Eric Doye

Since her husband left to live in Brazil years ago, Juliette has lived alone in a vast Normandy estate, with only a grumpy housekeeper, Honorine, for company. Nevertheless, she puts on a happy face and looks forward to the traditional Mother's Day celebrations with her five children and their offspring. Benoît arrives first, accompanied by his boyfriend, Kim. Then come Isabelle, married to a gym teacher, and Laurent, her twin brother. Still missing are Sophie, the family's star TV journalist, and Marc, the eldest son, a wealthy businessman. Relations between the siblings are rather strained, until Juliette learns that her husband, seriously ill, has returned from Brazil and invites them all to his home.

The pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner and inevitably discovers the truth.