As suggested by its title, "1914" serves as both the key and the cornerstone of the story. A story shaped in every way by war.

"1914" has as its focus 5 men from the Vendée in the Loire Region of France --- Anthime, an accountant by training; his cousin Charles (who felt himself superior to his 4 compatriots); Padioleau, a skilled butcher; Bossi; and Arcenel --- who joined the Army the day after mobilization was declared and were assigned to the same regiment at the Front in the earliest days of the war. The author does a good job of conveying the euphoria felt across France at the time. A euphoria that soon evaporated once the first casualties occurred and stalemate took hold across the Front. Casualties that would grow to a horrifying degree as the war advanced. Charles, who had connections, would secure a transfer to the Aviation Militaire, serving as an observer on a photo-reconnaissance airplane. The others would continue to serve in the trenches, weathering battle after battle. The war would reshape them, too. But I leave it to the reader of this review to find out for him/herself how all 5 men are impacted by their experiences.

SPECIAL NOTE: The Translator's Notes at the back at the book offer some richly informative remarks that will give any reader of "1914" a full flavor of the events and practices of the era within France.   I highly recommend reading them as well.

"Pietr the Latvian" introduces the world to Jules Maigret, Detective Chief Inspector of the Police Judiciaire in Paris for the very first time. The setting is a cool, rainy autumn afternoon in interwar Europe a little more than a decade after the end of the First World War. Simenon provides the reader with the following description of the Detective Chief Inspector: "He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands.

"But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man. Iron muscles shaped his jacket sleeves and quickly wore through new trousers.

"He had a way of imposing himself just by standing there. His assertive presence had often irked many of his own colleagues."


Maigret is seated at his desk, warmed by the fire emanating from a coal stove near his desk, his beloved pipe perched in his mouth, reading a message from the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), which informs him of the movements of Pietr the Latvian whose reputation precedes him as a master criminal extraordinaire involved in a variety of criminal syndicates throughout Europe from Warsaw, to Berlin, to Amsterdam.

According to the latest information available, the Latvian boarded a train from Brussels and is headed to Paris. So, Maigret heads to the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. And that is where the story takes off, with a murder. Maigret is put through his paces, going from luxury Parisian hotels to grimy dives in a port city near the English Channel on a blustery day in search of his quarry.

In sum, "Pietr the Latvian" is a short, rollicking novel with a number of twists and turns that'll keep any fan of detective fiction captivated and entertained.