On a stormy evening in the coastal town of Concarneau, Monsieur Mostaguen, a local wine-merchant, is shot after leaving the Admiral Hotel. When Inspector Maigret is called in to solve the crime he finds the townspeople in a state of panic, provoked by inflammatory articles in the press, as one by one prominent citizens of the town are attacked. But what connects the victims? What is Emma, the downtrodden hotel waitress, hiding from Maigret? And what is the significance of the mysterious yellow dog lurking around Concarneau, causing its citizens great unease?
A small French summer resort has, in winter, become the gloomy scene of a series of murder attempts. While his assistant uses "scientific" means of detection, Maigret relies on his instincts, which lead him past a succession of charcters to the real culprit.
