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    Mystery Publishers

    • Academy Chicago Publishers
      An imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.
    • Crippen & Landru
      Crippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.
    • Dean Street Press
      This small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.
    • Felony & Mayhem
      This publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.
    • Locked Room International
      A small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.
    • Merion Press
      The Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.
    • MysteriousPress.com
      The brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.
    • Oconee Spirit Press
      A small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.
    • Oleander Press
      This small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.
    • Ostara Publishing
      "Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."
    • Poisoned Pen Press
      Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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    « "A Rumpole Christmas" | Main | The Clock Is Ticking... »

    December 26, 2011

    "The Hotel Majestic"

    This week between Christmas and New Year is often a good time to relax and spend some time in introspection. So perhaps this would be a good time to read a wonderful - and decidedly introspective - mystery featuring Maigret of the French Surete.

    Over the course of his long career, Georges Simenon wrote 75 novels (plus a couple dozen short stories) about Inspector Maigret, a hard-working, rarely inspired but generally successful and insightful police detective. "The Hotel Majestic," from 1942, is a very good entry in the series, and it's the subject of today's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

    In "The Hotel Majestic," Maigret is called in to investigate the murder of an American woman, a guest at the very upscale Hotel Majestic. Her body has been found downstairs, jammed into a locker in the working areas of the hotel. Maigret must try to figure out what she might have been doing there. And there will be a second murder to be solved as well.

    The world of the Hotel Majestic is a classic "upstairs/downstairs" setting: the upscale hotel seen by the public, with its rich guests, seems to have little connection with the hidden working areas of the hotel, whose employees struggle with the long hours and hard work as they try to survive. It is a fairly straightforward "police procedural," filled with sympathy for many of the people caught up in the story. Maigret himself is a fascinating character, gathering his facts and trying to weigh them and place them based on his own intelligence and past experience. "The Hotel Majestic" is a good place to meet Maigret, if you don't already know him. Once again, for those with e-book readers, there's a Kindle edition as well.

    Posted at 11:33 AM in Police procedurals |

    Tags: book reviews, classic mysteries, Maigret, mysteries, mystery, police procedurals, Simenon

    Comments

    Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

    Yvette

    One of my favorite collections is a book I picked up in Las Vegas during BOUCHERCON, years ago. MAIGRET AT CHRISTMAS. It was my first intro to Maigret, but not my last. I've read lots since then. But as usual, can't remember titles or plots. Jeez, this getting old is for the boids. :)

    Happy New Year, Les. I suppose I should be thankful I made it this far. HA!

    Posted by: Yvette | December 31, 2011 at 04:17 PM

    Les Blatt

    The same to you, Yvette. With hopes that 2012 will be better in every way than 2011 (no matter how good or bad 2011 may have been)!

    Posted by: Les Blatt | December 31, 2011 at 06:45 PM

    The comments to this entry are closed.

    Disclosure: Amazon Associates

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      That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else...thank you.

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