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Georges Simenon

'She came forward, the outlines of her figure blurred in the half-light. She came forward like a film star, or rather like the ideal woman in an adolescent's dream. 'I gather you wish to talk to me, Inspector . . . but first of all please sit down . . .' Her accent was more pronounced than Carl's. Her voice sang, dropping on the last syllable of the longer words.' 
 
Maigret has been interrogating Carl Andersen for seventeen hours without a confession. He's either innocent or a very good liar. So why was the body of a diamond merchant found at his isolated mansion? Why is his sister always shut away in her room? And why does everyone at Three Widows Crossroads have something to hide?

Night at the Crossroads

Inspector Maigret

‘Acute psychological insight and a distinctive, spare, atmospheric style … Simenon ought to be spoken of in the same breath as Camus, Beckett and Kafka’ Independent on Sunday 
 In this classic novel, a dramatic case unfolds while Inspector Maigret is visiting colleagues in America 
 
 ‘The FBI man was convinced, in short, that Maigret was a big shot in his own country but that here, in the United States, he was incapable of figuring out anything’ 
 
 Inspector Maigret is touring the United States to observe American policing methods, when a visit to a troubling coroner’s inquest in Arizona sparks a fascination with the story of a young girl and five airmen in the desert. 
 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian 
 ‘Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend’ Boyd Tonkin, The Times

Maigret Gets Angry

What he thought he had discovered, in place of the joyful candour that she usually displayed, was an irony which was neither less cheerful nor less childish, but which troubled him . . . He wondered now if his exultation wasn't down to the fact that she was playing a part, not just to deceive him, not just to hide something from him, but for the pleasure of acting a part.

Maigret Takes a Room

Maigret receives an anonymous phone call concerning the brutal murder of a woman and young child. The tip off concerns the woman's nephew, a mild-mannered man by the name of Gaston Meurant. Maigret remains unconvinced of the man's guilt and at his trial exposes some shocking truths about Meurant's private life that may prove his innocence.

Maigret in Court

'His artistry is supreme' John Banville 
 
Conflict rather than harmony probably reigned in eight out of ten of the still magnificent houses that surrounded the park. But he had rarely had the opportunity to breath such a strained atmosphere as the one between these walls. Everything seemed fake, grating, starting with the lodge of the concierge-cum-manservant, who was neither a concierge nor a manservant, despite his striped waistcoat, but a former poacher, a murderer turned guard dog. 
 
When a self-made man appeals to Maigret for protection at his lavish home, a years-old grudge from the past resurfaces and the inspector finds himself questioning his own motives. 
 
'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

Maigret's Failure

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 
 
The FBI man was convinced, in short, that Maigret was a big shot in his own country but that here, in the United States, he was incapable of figuring out anything . . .well, Maigret happened to believe that men and their passions are the same everywhere. 
 
Maigret is touring the United States to observe American policing methods, when a visit to a coroner's inquest in Arizona draws him into the tragic story of a young woman and five airmen in the desert. 
 
'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

Maigret at the Coroner's

A vast emptiness. The room, in the darkness, seemed big as a cathedral. Warm currents of air still drifted from the radiators. 
Delfosse struck a match. They paused for a moment to take a breath and get their bearings. And suddenly the match dropped. A piercing shriek came from Delfosse . . . Chabot saw something too. 
 
Maigret observes from a distance as two boys are accused of killing a rich foreigner in Liège. Their loyalty, which binds them together through their adventures in the seedier side of the city, is put to the test and seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship.

The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin

When a socially isolated vagrant is found dead in the condemned building where he had been sleeping in Les Halles, Paris, Maigret must delve into the victim's mysterious past to discover who could have killed him.

Maigret and the Loner

Maigret and fellow inspector Lognon clash in their investigations into the murder of an unknown young woman in Paris. Maigret endeavours to piece together the story of the girl and in doing so uncovers details about her past and her character that lead him to the truth behind her tragic demise.

Maigret and the Dead Girl

When multi-millionaire David Ward is found dead in the same hotel as a countess who attempted suicide only hours earlier, Maigret presumes that the two cases are connected. When the countess flees Paris after the murder Maigret follows her to Nice and then to Switzerland to uncover the truth.

Maigret Travels

He recalled his traveling companion's agitated sleep - was it really sleep - his sighs, and his sobbing. Then two dangling legs in their patent leather boots and hand-knitted socks . . . A lacklustre face. Glazed eyes. And Maigret was not surprised to see a grey beard eating into his cheeks.

The Madman of Bergerac

Cars drove past along with the trucks and trams, but by now Maigret had realised that they were not important. Whatever roared by like this along the road was not part of the landscape. ... What really counted was the lock, the hooting of the tugs, the stone crusher, the barges and the cranes, the two pilots' bars and especially the tall house where he could make out Ducrau's red chair framed by a window. 
 
Maigret is drawn into the orbit of the self-made, mercurial Ducrau, as the latter's past catches up with him.

Lock No. 1

A kind but seemingly paranoid old lady turns to Inspector Maigret for help. Against the judgement of his subordinates, he decides to pay a visit to her Parisian apartment to investigate, but is he already too late?

Maigret's Madwoman

On a corner of the desk, the police gazette lay open, showing twenty or so photographs of wanted individuals. Most of them faces of thugs. Heads that bore the scars of degeneracy . . . And the warning, in red, Dangerous. Is still armed. A fellow who would not sell himself cheaply. 
 
Well! Maigret would have preferred that to all this syrupy greyness, to these family sagas, to this still inexplicable murder which he found mind-boggling.

The Shadow Puppet

When a man's headless body is pulled from the Canal Saint Martin, Maigret and his colleagues are puzzled. In a chance encounter at a local cafe Maigret uncovers the truth behind this disturbing murder in an intriguing story of an estranged family, adulterous affairs and a secret inheritance

Maigret and the Headless Corpse

A man picked up for wandering in obvious distress among the cars and buses on the Grands Boulevards. Questioned in French, he remains mute . . . A madman? In Maigret's office, he is searched. His suit is new, his underwear is new, his shoes are new. All identifying labels have been removed. No identification papers. No wallet. Five crisp thousand-franc bills have been slipped into one of his pockets.

The Misty Harbour

A short, sprightly man appeared in the doorway, looked left and right, and went back into the passage. A moment later, the improbable happened. The little man reappeared, bent over, clinging to a long mass that he now started dragging through the mud. 
 
It must have been heavy. After four metres, he stopped to catch his breath. The front door of the house had been left open. The sea was still twenty or thirty metres away.

The Judge's House

When a tramp is recovered from the Seine, after being badly beaten, Maigret must delve into the man's personal circumstances to figure out just who wanted to kill him.

Maigret and the Tramp

The body of a well-known Parisian restaurateur turns up on Avenue Junot in Montmartre, seemingly having been killed elsewhere. Inspector Maigret is on the case, and soon discovers that the murder may be gang-related after a colleague working in the red-light district receives a tip from an anonymous informer.

Maigret and the Informer

In everyone's eyes, even the old ladies hiding behind their quivering curtains, even the kids just now who had turned to stare after they had passed him, he was the intruder, the undesirable. No, worse, he was fundamentally untrustworthy, some stranger who had just turned up from who knew where to do who knew what.

Inspector Cadaver

Maigret goes to the Belgian border to investigate the disappearance of a young woman.

The Flemish House

During an undercover case Inspector Lognon is shot in a room he was sharing with a beautiful woman who has since disappeared. Inspector Maigret retraces Lognon's secretive last few days and is drawn into the darker side of the art world.

Maigret and the Ghost

Maigret's attitude came as a surprise to those who were working alongside him in Rue de la Ferme. Ever since the morning there had been something unusual in the way that the inspector had been directing operations. It wasn't the first search of this type in which he had participated, but as it went on it began to take on a character all of its own.

Maigret and the Tall Woman

Maigret was less angry in fact than he seemed. Pozzo was a tough customer, but he didn't mind that. Nor did he mind dealing with characters who had sent the American police packing. Genuine hard men who played for keeps. . . . Maigret hadn't the slightest idea of the identity of the man who had been tipped out onto the pavement on Rue Fléchier, almost at Inspector Lognon's feet. He didn't even know if the stranger was dead or not.

Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters

We saw a door opening ahead of us. There was a car parked by the roadside. This guy came out pushing another guy in front of him. No, not pushing. Imagine you're carrying a shop dummy and trying to make it look like it's your friend walking next to you. He put him in the car and got into the driver's seat . . . The guy drove all over the place. He seemed to be looking for something, but seemed to keep losing his way. In the end, we realized what he'd been looking for.

The Two-Penny Bar

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 in her room, but in the basement locker room . . . In all likelihood, that's where the crime was committed . . . What was the woman doing in the basement? . . . Who could have lured her down there, and how? . . . Especially at an hour when people of that kind are usually still fast asleep . . .

The Cellars of the Majestic

Were these yellow shoes part of the reason Maigret was so interested in this man? He would never admit it, but for years he too had longed to wear olive-green shoes. They were fashionable at the time, along with those very short beige raincoats.

Maigret and the Man on the Bench

The mood of the town was still jittery. It was all very well for people to go about their day-to-day activities as usual, there was a certain anxiety in people's eyes and they seemed to be walking faster, as if they were afraid the murderer would suddenly appear. Maigret would have sworn the housewives didn't normally stand around on the doorsteps talking in hushed tones.

Maigret is Afraid

When a tape recorder is found on a murder victim, Inspector Maigret hopes this will be the clue he needs to track down the killer.

Maigret and the Killer

A first ink drawing showed a hanged man swinging from a gallows on which perched an enormous crow. And hanging was the leitmotif of at least twenty other etchings and pen or pencil sketches. 
On the edge of a forest: a man hanging from every branch. 
A church steeple: beneath the rooster atop the weather vane, a human body dangled from each arm of the cross . . . below another sketch were written four lines from Villon's Ballade des Pendus. 
 
On a trip to Brussels, Maigret unwittingly causes a man's suicide, but his own remorse is overshadowed by the discovery of the sordid events that drove the desperate man to shoot himself.

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