MAIGRET DEFENDS HIMSELF

(Penguin €11.19) THREE years off retirement, our legendary detective Maigret is the victim of a honey trap.

Coming to the aid of a government luminary’s daughter, who is a stranger in Paris, the inspector is accused of sexual assault. Why has the girl told a pack of lies? Who has put her up to it?

The obvious culprit is a suspected jewel thief, a wheelchair-bound mastermind.

But, in keeping up the pressure with unannounced visits, it occurs to Maigret that there could be someone else in the neighbourhood who might fear his frequent appearances.

The tale that unfolds is of a clever but vulnerable victim of circumstance, led by forces beyond his control.Maigret is vindicated, but left to brood on the conflict between justice and his sympathy for human frailty.