Georges Simenon

A new translation of this gripping novel set in an insular fishing community, part of the new Maigret series. It was indeed a photo, a picture of a woman. But the face was completely hidden, scribbled all over in red ink. Someone had tried to obliterate the head, someone very angry. The pen had bitten into the paper. There were...

A new translation of this novel set in the demi-monde of the sun-soaked Riviera, part of the Maigret series. Half an hour later, he was in Cannes ... White everywhere! Huge white hotels, white shops, white trousers and dresses, white sails out at sea. It was as if life were no more than a pantomime fairy-tale, a white and blue...

There is no rest for Inspector Maigret when his seaside holiday leads him to a troubling discovery. At what point in the day could the note have been slipped into his pocket, his left breast pocket? It was an ordinary sheet of glazed squared paper, probably torn out of an exercise book. The words were written in pencil, in a...

Letter to My Judge is a dark, psychological tale of deadly obsession, presented here in a masterful new translation. My dear Judge, I would like one man, just one, to understand me. And I really hope that man can be you. In a small town in western France, Dr Charles Alavoine seems to lead the perfect life—his own medical practice,...

"I invent the most hopeless sounding plots; very often they are based on something I've read in a newspaper. And people say, 'Oh, this is all nonsense'—and then the Russians come along in Germany and shoot people with potassium cyanide pistols." Between them, Ian Fleming and Georges Simenon created two of the best-known heroes of modern fiction. In this illuminating...

An acerbic tale of marital warfare and emotional estrangement, in a brilliant new translation. In the oppressive silence of the sitting room, the woman finally smoothed out the paper and, without putting on her glasses, read the two words her husband had written—The cat. Amidst the din of their Parisian neighbourhood, Émile and Marguerite live in total silence. After a...

Maigret's Failure delves into a complex intertwining of duty and personal history as Maigret's integrity is put to the test. Charged with the protection of a wealthy butcher named Fumal, Maigret finds himself conflicted between his professional duty and a childhood grudge that resurfaces unexpectedly. The tension escalates when Fumal is viciously murdered, compelling Maigret to set aside his personal...

An extraordinary tale of betrayal from the celebrated author of the Maigret series. On the shore of the Black Sea, on the edge of the Soviet Union, a little city has a new Turkish consul. Adil Bey—alone in an alien land—has taken the job after the mysterious death of his predecessor. Receiving only suspicion and hostility, he soon becomes reliant...

Maigret's Memoirs takes over as author and gives a rare glimpse into the legendary character's psyche. I can still see Simenon coming into my office the next day, pleased with himself, displaying even more self-confidence, if possible, than before, but nevertheless with a touch of anxiety in his eyes . . . He trumpeted these last words as if they...

Maigret is confronted with the full hostility of the petite bourgeoisie in book twenty-six of the series. All that was still unclear, for sure. Ernest Malik had been right when he had looked at Maigret with a smile that was a mixture of sarcasm and contempt. This wasn't a case for him. He was out of his depth. This world...

Glamorous expat life in Paris is brought to life in this new translation, part of the Maigret series. Try to imagine a guest, a wealthy woman, staying at the Majestic with her husband, her son, a nurse and a governess... In a suite that costs more than a thousand francs a day... At six in the morning, she's strangled, not...

A searing exploration of a woman's hidden destructive impulses from one of the great writers of the twentieth century. 'There was no longer that ambivalent inconsistency between her words and thoughts, no more fever, no more artificial heat, no more vagueness. Instead was the truth in all its rawness, in black and white, in stark, cruel lines.' Adrift and alone,...

Maigret's Pickpocket is an intriguing tale where Inspector Maigret himself falls victim to a curious incident involving a pickpocket. The story begins when a pickpocket steals Maigret's wallet, only to return it the next day with the unusual condition that Maigret visits the thief's apartment. Intrigued, Maigret complies, leading him to the unexpected discovery of the thief's dead wife. This...

A new translation of this atmospheric novel set in the squalid streets of Paris, part of the new Maigret series. The Czech was warming up, though in a quiet, almost dull way that was characteristic of the man. Out of the corner of his eye, Maigret noticed his hands, long hands, astonishingly white and slightly freckled. They seemed to warm...