M. Gallet décédé

This title is one of the 22 first novels published by Arthème Fayard, in the first series dedicated to him, marking the birth of Commissaire Maigret. The series was launched on 20 February 1931 with the publication of this Monsieur Gallet, décédé and of Le Pendu de Saint-Pholien, on the occasion of the famous Bal anthropométrique at the Boule Blanche, to which Simenon invited all of literary Paris. The series was then published at a rate of one title per month and concluded in October 1932 after 22 titles, comprising 17 “Maigret” novels, 2 novels (Le Relais d’Alsace and Le Passager du Polarlys) and three collections of short stories (Les 13 coupables, Les 13 énigmes and Les 13 mystères).

The novel was written aboard the Ostrogoth, near Morsang-sur-Seine, during the summer of 1930. The manuscript originally bore the title La Chasse à l’ombre, which was not retained; it was destroyed by the author.

The first edition appeared in July 1931, and its deluxe issue only a year later: at the time, it was not customary to issue a deluxe large-paper printing for detective novels. Struck by second thoughts, Fayard nevertheless eventually issued, on the occasion of a reprint, 50 copies on vélin pur fil Lafuma. As a result, the deluxe-paper copies of the first 16 titles published by Fayard (15 Maigret investigations and Le Relais d’Alsace) are not part of the first editions of these novels. It was only from Le Port des brumes (the Maigret novel published in May 1932) onward that Fayard began printing deluxe-paper copies as part of the first editions themselves.