The novel was written between November 29 to December 8, 1949, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States.

[1] The book was published the following year by Presses de la Cité.

The book was translated into English by Robert Brain in 1958 and by Ros Schwartz in 2016 under the title Maigret and the Old Lady.

[2] The first German translation by Hansjürgen Wille and Barbara Klau was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 1954.

[3] In 1958 literature magazine Time and Tide wrote about the novel: "The plot of Maigret and the Old Lady […] might not amount to much if it were handled by another, but Maigret's methods and Simenon's gift for creating and evoking local atmosphere combine to hold the reader captive.