The Two-Penny Bar

The Two-Penny Bar

Inspector Maigret #11

Summary

Previously published as The Bar on the Seine

A forgotten crime comes to light in the Parisian summer in Georges Simenon's twisted tale. Book eleven in the new Penguin Maigret series.

'A radiant late afternoon. The sunshine almost as thick as syrup in the quiet streets of the Left Bank . . .
there are days like this, when ordinary life seems heightened, when the people walking down the street, the
trams and cars all seem to exist in a fairy tale.
'

A story told by a condemned man leads Maigret to a bar by the Seine and into the sleazy underside of respectable Parisian life. In the oppressive heat of summer, a forgotten crime comes to light.

Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel is a revised translation, previously published as The Bar on the Seine.

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray

'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian

'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent

About the author

Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. He is best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret novels and his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more