector of the Paris police, is sure of it. A man at work in his garden, wearing clogs and a straw hat, does not suddenly drop his tools to go indoors and fetch a bottle of brandy to drink alone in the summerhouse. There must have been another glass that someone removed. But Félicie, in her red hat trimmed with an iridescent feather, proves a champion adversary, as skilled in innuendo and evasion as Maigret is in deduction.

MAIGRET'S RIVAL

: A battle of wills between Inspector Maigret and an adversary from the past

When a friend's brother-in-law is accused of murdering his daughter's lover, Maigret sets out for a small French town to help and upon arrival is plunged into an atmosphere of animosity. He soon finds himself tangled up in a case that may ruin the very people whom he has come to aid and must face an old enemy -- an ex-police officer nicknamed “Inspector Cadaver” -- who seems to be doing everything in his power to obstruct Maigret's investigations.

MAIGRET IN VICHY

: When his relaxing vacation is interrupted by a small-town murder, Inspector Maigret can't resist lending his investigative powers to the case

Inspector Maigret and his wife take a much needed holiday to Vichy, where they quickly become used to the slower pace of life. But when a woman who they regularly pass by on their daily strolls is murdered, Maigret can't help but offer his assistance to the local Inspector, a former colleague of his.

Set against a backdrop of gorgeous French countryside, Maigret in Vichy shows that even when our trusty detective is outside his jurisdiction, he is still very much in his element.

These are #66, 24, 25 & 67 in Inspector Maigret Series.