Maigret and the Killer

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

When a dinner between Inspector Maigret and friends ends abruptly at the discovery of a body, the detective must plumb the darker side of human nature to discover what motivates a killer

Maigret and wife have always enjoyed their occasional dinners with Mr. and Mrs. Pardon on the Boulevard Voltaire. But one of the congenial meals is interrupted by a neighbor who has stumbled across the body of a young man in the nearby Rue Popincourt. Maigret answers the call with his friend Dr. Pardon, and their pleasant evening is quickly brought to an end by the commencement of a complicated murder case. And when a tape recorder is discovered on the victim’s body, it only complicates matters.

Maigret’s investigation leads to the discovery of another crime altogether and the fascinating story of the murdered man’s life. Maigret and the Killer is a taut, engrossing mystery that shows off Georges Simenon’s flair for creating complex characters with deeply human problems and his ability to make a senseless crime understandable.Praise for Georges Simenon:

“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

“These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post

“The matchless French crime novelist.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

“Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People

“I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner

“An astute observer of human nature, writing in a spare and vivid style.” —Amor Towles

“I never read contemporary fiction–with one exception: the works of Simenon.” —T.S. Eliot

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

“One of the most important writers of our century.” —Gabriel García Márquez

“A favorite writer of mine.” —Sigrid Nunez

“A great writer of detail, of atmosphere.” —Leïla Slimani

“Feels incredibly modern…A great writer.” —Ian Rankin

“The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide

“A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London)

“Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London)

“Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray

“A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark

“A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.” —Peter Ackroyd

“Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville

“Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world’s bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor” ―Times (London)

“Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it’s the food that counts.” ―Margaret Atwood

“One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters – above all, an atmosphere.” ―Financial Times

“Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You’ll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn.” ―Stig Abell, The Sunday Times (London)Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. He is best known in the English-speaking world as the author of the Inspector Maigret books. His prolific output of more than four hundred novels and short stories has made him a household name in continental Europe.GB

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