A review by secrethistory
The Hatter's Phantoms by Georges Simenon

3.0

From the beginning, we are made aware that Monsieur Labbe, the title's hatter, is a serial killer. The book explores and moves toward his motive for killing. It also shows Labbe's combined fear and want of a sort of companionship with the tailor who lives near him, and whom he can see through his window. The tailor knows he is the killer, and follows him, but does not report him.

The story starts off painfully slow. To give you an idea, I present to you the opening sentences:

"It was December 3, and still raining. The figure 3 stood out, very big and black, with a sort of fat belly, against the staring white of the calender which hung, just to the right of the till, against the dark oak partition between the salesroom and the show window."

Not exactly riveting, if I may say so. The first 20 or so pages of the book were dedicated to atmosphere. It did pick up, thankfully, and I actually became quite engrossed in it.

Another thing I was somewhat disgusted with was the treatment of women in the novel. I completely understand the motive for the murders, which are not done out of hatred of the gender. I also understand the character is mentally ill, no matter how often he denies it, and that his repulsion to the opposite sex has a clear trace to his past. But I did find it annoying that all of the women mentioned, even in passing, are prostitutes, and if they are not, it is mentioned how much they love sex and what sluts they are. To me this reflects poorly on the author, as if he couldn't think of a single defining trait in a woman except "slut," which is used repeatedly.

The Hatter's Phantoms was a decent read as far as a captivating story, which is why it got three stars instead of one or two. The writing isn't brilliant and is occasionally repetitive, and with a less intriguing storyline it probably would have gotten two stars at most. Apparently, Simenon was famous for being able to write nearly 80 pages per day. It seems he chose quantity over quality.