Georges Simenon Książki

Groningen w Holandii. Kees Popinga jest zadowolonym z siebie mieszczuchem, wzorowym mężem i kochającym ojcem, który jeśli spędza noc poza domem, to na partii szachów w klubie. Gdy szef Popingi niespodziewanie zbankrutuje, upozoruje samobójstwo i ucieknie z kraju, całe to uporządkowane życie legnie w gruzach. Popinga nie wstanie rano, nie pójdzie do pracy. Popełni morderstwo i wyjedzie do Paryża. Zacznie myśleć o sobie jako o genialnym przestępcy, będzie bawił się z policją w kotka i myszkę i pisał szydercze listy do gazet. Im bardziej będzie się pogrążał, tym mocniej utwierdzi się w przekonaniu o własnej wielkości. Przyjdzie mu za to słono zapłacić. Paryski ekspres to sugestywny, przerażający obraz tego, co dzieje się w umyśle szaleńca. Na podstawie powieści w 1952 roku powstał film The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, w reżyserii Harolda Frencha.

Wszystko miało wyglądać inaczej, gdy mieszkający w malowniczym Dordogne emerytowany kolega z Policji Kryminalnej zaprosił komisarza na urlop. Już w pociągu Maigret trafił na uciążliwego współpasażera. A gdy ten wyskakuje pomiędzy stacjami, komisarz bez wahania go naśladuje. I wtedy zostaje postrzelony... Kiedy budzi się w szpitalu w miasteczku Bergerac, wszyscy biorą go za szaleńca, który grasuje w okolicy i napada na kobiety... Georges Simenon (1903-1989) to pisarz wielbiony za swój styl od pokoleń. Jako autor ponad 200 powieści zasłużył sobie na miano mistrza fabuły, a jako twórca postaci komisarza Maigreta na miejsce w każdej encyklopedii literatury kryminalnej. „Maigret i szaleniec” to kolejny z kilkudziesięciu nowych tomów z cyklu o Maigrecie, jakie w ciągu najbliższych lat ukażą się nakładem naszego wydawnictwa.

Gdy Georges Simenon przyjeżdża do rodzinnego Liège, aby towarzyszyć swojej dziewięćdziesięcioletniej matce w jej ostatnich dniach, w szpitalnym pokoju spotyka się z jej szarymi, zamglonymi oczami. „Dlaczego przyszedłeś, Georges?” – tak zaczyna się ostatnia, nieruchoma konfrontacja między matką a synem. Wychowana w ubóstwie, życie matki naznaczone było niedostatkiem i rozczarowaniami, nieustanną chęcią awansu oraz troskami o byt i wizerunek. Jej relacje z dwoma mężami były chłodne, a sława syna nie była przez nią doceniana. Nigdy nie był wystarczająco dobry. Czy kiedykolwiek się zrozumieli, czy się kiedykolwiek kochali? Trzy lata po jej śmierci Simenon napisał do matki list. To jego najważniejszy tekst autobiograficzny, wąska książka o ogromnej sile oddziaływania.

Na Place Vintimille w Montmartre zostaje znaleziona martwa kobieta. Ma na sobie zniszczoną suknię wieczorową, jest młoda i piękna. Suknię pożyczyła tego samego wieczoru od sprzedawczyni, jednak torebki, którą również miała, już nie ma. Zawsze ponury inspektor Lognon, zwany „Inspektorem Griesgramem”, uważa, że młoda kobieta jest prostytutką z okolicy i zakłada, że doszło do klasycznego morderstwa. Jednak komisarz Maigret czuje, że sprawy mają się inaczej i że młoda kobieta nie została zabita w miejscu, gdzie ją znaleziono. Ale kim ona jest? Nikt nie wydaje się jej znać ani nawet za nią tęsknić. Pełen współczucia Maigret pragnie dowiedzieć się więcej o jej przeszłości, wierząc, że w ten sposób odnajdzie również mordercę. 45. sprawa Maigreta rozgrywa się w paryskim dzielnicy rozrywkowej Montmartre.

SIMENON NIE POTRZEBUJE KILKUSET STRON, BY STWORZYĆ PORYWAJĄCY DRAMAT... Twórca postaci komisarza Maigreta pisał też powieści, w których zajmował się szukaniem „nagiego człowieka”. A w analizowaniu ludzkich charakterów Simenon był mistrzem... Jacek Szczerba, „Gazeta Wyborcza” Najważniejszy człowiek w wiosce Marsilly to Victor Lecoin. Bo jest bogaty, ma hodowlę małży i ostryg. Z żoną, miejscową nauczycielką, łączy go jedynie siła przyzwyczajenia. Ma inne kobiety na zawołanie - na pięterku pobliskiej knajpy. Cierpi tylko na brak czułości... To się może zmienić, gdy do jego domu trafi nowa, nastoletnia służąca. Alice to dziewczyna, która już trochę poznała „męskie zachowania”, ale Victor widzi w niej nadzieję na odmianę swojego nijakiego przecież życia... Georges Simenon (1903-1989) to pisarz, który sławę zdobył dzięki postaci komisarza Maigreta, ale literacko doskonalsze są jego „romans dur”, jak sam je nazwał - powieści twarde, opisujące ludzkie losy, nierzadko skomplikowane, zwykle tragiczne, ale zawsze podane z zadziwiającą prostotą. Na tym polega fenomen pisarza, którego utwory przetłumaczono na większość języków świata.

SIMENON NIE POTRZEBUJE KILKUSET STRON, BY STWORZYĆ PORYWAJĄCY DRAMAT... Twórca postaci komisarza Maigreta pisał też powieści, w których zajmował się szukaniem „nagiego człowieka”. A w analizowaniu ludzkich charakterów Simenon był mistrzem... Jacek Szczerba, „Gazeta Wyborcza” Do francuskiego Dieppe przypływają angielskie statki z Newhaven. A Louis Maloin jest na tym dworcu morskim zwrotniczym. I z przeszklonej kabiny od lat obserwuje z góry wszystko dookoła. Aż pewnej nocy staje się świadkiem dziwnych zachowań dwóch mężczyzn. Jest też świadkiem morderstwa. A niedługo potem wyławia z doku walizkę pełną banknotów. Teraz musi ją tylko ukryć przed światem... Georges Simenon (1903-1989) to pisarz, który sławę zdobył dzięki postaci komisarza Maigreta, ale literacko doskonalsze są jego „romans dur”, jak sam je nazwał - powieści twarde, opisujące ludzkie losy, nierzadko skomplikowane, zwykle tragiczne, ale zawsze podane z zadziwiającą prostotą. Na tym polega fenomen pisarza, którego utwory przetłumaczono na większość języków świata.

Georges Simenon nie dostał za życia żadnej ważnej nagrody literackiej – ani we Francji, ani w ojczystej Belgii, ani w żadnym innym kraju. A jednak to właśnie w jego powieściach znaleźć można więcej prawdy o mrocznej stronie zwykłych ludzi niż w setkach książek noblistów. Sebastian Chosiński, esensja.pl Komisarz Maigret nie miał zaufania do polityków. Dlatego telefoniczna prośba jednego z ministrów, aby spotkali się prywatnie, niezbyt mu się podobała. I chociaż Auguste Point wyglądał na poczciwego człowieka, to dosyć szybko okazało się, że sprawa, z którą zwrócił się do Maigreta, jest nie tylko podejrzana, ale i niebezpieczna. Bo najpierw znikają dokumenty dotyczące malwersacji przy budowie sanatorium, a potem ci, którzy niepotrzebnie poznali ich treść. I zbyt dociekliwego komisarza mogą teraz spotkać poważne kłopoty... Georges Simenon (1903-1989) to pisarz wielbiony za swój styl od pokoleń. Jako autor ponad 200 powieści zasłużył sobie na miano mistrza fabuły, a jako twórca postaci komisarza Maigreta na miejsce w każdej encyklopedii literatury kryminalnej. „Maigret u pana ministra” to kolejny z kilkudziesięciu nowych tomów z cyklu o Maigrecie, jakie w ciągu najbliższych lat ukażą się nakładem naszego wydawnictwa.

Mit seiner Kochkunst ist es dem kleinen Gastwirt aus der Provinz gelungen, ein florierendes Bistro im alten Pariser Hallen-Viertel aufzubauen. Doch dann bricht er plötzlich mitten im hektischen Essenstrubel tot zusammen. Was soll aus seinem Lebenswerk werden? Seine Witwe und die drei Söhne verfolgen ganz unterschiedliche Pläne: Antoine will in die Fußstapfen des Vaters treten und das Bistro weiterführen, doch Ferdinand und Bernard brauchen dringend Geld. Doch davon wie auch von einem Testament fehlt jede Spur. Dann taucht ein Schlüssel zu einem Bankschließfach auf, dessen Inhalt alle überrascht.

Collects over one hundred recipes from the fictional, but enviable notebooks of the wife of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, providing full instructions, methods, accompaniments, and alternatives

This volume is the first in the Tout Maigret series, gathering the investigations of one of the key characters in detective literature. Seventy-five novels and twenty-eight short stories allow readers to rediscover the most famous hero of 20th-century literature, a hero who is distinct, human, and universal.

The story presents the famous Inspector Maigret in a new role as a husband, with his wife assisting him in unraveling a complex murder case. Her involvement is so effective that he teasingly refers to her as "Mme la commissaire Maigret." This narrative showcases the dynamics of their relationship while maintaining the hallmark mastery of the renowned crime author. It explores themes of partnership, trust, and the intersection of personal and professional lives, all set against the backdrop of a gripping mystery.

Paris has taken its toll and Maigret is sent to Vichy for the cure, but the Inspector finds it difficult to give his curiosity a rest. He compiles a mental dossier on his fellow guests, including a curious woman he and Madam Maigret note in particular -- the lady in lilac. When a headline in the local paper announces the woman's murder, Maigret -- with some relief -- interrupts his routine to aid the investigation. The arrival of the dead woman's sister provokes more questions than answers but Madame Maigret, as always, puts everything in the proper perspective.

In the final novel featuring Inspector Maigret, the famous detective reaches a pivotal moment in his career Maigret is a few years short of his retirement and has just refused promotion to the post of Head of the Police Judiciare, preferring the human contact he enjoys as Head of the Criminal Division. His wish is granted when Madam Nathalie Sabin-Levesque, an elegant but highly nervous lwoman, insists that he personally investigates the disappearance of her husband Gėrard, a highly successful and wealthy Parisian lawyer. In Maigret and Monsieur Charles, the conclusive installment of the the Inspector Maigret mystery series, our famous detective finds himself contemplating his past and future as he delves into the Paris underworld one last time.

“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 Inspector Maigret finds himself caught in the middle of a husband and wife duo’s case of “he said/she said”—with murderous consequences An unusually quiet day for Inspector Maigret at the Quai des Orfèvres is disturbed by a visit from mild-mannered toy salesman Xavier Manton. Maigret is taken aback by Manton’s revelation that he suspects his wife of plotting to poison him. And when he receives a visit from Madame Manton expressing her own grave concerns later that day, he finds himself deeply conflicted, unsure of whom to trust. Maigret heeds the advice of his seniors and begins investigating the couple—and with every turn, new complications arise. When the case comes to a boil and a body is discovered, everyone, including Maigret, is shocked. Maigret’s Doubts is an engrossing mystery of marriage and deceit that forces the reader to question whether our brilliant inspector may be fallible after all.

When Maigret receives a visit from an old schoolmate whose mistress has been shot to death, he feels compelled to look into the case. Yet his friend is one of the suspects-along with the dead woman's four other lovers, each unknown to the others. The basis for a public television Mystery! presentation. Translated by Eileen Ellenbogen. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Seventeen stories feature Simenon's dauntless detective as he works on some baffling cases both from his base--Paris police headquarters on the Quai des Ortevres--and throughout the provinces.

"When his sexy young wife fails to home one night, Jonas Milk tells his inquisitive neighbours she is visiting a friend. But his innocent attempt to protect Gina's reputation provokes hostility and suspicion among the residents of the Vieux-Marche - who know very well she has been having flagrant affairs throughout her marriage to the quiet little bookseller. Soon Jonas's small lie leads him into a nightmare of police inquiries and painful discoveries . . ."--Publisher.

Che cosa ci farà mai in un paesino della Vandea che a metà gennaio sembra fatto di acqua e di fango, quell'essere livido e odioso che tutti al Quai des Orfèvres hanno sempre chiamato l'ispettore Cadavre? La questione intriga il commissario Maigret, arrivato lì in veste privata per dare una mano al cognato di un giudice che rischia l'imputazione di omicidio.

Nobody mentioned the victims, or the terror that had gripped the town. For the last twenty days it had rained and between the usual quiet conversations and card games, only the trickle of water and the air of cold fear could be detected. A serial killer stalks La Rochelle's cobbled streets - and by the most unfortunate of occurrences, Kachoudas, a poor timid tailor and a newcomer to the town, knows exactly who it is... One of Georges Simenon's darkest novels, The Hatter's Ghosts is a riveting portrait of murder and subterfuge, at once a cat and mouse thriller and an acute physiological study of the criminal imagination.

Dan said he would go back out into the snowstorm to look for Ray. Instead he has spent the last few hours on a red bench in the barn, smoking cigarette after cigarette. As he replays his memories of recent months, of the dinner party that evening in Connecticut and the journey home with their wives, his heroic search for his friend turns into a trial of their friendship - one that could leave Ray to perish in the snow.

Nineteen-year-old Frank Friedmaier lives in a country under occupation. Most people struggle to get by; Frank takes it easy in his mother's whorehouse, which caters to members of the occupying forces. But Frank is restless. He is a pimp, a thug, a petty thief, and, as Dirty Snow opens, he has just killed his first man. Through the unrelenting darkness and cold of an endless winter, Frank will pursue abjection until at last there is nowhere to go. Hans Koning has described Dirty Snow<?i> as "one of the very few novels to come out of German-occupied France that gets it exactly right." In a study of the criminal mind that is comparable to Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me , Simenon maps a no man's land of the spirit in which human nature is driven to destruction—and redemption, perhaps, as well—by forces beyond its control.

'Read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss' Sunday Times Captain Lannec has finally managed to buy his own ship with the financial help of his in-laws, the Pitards - and they've never let him forget it. When his temperamental wife Mathilde insists on coming along on the ship's first voyage, Lannec becomes increasingly unnerved by her presence, especially when he receives an anonymous note saying he won't make it back to port. As they hit a storm in the Atlantic, jealousy, spite, snobbery and suspicion are churned up in the boat's stiflingly close quarters... First published in 1935, The Pitards was one of the first novels Simenon wrote when he shelved his famous Maigret series in order to strike out in a new direction and make a name for himself as a literary writer. This gripping evocation of life at sea revolves around class and the tense unravelling of relationships, powerful themes that Simenon would return to throughout his writing career.

Here in notebooks that were never intended for publication, Simenon reflects on his life in some of the most candid revelations ever written. He reflects on his past - his childhood in Liege, the wild parties in Paris and travels around the world - and also examines his motivations and his attitude to work.

English, French (translation)

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When an innocent young man is accused of murder, Maigret is forced to question the blind justice of the law In this thrilling courtroom drama, inspector Maigret comes to the defense of Gaston Meurant, a quiet Parisian picture framer accused of slitting his aunt’s throat for money and smothering a small child. Maigret can’t reconcile the violent portrait the court is painting with the man his investigations have revealed. But in order to save an innocent life from the gallows, Maigret must expose some dark secrets about Meurant, secrets that may expose him to a whole other kind of danger. With a high-stakes courtroom setting that brings out a side of Maigret’s brilliant mind rarely before seen, Maigret in Court is a painful story of an oppressive domestic tragedy and the compassionate insight of a remarkable detective.

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.

The Penguin Crime and Espionage series offers a curated collection of thrilling narratives that delve into the world of crime and espionage. Each installment features gripping plots, complex characters, and intricate twists that keep readers on the edge of their seats. This series aims to showcase both classic and contemporary works, appealing to fans of suspense and intrigue. With a focus on storytelling that captures the essence of mystery and danger, it promises to be a must-read for enthusiasts of the genre.

A bullet in the eye ends the life of the postmistress of a small French village. Because she pried into their secrets, everyone hated her. Everyone was glad she was dead. A man is accused - wrongfully. His life is at stake. In the end his main crime seems to be that he is from Paris, and villagers hang together against outsiders. When Maigret investigates he finds only hostility, shifty answers and lies.

Murder Most A Collection of Great Crime Stories

Set in the in the atmospheric and squalid streets of Paris, Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. In another one of Maigret's unconventional and audacious plans, he arranges the escape of the condemned man in an attempt to prove his theory. The presumed murderer goes on the run across Paris and its suburbs, dropping misleading clues along the way and leading Maigret into the labyrinthine twists of the mystery. Maigret is in for more than he bargained for, as he encounters rich American expatriates, dangerous foreigners and their hidden motives.

When an ominous note predicting the time and place of a death finds its way to Maigret's desk in Paris, his investigation brings him to Saint-Fiacre, the place of his birth. It isn't long before a darkness descends on Maigret and the town, as the prediction becomes a brutal reality and the Inspector discovers he is not welcome in the place he once called home. As much a thriller as a meditation on alienation, The Saint-Fiacre Affair displays Simenon's unique and searing perspective of the struggles we all are forced to endure.

Against all expectations Marcel Féron has made a “normal” life in a bucolic French suburb in the Ardennes. But on May 10, 1940, as Nazi tanks approach, this timid, happy man must abandon his home and confront the “Fate” that he has secretly awaited. Separated from his pregnant wife and young daughter in the chaos of flight, he joins a freight car of refugees hurtling southward ahead of the pursuing invaders. There, he meets Anna, a sad-looking, dark- haired girl, whose accent is “neither Belgian nor German,” and who “seemed foreign to everything around her.” As the mystery of Anna’s identity is gradually revealed, Marcel leaps from the heights of an exhilarating freedom to the depths of a terrifying responsibility—one that will lead him to a blood-chilling choice. When it first appeared in English in 1964, British novelist and critic Brigid Brophy declared The Train to be “the novel his admirers had been expecting all along from Simenon.” Until The Train, she wrote, the dazzlingly prolific novelist had been “a master without a masterpiece.”

On a stormy evening in the coastal town of Concarneau, Monsieur Mostaguen, a local wine merchant, is shot after leaving the Admiral Hotel. When Inspector Maigret is called in to solve the crime, he finds the townspeople in a state of panic, provoked by inflammatory articles in the press, as one by one prominent citizens of the town are attacked. But what connects the victims? What is Emma, the downtrodden hotel waitress, hiding from Maigret? And what is the significance of the mysterious yellow dog lurking around Concarneau, causing its citizens great unease?

Inspector Lognon - an embittered but dedicated detective - is shot. To everyone's amazement, it emerges that Lognon had spent the last ten nights in the room of a beautiful young woman - who has disappeared. In retreading Lognon's secretive last days, Maigret's investigations lead him into the murky world of art-collecting and forgery.

"It's not because you're foreigners. It's because you aren't foreign enough... or else that you are too foreign. Just as the Krull house sits on the edge of a rural French town, the family occupies a marginal place in the life of the community around them. Snubbed by the locals despite having lived there for decades, they rely on trade with passing sailors to earn a living. When their relative arrives unannounced from Germany, with his unsettling, nonchalant ways, the family becomes the target of increasing suspicion and the scapegoat for a terrible crime. Written on the eve of the Second World War, The Krull House is a taut, strangely prophetic novel about how distrust and hostility towards outsiders descends into hate-filled violence." -- Provided by publisher

Is Carl Andersen innocent of murder, or a very good liar? Detective Chief Inspector Maigret has been interrogating the enigmatic Danish aristocrat for seventeen hours. A diamond merchant was found dead, shot at point-blank range, in the garage of Andersen's mansion, yet he will not confess to the crime. To get to the truth, Maigret must delve into the secrets of Three Widows Crossroads, the isolated neighbourhood where he lives with his mysterious, reclusive sister Else - and where, it seems, everyone has something to hide.

A bus stops on the road to Montlu on, and there two strangers meet- Tati, a steely widow, who runs the farm her late husband left behind, and Jean, an odd, quiet man with nowhere to go. There is between them an affinity and Jean agrees to lodge with Tati, and help with the farm as he can. In the still and heat of the summer, they labour together and, inevitably, begin their affair. But nothing is at it seems, and as affections strain and stray, their relationship hurtles toward a disturbing doom . . . First published in 1942 at the same time as Albert Camus' The Outsider, this is Simenon's existentialist masterpiece - a powerful exploration of desire and death, of the barbarous edge that encircles the human soul.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a childhood bully reappears in Maigret’s life, he struggles to put aside his own feelings and carry out his duties as an investigator. When Ferdinand Fumal, a wealthy butcher and political influencer, starts receiving anonymous death threats, he fears for his life, and Maigret is ordered to his protection. But upon meeting the man, Maigret realizes that Fumal was among the childhood bullies who tormented him as a boy. Maigret’s instinct is to pawn the job off on another officer—until Fumal turns up the next morning brutally slain that is. Racked with guilt, Maigret finds himself being blamed for the murder, and so must go about the agonizing task of bringing the murdered butcher’s killer to justice.

'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect' Daily Telegraph A baffling case. A mysterious inheritance. It starts when a man's arm is fished out of Paris's Canal Saint-Martin. Then the rest of the body is retrieved - apart from the head. Inspector Maigret is determined to unearth the truth behind this disturbing murder. When he meets the strangely taciturn owner of a shabby local bistro, Madame Calas, who says her husband is away, the pieces start to fall into place. But, as the dogged, laconic detective discovers, nothing in this tangled case is as it seems.

Why are Emile and Marguerite Bouin still married? They cannot stand each other. This is evident from the moment we meet them, isolated and wordless before a beautiful fire. Their only correspondence is an occasional invective jotted on a scrap of paper--this discreetly flicked across the room to the recipient's lap. A bizarre situation to be sure, but ideal for Simenon. Taking marriage born of a desperate need for companionship and following it to its devastation eight years later, Simenon patiently makes hate almost as alluring as love.

"Adrift, and troubled by her recent divorce from her bourgeoisie husband, we meet Betty alone in a bar. When she is embraced by an older woman, we learn of Betty's adulterous past. Feigning as a victim of high society exclusion, the truth of Betty is eventually revealed; that of a sinister woman overwrought with jealousy who cannot help but ensnare innocents into her dark webs of deception. Originally published in 1961, this psychological thriller caused a sensation and became an instant classic which inspired a film adaptation of the same title."--Provided by publisher

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 on his secretary, Sonia, for any taste of intimacy. They begin a quiet love affair, and from his window at the consulate, he watches her and her family go about their lives in the room across the way. But this is Stalin's world before the war, and nothing is as it seems. . . Georges Simenon's most starkly political work, The People Opposite is a tour de force of slow-burn tension and existentialist meditation.

To be honest, the profession he had always dreamed of did not exist. As a boy in his hometown, he felt that many people were not in their right place or took the wrong path simply because they lacked clarity. He imagined a man of infinite wisdom and insight, both a doctor and a priest, someone who could discern the fate of individuals with a mere glance. This man would be consulted like a physician, a sort of mediator of destinies. Not only because he was intelligent—perhaps he didn't even need exceptional intelligence—but because he could live the lives of others, empathizing with anyone. Maigret had never spoken of this to anyone, nor did he dare to think too seriously about it for fear of feeling ridiculous. Unable to complete his medical studies, he had entered the police force by chance. But was it truly just chance? And aren't police officers sometimes mediators of destinies themselves?

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-SmithCelebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Georges Simenon's brilliant pipe-smoking detective, Jules Maigret, is one of the most beloved literary creations of the twentieth century. In this adventure, an officer from Scotland Yard is studying Maigret's methods when a call from an island off the Cote d'Azure sends the two men off to an isolated community to investigate its eccentric inhabitants.

Hector Loursat, a lawyer in the small town of Moulins, has lived as a drunken recluse since his wife left him eighteen years previously. Unmoored from society and estranged from his daughter, he shuts himself away, numbed by endless bottles of burgundy. But when a dead man is found in his house one night, the resulting police investigation unearths secrets that shake the town - and Loursat's isolation - to the core. No longer able to ignore the world, he emerges to take on the murder case himself and confront the lives of Moulins' by-ways and back streets. In the progressive break-down of Loursat's self-imposed isolation, Simenon brilliantly depicts the psychology of loneliness and a man's tortured re-engagement with humanity and its darkest acts.

“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 A fictional autobiography of Maigret, Georges Simenon’s brilliant detective In this make-believe memoir, Maigret recounts a meeting with the author himself. The account starts with the arrival of Georges Sim, as he is called here, at the Paris Police Judiciaire to soak up atmosphere for his crime novels by dogging the footsteps of Inspector Maigret. The detective is irritated by the audacious young writer who names a character after him and argues that he oversimplifies, in his fiction, the intricate duties of the police investigating a case. Here, Maigret “sets the record straight,” telling readers how he’s different from the invention, and about his courtship and marriage to his beloved Louise. Ingeniously amusing and tender, Maigret’s Memoirs is a look inside the mind of the brilliant Maigret like never before.

Two of Simenon's Maigret crime stories, which originally appeared in "Maigret's Christmas".

Dutch translation of "Maigret a New York"

One rainy night a canal worker stumbles across the strangled body of Mary Lampson in a stable near Lock 14. The dead woman's husband seems unmoved by her death and is curt and unhelpful when Maigret interviews him aboard his yacht. But gradually Maigret is able to piece together their story--a sordid tale of whiskey-fueled orgies and nomadic life on the canals. Can the answer to this crime be found aboard the yacht? Or is the murderer among the bargemen, carters, and lockkeepers who work the canal?

“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 At a lavish dinner party, Inspector Maigret recounts the tale of an old case that has haunted him for years At one of his friends’ frequent dinner parties, Maigret shares the story of a case from a few years back that haunts him to this day, in which a man named Adrien Josset was found guilty and was executed for the murder of his wife, Christine. Adrien had been a weak-willed, mild-mannered man, but Christine, who was much wealthier than he, had used her connections to land him an influential position in an important career. Maigret had interviewed Adrien only once when the examining magistrate took over the case and successfully moved to have him executed. But though all the clues pointed to Adrien’s guilt, Maigret remained unconvinced, and years later, he still doubts the murderer’s true identity. Maigret’s Secret is a thought-provoking dive into the machinations of justice, and the ways in which they can sweep away an innocent man’s life.

'There were some weeks that were painful, nerve-racking. At the office or at home, in the middle of a meal, he would suddenly find his forehead bathed in sweat, a tightness in his chest, and at those times, feeling everyone's eyes on him was unbearable.' When an unusually inquisitive stranger strikes up conversation with Justin Calmar on the train home from a family holiday, his sun-drenched memories are overshadowed by an event that will change his life forever. As he travels alone through northern Italy and Switzerland, his carefully constructed life as an upright citizen begins to unravel, revealing secret motivations and hidden impulses that threaten to overwhelm him. Originally published in 1965, shortly after Simenon moved into the spacious new home he had built in palinges, Switzerland, this chilling novel is a powerful exploration of the fragility of the human psyche.

“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 In Simenon’s iconic first novel featuring Inspector Maigret, the laconic detective is taken from grimy bars to luxury hotels as he traces a fraudster’s true identity Inspector Jules Maigret, a taciturn detective and commissaire of the Paris Brigade Criminelle, receives notice from Interpol that a notorious conman known only as Peitr the Latvian is en route to France. Armed with a broad description and a scant few clues, Maigret plans to intercept him at the train station outside Paris. But when he arrives, he finds that there are several suspects—some living, and some dead—who meet the description uncannily well. Who is Pietr the Latvian, truly? A vagrant, a seaman, a businessman, a corpse? Russian, Norwegian, American or Latvian? In Pietr the Latvian, the iconic first novel of Simenon’s classic series that made Inspector Maigret a legendary figure in the annals of detective fiction, Maigret must use his every instinct to unravel the mystery and track down the truth.

A recently divorced actor and a no less lonely woman meet by chance in a New York diner. The city - its bars, its cheap motels and its rented rooms - becomes the cinematic setting of the couple's escalating and mysterious relationship. A move against desperation and drift, their affair nevertheless glows with an urgent and compulsive romance. Georges Simenon was one of the most popular twentieth-century novelists. Three Bedrooms in Manhattan - closely based on the story of his own meeting with his second wife - is his most passionate and revealing work.

An inexhaustible river, Simenon's work barely fits into the 25 volumes planned for this centenary edition. This first volume gathers nine novels.

'Maigret moved slowly, edging his bulky frame through the throng in Rue Saint-Antoine, which burst into life every morning, the sunshine streaming down from a clear sky on to the little barrows piled high with fruit and vegetables' In these three tales of deception, set in and around Paris, Simenon's celebrated detective uncovers chilling truths about the depths of the human instinct for self-preservation.

Contents:Georges Simenon: An Interview The Man Behind the Looking Glass by Georges Simenon, translated by Harold J. SalemsonAfter the Thin Man: Conclusion by Dashiell HammettA Friend to the Limit by Jeffry ScottFrisbee in the Middle by R.D. BrownMean to My Father by Carolyn BanksKiller's Mind by Michael CollinsIt Was a Hard Fall by Harold Walls