New Releases by Georges Simenon

The story of how it all began: an investigation into a dynastic family pulls a young Maigret away from his desk and into a web of fame, money, and corruption. At age twenty-six, Maigret is a secretary at the Saint-Georges district police station: a lowly, mostly deskbound job. Late one night, a young musician comes in. He had been walking home, he says, when he saw a woman at the window of a mansion, shouting for help. Then a gunshot rang out. The mansion belongs to the Gendreau-Balthazar family, Maigret realizes, whose coffee brand is a household name. Such a high-profile case could be his big break—except this family has powerful friends, among them Maigret’s boss. Can the ambitious young officer conduct an honest investigation? Or must he choose between his idealism and his hopes of promotion? A taut and unpredictable thriller, Maigret’s First Case is also a finely shaded psychological portrait of the fledgling genius who will—one day—become France’s most famous detective.

On a tiny Mediterranean island, a rowdy fisherman is shot dead mere hours after mentioning “my friend Maigret.” The suspects are few—and the famous inspector is trapped among them. On the tiny Mediterranean island of Porquerolles, the fisherman Marcel Pacaud has been shot dead. Hours earlier, he was overheard mentioning “my friend Maigret.” The inspector once knew Pacaud, who has a long rap sheet for pimping and violence. But that was many years ago. If Maigret’s name has inspired murder, he cannot fathom why. Stepping into Porquerolles’s intoxicating atmosphere of tropical heat and perfumed air, he questions an eccentric clique of islanders. Rich or poor, young or old, French, Dutch, or British: they’re all exiles from conventional society. Can Maigret solve the case before he succumbs to “porquerollitis” and joins them? In My Friend Maigret, Georges Simenon puts his mischievous twist on the closed circle mystery, crafting a portrait of an idyll marred by evil.

“A writer who, more than any other crime novelist, combined a high literary reputation with popular appeal.” —P. D. James Caught in a spiral of bitter seclusion and drinking since his wife abandoned him and their newborn child eighteen years ago, Hector Loursat, once a respected lawyer, now holes up, unwashed and drunk on Burgundy, in his once grand but increasingly decrepit mansion. He barely notices the goings-on under his roof or the strange, dangerous secret life his daughter and her friends are leading there. He is shaken from his complacency by a gunshot one night and walks into the scene of a murder. Overcoming the inertia of his long isolation and inexplicably drawn to his daughter’s group of young friends, he finds new engagement with the world as he seeks to clear the name of the young man accused of the killing. Simenon, master chronicler of the dark side of the human heart, gives us a detective story that is also a tale of an improbable redemption.

“Georges Simenon was the twentieth century’s Balzac. But while Balzac spares us nothing of what he’s learned, Simenon’s genius is the art of reduction. He can teach you how to run a restaurant in a few sentences scattered throughout a novel and how to poison your spouse with even fewer lines.” —Gary Indiana Maigret, now fifty-six and retired as detective chief inspector, is crossing the Atlantic for the first time. But this isn’t a vacation: his traveling companion is law student Jean Maura, who believes his father is in trouble. The US-based millionaire’s recent letters betray a fear of imminent death, and he’s been disbursing his fortune in an eccentric manner. Then, as Maigret disembarks in blustery rain at the Statue of Liberty, Jean vanishes. Plunged alone into this brash city, the ex-inspector can only do what he does best: put his investigative mind to work. Moving between five-star hotels and dive bars, tailed by murderous gangsters and assisted by a mournful ex-clown and a mischievous FBI agent, Maigret unpins a long-buried grenade of secrets. A tautly electrifying thriller, this far-flung adventure for Maigret is also an eloquent portrait of mid-century New York, in all its dirt and glamour.

“Simenon has concentrated noir into a darkness as solid and heavy as the interior of a dwarf star.” —William T. Vollmann What happens to everyday morality in a time of political deceit and betrayal? In an unnamed city under military occupation, nineteen-year-old Frank—a low-level thug and thief—should be content enough with his warm home and full stomach, even against the dreariness of an endless winter. Instead, though, he’s inexorably drawn to commit a string of brutal, senseless acts of violence. Set against the backdrop of a bleak, pitiless world, Georges Simenon’s The Snow Was Dirty is a peerless indictment and examination of the chilling banality of evil.

Inspector Maigret believes a man he convicted may not be guilty after all—and so hatches an audacious plan to save him before he is condemned to death. A man escapes out of the High Surveillance wing of the most infamous penitentiary in Paris. Members of the Police Judiciaire see him, but no one moves a muscle. In fact, it’s part of a daring plan concocted by Inspector Maigret, who thinks Joseph Heurtin may not be guilty of the murder of Madame Henderson and her maid—despite Maigret’s having convicted Joseph himself months before. Once on the loose, Joseph is the subject of careful surveillance: will the accused return to his ring of criminal masterminds, or is he indeed as unknowing as he maintained in every interrogation? With his career hanging in the balance, and a search for the escapee ongoing, Maigret must prove Joseph’s innocence before it’s too late, before an execution comes to pass. Georges Simenon’s A Man’s Head is a suspenseful, thrilling tale of a desperate quest for the truth.

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.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré 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.

“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.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a familiar face from Maigret's past brings him word of a mysterious killing, the Inspector jumps on the case When a long lost friend pays a visit to Maigret's office, he is shocked to learn that the man's roommate has been murdered. With the help of his old friend, Maigret delves into the life of the victim and finds a complex web of relationships that leads him to the culprit. Absorbing and impossible to predict, Maigret's Childhood Friend is a riveting mystery that reveals a new shade to the iconic detective.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When he is tasked with solving a seemingly motiveless murder, Inspector Maigret must rely on his famous intuition to discover the truth A retired manufacturer is found murdered with his own pistol in his favorite armchair, shattering the tranquility of a quiet Paris community. The neighbors describe the Josselin household as a bastion of bourgeois compatibility, and Inspector Maigret is stymied by the absence of motive and by the reticence of the bereaved wife. It is not until a chance witness recalls an odd encounter between the deceased and a man in a bistro that the veil of propriety protecting the killer begins to dissolve. Maigret suspects that he’s not being given all the facts in this case as he is drawn deeper into the complex web of family dramas and lies at the heart of it. In Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse, he must rely on his famous intuition above all to uncover the shocking truth.

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray For the first time in his career Inspector Maigret receives written summons to the Prefect's office where he learns that he has been accused of assaulting a young woman. With his career and reputation on the line, Maigret must fight to prove his innocence. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret on the Defensive. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville '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

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray It wasn't a traditional painter's smock that Madam Jonker was wearing. It was more a Dominican's monk's habit, the fabric as thick and soft as a bathrobe...She was holding a palette in her left hand, a brush in her right, and her black eyes lighted on Maigret with curiosity. 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. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Apparition. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville '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 writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré 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.

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray During a quiet spell in June Maigret is called to investigate the disappearance of a reputable businessman. When a body is discovered near the famous Père Lachaise cemetery Maigret struggles to find any clues to the perpetrator and loses his temper when his own reputation is threatened by the case. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret Loses His Temper. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville '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

'His artistry is supreme' John Banville 'Sullenly, he got dressed. Why, whenever he was woken on a winter night like this, did the coffee have a particular taste? The smell of the apartment was different...his pipe, too, had a different taste.' Set against a high-profile hunt for the latest criminal gang to hit Paris, Maigret is determined to track down the murderer of a quiet crook for whom he cannot help feeling affection and respect. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Idle Burglar. '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

'His artistry is supreme' John Banville They suddenly found themselves in an impersonal world, where everyday words no longer seemed to mean anything, where the most mundane details were translated into unintelligible formulae. The judges' black gowns, the ermine, the prosecutor's red robe further added to the impression of a ceremony set in stone where the individual counted for nothing 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. '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 writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré Inspector Maigret becomes entangled in the dramas of a small town on his quest to solve the murder of their former postmistress Maigret is called from his usual duties in Paris to investigate a murder in a small village located close to La Rochelle. A local postmistress has been killed and suspicion has fallen on the local schoolmaster. When Maigret gets there, he discovers a very inward-looking community of people who hated the victim because she knew all their secrets. Maigret must determine if one of those secrets was enough to make someone into a killer.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a young woman with a dark past is found dead on the streets of Paris, Inspector Maigret is on the case A young woman named Lulu, who has a history of brushes with the law and once lived on the streets of the 18th arrondissement, is found murdered in Paris. Maigret is called to the scene and soon learns that her boyfriend, a musician, has gone into hiding upon reading the news of her death. And when the Inspector learns that the young victim was pregnant, he begins to suspect the case might be more sinister than he imagined.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré Maigret stumbles upon a series of murders in Fontenay-le-Comte while visiting an old school friend On his way home from a conference, Maigret stops to visit an old school friend in Fontenay-le-Comte. A man in the same train car introduces himself and asks if Maigret has come to help solve the murder case. In fact, the man’s brother-in-law had been murdered four days earlier, followed by the murder of a local widow in the same way, a blow to the head with a pipe. While Maigret is in town, a third murder is reported. Maigret soon discovers that there are two warring factions in the town, a clear class separation, and an air of suspicion that only he can put to rest.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When Inspector Maigret’s .45 revolver is stolen from his home, he becomes embroiled in a murder in which the gun may have played a deadly role Maigret is the victim of a burglary in which the .45 revolver he had received as a gift from the FBI is stolen. That evening Maigret attends a dinner where François Lagrange, an acquaintance of Maigret’s friend, is expected but fails to appear due to ill health. Following his instincts, Maigret decides to investigate Lagrange’s absence and uncovers a body stowed in a trunk, as well as Lagrange, who refuses to talk and seems to have lost his mind. Only Maigret can uncover the truth—and the fateful role his revolver may have played.

'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.

“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.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré Master novelist Georges Simenon’s critically acclaimed tale of the destructive power of lust and guilt “He felt no resentment towards Andree for biting his lip. In the context of their lovemaking, it had its place.” For Tony and Andree, there are no rules when they meet in the blue room at the Hotel des Voyageurs. Their adulterous affair is intoxicating, passionate—and dangerous. It soon turns into a nightmare from which there can be no escape. Heart-pounding and high-stakes, The Blue Room is a stylish and sensual psychological thriller that weaves a story of cruelty, reckless lust, and relentless guilt.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré An Inspector Maigret mystery that brings the dark side of glamorous expat life in Paris to life In this riveting mystery from Georges Simenon, Maigret must investigate the murder of Mrs. Clark, the wife of a wealthy American industrialist, whose strangled body is found in the basement of an upscale hotel near the Champs-Élysées. Maigret’s inquiries take him from the endless corridors of the Hotel Majestic to the countryside of the Bois de Boulogne and sun-drenched Cannes, into a world of illicit sex work, drug addiction, and blackmail.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré An Inspector Maigret mystery and a gripping tale of lost identity “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.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré A chilling Inspector Maigret mystery set on the Belgian border “She wasn't an ordinary supplicant. She didn't lower her eyes. There was nothing humble about her bearing. She spoke frankly, looking straight ahead, as if to claim what was rightfully hers. ‘If you don't agree to look at our case, my parents and I will be lost, and it will be the most hateful legal error...’” Maigret is asked to the windswept, rainy border town of Givet by a young woman desperate to clear her family of murder. But their well-kept shop, the sleepy community and its raging river all hide their own mysteries.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré The first-ever English publication of Georges Simenon’s compelling novel about summer escape and elusive obsessions “The island itself. Its throbbing heat as if in a belljar under the sun, the scorpion in his son’s bed, the deafening sound of cicadas.” During his first holiday on the island of Porquerolles, Dr. Mahé caught a glimpse of something irresistible. As the memory continues to haunt him, he falls prey to a delusion that may offer an escape from his conventional existence—or may destroy him. Taut, insightful, and impossible to put down, this is the first English translation of The Mahé Circle, Simenon’s dark, malevolent depiction of an ordinary man trapped in mundanity and consumed by obsession.

“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré A gripping domestic tragedy starring Inspector Maigret and set in Simenon’s very own neighborhood “One by one the lighted windows went dark. The silhouette of the dead man could still be seen through the frosted glass like a Chinese shadow puppet. A taxi pulled up. It wasn't the public prosecutor yet. A young woman crossed the courtyard with hurried steps, leaving a whiff of perfume in her wake.” Summoned to the dimly-lit Place des Vosges one night, where he sees shadowy figures at apartment windows, Maigret uncovers a tragic story of desperate lives, unhappy families, addiction and a terrible, fatal greed.

'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves 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. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as The Lock at Charenton. '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