La danseuse du Gai-Moulin cover

La danseuse du Gai-Moulin

by Georges Simenon

Crimson plush seats, wall mirrors, marble tables. The waiter nods, the band strikes up a jazz tune. A couple are dancing. Adele is trying to get a customer to drink. Welcome to the Gai-Moulin, a nightclub in Liege. At closing time, two teenagers wait on the basement steps in back to rob the place. But on their way to the bar, sneaking in the dark, they stumble upon a body. It's the foreigner, the one they saw talking with Adele earlier that evening. For the local police it is at first an open and that case. But then not so open and shut. New suspects appear, old ones disappear, and the body turns up at the Zoo, stuffed in a wicker basket. Into this puzzle steps Inspector Maigret of Paris, in one of the most dramatic entrances of his career.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?