Most Popular Books by Georges Simenon

When a man traveling abroad is murdered in his hotel room, Inspector Maigret must sift through the misdirection and betrayal to find the truth hidden beneath. A Monsieur Gallet has been found dead—murdered—in his hotel room, in a small town outside of Paris. In Georges Simenon’s The Late Monsieur Gallet, Inspector Maigret sets off to figure out the course of events that led to this grim outcome. But as he delves deeper, the circumstances of the crime become increasingly intriguing: Gallet’s alias, his sickly pallor, his claimed profession, his wife’s and son’s strangely indifferent behavior in the wake of Gallet’s death. Using all his wits and intuition, Maigret must look beyond not-so-random coincidences and layers of deception to uncover the truth of the crime.

''The father of contemporary European detective fiction'' Ann Cleeves 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. A distressed man is found wandering the streets of Paris, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. The answers lead Maigret to a small harbour town, whose quiet citizens conceal a poisonous malice. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Death of a Harbour Master. ''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray ''A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness'' Independent

The tidal regularity of life in a quiet village is broken when the local harbor-master is murdered, and Inspector Maigret must force the killer into the open by using all of his famous instincts.

On Rue de Turenne, two human teeth are found in the old furnace of a Flemish bookbinder, who is taken into custody. A neighboring shoemaker is willing to talk, but his stories vary with each trip he makes to the local tavern. The case seems impossibly perplexing until Madame Maigret leaves her kitchen to offer her husband able assistance. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

''The father of contemporary European detective fiction'' Ann Cleeves ''Let''s be clear that it''s not your professionalism which I question. If you understand nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, it''s because from the very start you''ve been working with facts which had been falsified.'' Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. As his audacious plan to uncover the truth unfolds, he encounters rich American expatriates, some truly dangerous characters and their hidden motives. This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret''s War of Nerves and A Battle of Nerves. ''Maigret emerges as a master of intuition and imagination, who moves in a world rendered intensely real in Simenon''s incomparable prose'' Christopher Hirst, Independent

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When his relaxing vacation is interrupted by a small-town murder, Inspector Maigret can''t resist lending his investigative powers to the case Inspector Maigret and his wife take a much needed holiday to Vichy, where they quickly become used to the slower pace of life. But when a woman who they regularly pass by on their daily strolls is murdered, Maigret can''t help but offer his assistance to the local Inspector, a former colleague of his. Set against a backdrop of gorgeous French countryside, Maigret in Vichy shows that even when our trusty detective is outside his jurisdiction, he is still very much in his element.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a body is found in Paris, nothing is as it seems, and Maigret must delve into the victim''s mysterious past to discover who could have killed him Inspector Maigret is called to action after a man who appears to be an elderly, socially isolated vagrant is found dead in the condemned building where he had been sleeping in Les Halles, Paris. As he begins to pick apart the few clues available, however, Maigret soon realizes that this man is far from who he originally appeared. Helped along by his signature intuition, an anonymous caller, and the memories of Montmarte''s community of senior citizens, the Inspector must put the puzzle together and reveal the truth behind a pair of crimes. With Georges Simenon''s signature tightly-woven plotting, Maigret and the Loner is a riveting, page-turning mystery.

“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian Maigret dismantles an intricate network of lies stretching from Paris to Nice in this page-turning mystery “Mechanically, he had put his pince-nez down on the blotter and looked at it there with his large, short-sighted eyes. It is at that moment that the strange thing happens. One of the lenses, acting as a mirror, reflected the criss-cross, hatched ink marks which had dried on the blotter and he could just make out a couple of words.” When a fortune-teller is found murdered in her apartment, Maigret must find out not only who commited the crime, but why it was predicted in a note found earlier—signed by the unknown Picpus.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a public tragedy threatens to expose a scandal within the Paris government, the Minister of Public Works calls in a favor to Maigret A public project has collapsed and resulted in the death of 128 children after a report warning officials about the unsafe structure was disregarded. Now, that report has resurfaced, along with allegations that several politicians and contractors involved with the project may have suppressed its findings to avoid a scandal. Maigret must enter the shifty world of politics, dodged by members of the security police wherever he goes. In an unfamiliar world of decadent diplomatic officials, fanatic followers of political parties, and suspicious staff in politicians’ entourages, Maigret grimly sticks to what he knows best: finding the perpetrators of criminal acts.

''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray Inspector Maigret is followed home one evening by a man who reveals his intention to kill his wife and her lover. Maigret intervenes and speaks to the man daily but when the calls suddenly stop Maigret finds a murder on his hands. ''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

Nine short stories make up this delightful holiday-themed collection, each featuring Georges Simenon''s famous detective, Jules Maigret. Christmas mysteries abound: an otherwise sensible little girl insists that she has seen Father Christmas, a statement alarming to her neighbors, Monsieur and Madame Maigret. Then, a choirboy helps the inspector solve a crime while he lies in bed with a cold; another boy, pursued by a criminal, ingeniously leaves a trail to help Maigret track him. Many of these stories feature observant and resourceful children, frightened yet resolute, who bring out a paternal streak in the childless Maigret. The rapport between the inspector and these youthful heroes imparts a delightful freshness to this holiday collection- a cornucopia for fans of Maigret and mysteries.

Publisher description

Paralyzed and unable to speak, a newspaper publisher reviews his life from a hospital bed and is able to find a new understanding.

A young Frenchman, Joseph Timar, travels to Gabon carrying a letter of introduction from an influential uncle.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré Investigating the murder of one of Paris''s elite, the detective Maigret finds the list of suspects is longer than anyone could have imagined When a wealthy wine merchant is shot and killed in Paris, Inspector Maigret must investigate a long list of family, colleagues and lovers to uncover just who could have committed the crime. Delving into the depths of the man''s personality, Maigret discovers that the victim may have made one too many enemies on his way to the top. Breathlessly paced and psychologically astute, Maigret and the Wine Merchant is a thrilling mystery from the master Georges Simenon.

Maigret must discover who killed a poverty-stricken Australian in this deft, psychologically fascinating story of men who kick over the traces--and of men who don''t.

Mystery. Originally published in England as T̀he patience of Maigret'' in 1940.

An eerie mystery in which a local wine dealer is shot and a strange yellow dog starts to circle the town—Inspector Maigret must navigate small-town dynamics to find the elusive culprit. Late at night in a small seaside town, not a single light is on, and everyone is asleep. Or almost everyone: a man, drunk, departs for home after another evening at a hotel bar, where he and a few others regularly gather. Suddenly, he collapses—struck by a gunshot. The victim turns out to be the town’s most successful wine dealer, and the event soon leads to a series of other curiosities: poisoned drinks at the bar, another man found missing, and a dirty yellow dog haunting the neighborhood, accompanied by large, unfamiliar boot tracks. Detective Chief Inspector Maigret, who happens to be nearby heading up a mobile unit, arrives swiftly to resolve the growing confusion. Though a chill sets over town, with townspeople remaining tight-lipped, Maigret’s pursuit of the truth in Georges Simenon’s The Yellow Dog makes for a thrilling, breathless adventure.

A glamorous woman suddenly turns up dead in the middle of nowhere in a tragic, mysterious puzzle that only Georges Simenon’s legendary detective can solve. It’s just another slow, rainy day on a French canal, until the discovery of a woman’s body disrupts the placid scene. Inspector Maigret is baffled by the facts of the case: an expensively dressed woman, Mary Lampson, has been strangled in a nearby stable, with no road nearby wide enough for automobile traffic. Only by chance was her body found, without a noise, witness, or trace of mud to aid in explaining the scene. How did this glamorous, pearl-laden woman meet her end? It seems that those on board the barge La Providence—Mary’s proud husband, Sir Walter; a friend named Willy Marco; and a Chilean parliament member’s widow—might hold the key to the puzzle. In The Carter of La Providence, once again, Georges Simenon orchestrates a harrowing plot of secrets and dramas that disturb, and reveal the underbelly of, the everyday.

''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray Maigret plunges into the murky Parisian underworld in book twenty-nine of the new Penguin Maigret series. ''That shoeless foot looked incongruous lying on the pavement next to another foot encased in a shoe made of black kid leather. It was naked, private . . . It was Maigret who retrieved the other shoe which lay by the kerb six or seven metres away'' A series of strange phone calls leads Inspector Maigret through the Paris streets towards a man out of his depth amid a network of merciless criminals. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret''s Special Murder. ''His artistry is supreme'' John Banville ''A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness'' Independent

The Inspector has fallen into disfavor with his Paris superiors and has been shunted to a district supervisor''s job on the northern French coast. Here, among mussel-gatherers and lobstermen, Maigret suffers depression and boredom. He is an outsider. Even the local police inspector is dull and predictable, as everything in the coastal villages appears to be. But the discovery of a corpse in the house of a retired judge returns a sense of purpose to Maigret. The Boston Globe called this "one of Simenon''s best Maigrets . . . replete with his customary irony and deft characterization".

Another riveting tale from Georges Simenon, in which two siblings, living in isolation, are suspects in a tale of deception, theft, and murder. It’s been seventeen hours of interrogation, yet Carl Andersen’s air of elegance remains unruffled. Inspector Maigret is bewildered by the behavior exhibited by the only probable suspect of the case at Three Widows Crossroads, the location of Carl’s isolated mansion where he lives with his sister Else. The Saturday evening prior, Carl and Else go to sleep, after Carl has locked her away in her bedroom as usual—a curious habit, notes Maigret, but stranger things soon arise. Carl’s faraway neighbor Monsieur Michonnet discovers that his flashy new automobile has swapped places with Carl’s run-down vehicle; what’s more, in the front seat of Michonnet’s car sits a dead man, a Belgian diamond merchant no one purports to know, shot point-blank in the chest. Hours later, Carl and Else are caught trying to embark on a train to Paris. It’s bizarre business, but Maigret is determined to shake off the unease and find out what the residents of Three Widows Crossroads are covering up in The Night at the Crossroads, an exciting, unnerving story from the inimitable Georges Simenon.

''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray A first ink drawing showed a hanged man swinging from a gallows on which perched an enormous crow. And there were at least twenty other etchings and pen or pencil sketches that had the same leitmotif of hanging. On the edge of a forest: a man hanging from every branch. A church steeple: beneath the weathercock, a human body dangling from each arm of the cross. . . Below another sketch were written four lines from François Villon''s Ballade of the Hanged Men. 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. This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets and The Crime of Inspector Maigret. ''One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century'' Guardian

In the heart of the Parisian summer, a forgotten crime comes to light in this Inspector Maigret tale from Georges Simenon. On the eve of his death, a condemned man remembers a crime he witnessed years before. With only the name of a bar to direct him, Maigret joins a party of summering revelers who have something to do with the unsolved disappearance—but what, exactly? Descending into the sleazy underside of respectable Parisian life, Maigret investigates and the forgotten crime comes to light.

''Why all of a sudden did this shock him? He was annoyed with himself for being shocked. He felt as if he had been sucked into the bourgeois, almost edifying, atmosphere that surrounded those epeople, ''good people'' so everyone kept telling him.'' A retired manufacturer has been shot dead by his own pistol, last seen alive by his son-in-law. In this seemingly motiveless murder, Inspector Maigret must rely on his famous intuition to discover the truth.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a beggar is pulled from the River Seine, having been badly beaten, Inspector Maigret must investigate the man to uncover his attacker. While sleeping under the Pont Marie bridge, a homeless man known as Doc is viciously beaten and thrown into the River Seine to drown. A pair of bargemen manage to rescue him, and his identification reveals he was once a doctor in Mulhouse, where, coincidentally, Inspector Maigret’s sister-in-law lives. Seizing on this connection, Maigret must delve into the man’s personal circumstances to figure out just who might have wanted him dead—and why. A fascinating, fast-paced story about the past lives we try to leave behind, and the ways in which they return, Maigret and the Tramp is a riveting mystery from Georges Simenon.

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

A man on the run, a madman on the loose terrorizing the town, and Maigret on the case—a thrilling, nerve-racking mystery from Georges Simenon. Maigret is on the train to Bordeaux trying to sleep, to no avail: a man in the bunk above is tossing and turning, perhaps even crying. Suddenly, the passenger jumps up, then jumps off the moving train. Maigret instinctively follows suit but is struck down, shot in the shoulder. When he reawakens, he’s hospitalized and surrounded by officials—who think he is the local murderer. Though the confusion is soon cleared up, Maigret’s interest is piqued by the stories of the madman who has been killing women on the side of the road, first strangling his victims, then stabbing them with a giant needle. It’s a case that comes about by pure chance, and there’s nothing to do but recover, bedridden. So using his indefatigable power of deduction, along with his penchant for mischievous schemes, the inspector resolves to figure out just what the situation is in Bergerac.

''The most addictive of writers'' Observer ''High up in Montmartre, there was a festive atmosphere, people were crowding round the little tables where rosé wine was being served ... Yet a hundred metres further on, the little alleyways were deserted, and the killer might find it easy to pounce'' Detective Chief Inspector Maigret is known for his infallible instinct, for getting at the truth no matter how complex the case, but when someone starts killing women on the streets of Montmartre, he finds himself confounded. In the sweltering Paris summer heat, with the city in a state of siege, Maigret hatches a plan to lure the murderer out ... ''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

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a Montmarte stripper overhears a plot to murder a countess, Inspector Maigret is on the case Arlette, a beautiful young dancer at Picratt’s in Montmartre, reports to her local police station that she overheard two men at her club talking about planning to kill a countess. The police don’t think much of the claim—that is, until a few hours later when Arlette is found in her room, strangled to death. The police scramble to track down the men in question, but the next day the Countess von Farnheim, a drug addict living not far from Picratt’s, is found strangled. When Arlette’s own identity turns out to have been falsified, Inspector Maigret steps in and must dive into Paris’s seedy underbelly to discover the truth—before the killers can slip away.

Inspector Maigret investigates the death of fortuneteller Mademoiselle Jeanne, a case remarkable for its wealth of unconnected suspects and fragmentary clues

Police Inspector Maigret recounts the case of a man accused of the murder of his wife, and Maigret is unable to save the possibly innocent man from the guillotine

The near fatal shooting of a policeman takes Maigret into the art world-and Madame Maigret helps her husband solve the case. Translated by Margaret Duff. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.

Inspector Maigret shows the ways of police work to a young writer and reveals his rural upbringing, his first assignment as a bicycle messenger, and how he wooed and won Madame Maigret