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Georges Simenon

    13 februari 1903 – 4 september 1989

    Georges Simenon, een meester in spannende proza, stond bekend om zijn buitengewone productiviteit en zijn scherpe vermogen om de complexiteit van de menselijke psyche te vatten. Zijn omvangrijke oeuvre, dat honderden titels omvat, wordt gekenmerkt door een diep inzicht in de menselijke natuur en meesterlijk vertel talent. Vooral zijn detectiveverhalen met inspecteur Maigret overstegen taalbarrières en veroverden film- en radioplatformen, waarmee hij zijn talent demonstreerde voor het creëren van onvergetelijke personages en boeiende plots. Naast zijn beroemde rechercheurs, dook Simenon in de diepten van menselijke motivatie en ervaring in zijn psychologische romans en autobiografische werken, waarmee hij zijn nalatenschap als een toonaangevende figuur in de 20e-eeuwse literatuur vestigde.

    Georges Simenon
    De merel in de tuin
    De pijp van Maigret
    Maigret en meneer Charles
    Maigret en Meneer Maandag
    Atlas de Twintigste Eeuw: De zoon, Striptease & Brief aan mijn rechter
    Maigret Incognito
    • Maigret Incognito

      • 191bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      The Yellow Dog The citizens of Concarneau are not happy when Maigret begins his murder investigation: but there is poison in the Pernod, a howling yellow dog and it seems, a madman on the loose. Maigret and the Burglar's Wife While committing a burglary, 'Sad Freddie' discovers the body of a dead woman, holding a telephone in her hand. Can Maigret believe the burglar's wife in the face of other evidence? Inspector Cadaver During investigations, Maigret has to deal with an old enemy - an ex-police officer nicknamed 'Inspector Cadaver' - who seems to be doing everything in his power to obstruct him. Maigret's Little Joke Maigret and his wife take a secret holiday in Paris. When a murder occurs, Maigret must get his information from the press and radio. How can he leave Janvier to solve the crime alone?

      Maigret Incognito
      4,4
    • Maigret en Meneer Maandag

      • 160bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      Deze bundel uit Simenons grote tijd bewijst weer eens hoezeer Simenon een meester is in het vertellen van boeiende en sfeervolle verhalen.In het titelverhaal worden wij geconfronteerd met een crime de passion begaan uit jaloezie, iets waar de Fransen altijd zeer begrijpend tegenover hebben gestaan. Het dienstmeisje van een longarts (zij verrichtte ook diensten op het zeer persoonlijke vlak) wordt vermoord via een ingenieuze en gruwelijke methode: roggenaalden. De oude clochard Maandag die één maal per week ten huize van de chique longarts mag komen eten bracht deze venijnige naalden mee, verstopt in moorkoppen!Twee lijken aan boord van een trekschuit (La péniche aux deux pendus)De vergiftingszaak op de boulevard Beaumarchais (L'affaire du boulevard Beaumarchais)Het open raam (La fenêtre ouverte)Maigret en meneer Maandag (Monsieur Lundi)Het raadsel van de trein in de nacht (Jeumont, 51 minutes d'arrêt)De reddende moord (Peine de mort)De druppels kaarsvet (Les larmes de bougie)Rue Pigalle (Rue Pigalle)Een vergissing van Maigret (Un erreur de Maigret)

      Maigret en Meneer Maandag
      3,9
    • De merel in de tuin

      • 186bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Jonas Milk, de kleine man uit Archangelsk - zoals de letterlijke vertaling van de titel van deze roman luidt - heeft zich, hoewel van oorsprong vreemdeling, in de Franse provinciestad altijd voortreffelijk thuis gevoeld. Over zijn huwelijk met zijn veel jongere vrouw Gina heeft hij zich nooit veel vragen gesteld, er waren nooit echt belangrijke problemen. Totdat plotseling, volkomen buiten zijn schuld, Gina spoorloos verdwijnt. Jonas, in de war gebracht, verzint voor zichzelf en de buitenwereld een voor de hand liggende verklaring. Maar niemand gelooft of vertrouwt hem. Hij is verdacht en wordt daarom onherroepelijk uit de gemeenschap verdreven...

      De merel in de tuin
      4,0
    • Maigret en zijn dode

      • 215bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      Onderzoeksrechter Victor Bréjon, een vriend van Maigret, overtuigt de commissaris om naar de Vendée te reizen om een moord op te lossen: Bréjons zwager, een welvarende en in het dorp onpopulaire landeigenaar, zou een jonge man hebben vermoord. De commissaris stuit op een muur van stilte en ontmoet tot zijn grote ergernis een voormalige collega van het Quai des Orfèvres: Justin Cavre, bijgenaamd "Inspecteur Cadavre", die inmiddels de leiding heeft over een privé-detectivebureau en al met de zaak bezig is - en altijd een stap voor is op Maigret. Maigrets 24e zaak speelt zich af in een fictief dorp in de Vendée.

      Maigret en zijn dode
      3,9
    • De blauwe kamer

      • 176bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Vain, womanising Tony and passionate, manipulative Andree met eight times in eleven months in the blue room at the Hotel des Voyageurs for afternoons of abandoned love. For Tony the conversation that last time was just the casual, almost banal, talk of lovers. But for Andree it was something else. And it led inevitably to an appalling double murder and a nightmare which Tony couldn't escape.

      De blauwe kamer
      3,9
    • Maigret en de weduwe Besson

      • 189bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      De plotselinge dood van haar dienstmeisje is voor een weduwe aanleiding de hulp in te roepen van commissaris Maigret.

      Maigret en de weduwe Besson
      3,8
    • Nederlandse vertaling van "Maigret a l'Ecole". Zwarte Beertjes 38. "De moord op een bejaarde vrouw brengt Maigret naar Saint-Andre sur Mer, een kleine dorpsgemeenschap waarin iedereen elkaar kent. Maigret stelt zich voor deze zaak snel tot een oplossing te kunnen brengen en er voorts te genieten van oesters en witte wijn op een terras aan de oceaan. Maar Meigret merkt al gauw hoe gesloten zo'n dorpse samenleving kan zijn. Van vakantie is vooralsnog geen sprake, van een oplossing nog minder... [tekst omslag]

      Maigret en de geschaduwde schoolmeester
      3,8
    • Commissaris Maigret volgt het spoor van een moordenaar via Nice naar Genève en weer terug naar Parijs.

      Maigret op reis
      3,8
    • Dood in de lente

      • 130bladzijden
      • 5 uur lezen

      De dokter van een Amerikaanse zakenman wordt in Florence ontvoerd door mensen die goed thuis zijn in het Toscaanse heuvelland.

      Dood in de lente
      3,4
    • Het einde van een gentleman

      • 237bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      Dit boek verscheen eerder onder de titel "De man van Oebangi" Michel Maudet wordt na verscheidene mislukkingen secretaris van de oude miljonair Dieudonné Ferchaux. Om arrestatie voor vroegere misdaden te ontlopen, besluit de miljonair in gezelschap van Michel naar Zuid-Amerika te vluchten, na in Frankrijk een financieel schandaal te hebben ontketend. In deze nieuwe wereld wordt hem echter het grootste deel van zijn fortuin afhandig gemaakt en verliest hij zijn geheimzinnige macht, terwijl een slopende ziekte hem verandert in een zielige oude man. Michel, die hem vroeger bewonderde en in hem zijn meerdere moest erkennen, voelt nu nog slechts weerzin tegen de eertijds gevreesde 'man van Oebangi', maar hij mist de kracht hem voorgoed te verlaten. De bijzondere verhouding tussen de twee mannen vindt een einde in de dramatische ontknoping, die Simenon met ongenadige scherpte beschrijft.

      Het einde van een gentleman
      3,7
    • In geval van nood

      • 190bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Dagboek over de liefdesrelatie tussen een succesvolle advocaat en een cliënte.

      In geval van nood
      3,7
    • Maigret en de maniak van Montmartre

      • 191bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Met de regelmaat van een klok worden in een bepaalde wijk van Parijs vrouwen vermoord, schijnbaar zonder enig motief. De dader heeft geen interesse voor de vaak kostbare sieraden van zijn slachtoffers en is evenmin een lustmoordenaar, daar geen van de vrouwen sporen van een aanranding vertoont. Er is geen enkele aanwijzing te vinden waarom en door wie de moorden worden gepleegd en de recherche van de Quai des Orfèvres staat voor een schier onmogelijke taak. Alleen zijn steeds de kleren van de slachtoffers in flarden gescheurd en met dit gegeven begint commissaris Maigret aan een aanvankelijk uitzichtloos lijkende speurtocht naar de moordenaar. Een knoop waaraan nog een paar draden van een weefsel hangen vormt het enige aanknopingspunt em met dit voorwerpje weet Maigret de maniak van Montmartre in handen te krijgen.

      Maigret en de maniak van Montmartre
      3,6
    • Maigret in "het Hellegat"

      • 158bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      In "Maigret in 'Het Hellegat'" wordt een auto uit het water gevist. In de kofferbak ligt een vrouw die al minstens drie dagen dood moet zijn. "De oude dame uit Bayeux" wordt dood aangetroffen in haar woning. Haar gezelschapsdame en haar neef beschuldigen elkaar van de moord. "Stan de Killer" is de leider van een moorddadige bende. Niemand kent hem, iedereen is bang van hem. Dan biedt iemand Maigret de leider te ontwapenen... In "Hôtel Étoile du Nord", een derderangs hotelletje, is een man vermoord. Over twee dagen gaat Maigret met pensioen en zijn hoofd staat helemaal niet naar deze zaak.

      Maigret in "het Hellegat"
    • Jonas Milk, de kleine man uit Archangelsk woont al jaren in een Frans provinciestadje. Hij is getrouwd met Gina, die vel jonger is dan hij, en hij weet niet beter dan dat hun huwelijk goed is. Dan verdwijnt Gina plotseling spoorloos. Jonas kan geen enkele verklaring vinden voor haar vertrek en in de war gebracht door deze onverwachte gebeurtenis, verzint hij voor zichzelf en de buitenwereld een voor de hand liggende verklaring. Maar niemand gelooft of vertrouwt hem. Hij is bijvoorbaat verdacht en wordt daarom onherroepelijk uit de gemeenschap verdreven.

      De Merel in de Tuin 7
    • Een oude rechter uit Versailles heeft zich teruggetrokken in het vissersdorpje l'Aiguillon. Zijn rustige bestaan wordt echter ruw verstoord wanneer in zijn huis het lijk wordt gevonden van een hem totaal onbekende man. Commissaris Maigret staat voor de taak het mysterie op te helderen. Een misdaad uit het verre verleden blijkt de sleutel tot de oplossing te zijn.

      Zwarte beertjes - 464: Maigret en het huis van de rechter
    • Maigret aarzelt

      • 156bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      Een anonieme brief waarschuwt Maigret voor een moord die gepleegd zal worden op een van de leden van het gezin van een bekende advocaat.

      Maigret aarzelt
    • Maigret en de miljoenenerfenis

      • 157bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      Wanneer een van de leden van een familie van biscuitfabrikanten is vermoord, komt Maigret in actie.

      Maigret en de miljoenenerfenis
    • 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.

      Der Tod des Auguste Mature
      4,5
    • Madame Maigret's Recipes

      • 183bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      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

      Madame Maigret's Recipes
      4,5
    • 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.

      Tout Maigret
      4,1
    • Madame Maigrets Liebhaber

      • 176bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      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.

      Madame Maigrets Liebhaber
      3,7
    • Maigret in Vichy

      • 192bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      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.

      Maigret in Vichy
      4,0
    • Maigret's Doubts

      • 176bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      “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.

      Maigret's Doubts
      4,0
    • Maigret's Boyhood Friend

      • 196bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      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

      Maigret's Boyhood Friend
      4,0
    • The Hatter's Ghosts

      • 208bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      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.

      The Hatter's Ghosts
      3,9
    • The Hand

      • 160bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      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.

      The Hand
      3,9
    • 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.

      Crime Masterworks - 33: The Stain on the Snow
      3,9
    • The Pitards

      • 160bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      '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.

      The Pitards
      3,4
    • The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By

      • 256bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré In this Georges Simenon classic, a Dutch clerk flees to Paris with his crooked boss’s money and meets the woman behind the man “A certain furtive, almost shameful emotion . . . disturbed him whenever he saw a train go by, a night train especially, its blinds drawn down on the mystery of its passengers.” Kees Popinga is a respectable Dutch citizen and family man—until the day he discovers his boss has bankrupted the shipping firm he works for, and something snaps. Kees used to watch the trains go by on their way to exciting destinations. Now, on some dark impulse, he boards one at random, and begins a new life of recklessness and violence. The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By is a chilling portrayal of a man who breaks from society and goes on the run asks who we are, and what we are capable of.

      The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By
      3,9
    • When I Was Old

      • 464bladzijden
      • 17 uur lezen

      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.

      When I Was Old
      3,8
    • Simenon Omnibus

      No. 6

      • 320bladzijden
      • 12 uur lezen

      English, French (translation)

      Simenon Omnibus
      3,6
    • “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.

      Inspector Maigret - 55: Maigret in Court
      3,8
    • 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.

      Maigret's Christmas
      3,8
    • Maigret's Revolver

      Inspector Maigret

      • 158bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      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.

      Maigret's Revolver
      3,8
    • Murder Most Foul

      • 352bladzijden
      • 13 uur lezen

      Murder Most A Collection of Great Crime Stories

      Murder Most Foul
      3,8
    • 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.

      A Man's Head
      3,9
    • 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.

      Inspector Maigret: The Saint-Fiacre Affair
      3,8
    • The Madman of Bergerac

      • 160bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré A tense, unforgettable Inspector Maigret mystery from Georges Simenon “He recalled his travelling companion’s agitated sleep—was it really sleep?—his sighs, and his sobbing. Then the two dangling legs, the patent-leather shoes and hand-knitted socks . . . An insipid face. Glazed eyes. And Maigret was not surprised to see a grey beard eating into his cheeks.” A distressed passenger leaps off a night train and vanishes into the woods. Maigret, on his way to a well-earned break in the Dordogne, is soon plunged into the pursuit of a madman, hiding amongst the seemingly respectable citizens of Bergerac.

      The Madman of Bergerac
      3,8
    • Maigret and the Lazy Burglar

      • 160bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré During a high-profile hunt for the latest criminal gang to hit Paris, Maigret is determined to track down the murderer of a quiet crook whom he cannot help but respect When the body of Honoré Cuendot, an old burglar acquaintance of Maigret’s, is found in the Bois de Boulogne with his face bashed in, Maigret is appalled that his superiors consider it a mere gangland killing. And there’s a personal element to this case as well: Maigret rather liked Cuendot. Instead of concentrating on the flashy bank robberies occupying the rest of his department, Maigret decides to inquire into Cuendot’s life—and finds himself tied up in the bank robberies, too, along the way. A deliberate, involving murder mystery that only the likes of our trusty Inspector could solve, Maigret and the Lazy Burglar reveals that Maigret’s famous intuition is only one of his skills, and that his incredible empathy is just as important for bringing about justice.

      Maigret and the Lazy Burglar
      3,8
    • The Train

      • 153bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      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.”

      The Train
      3,8
    • Maigret and the Yellow Dog

      • 138bladzijden
      • 5 uur lezen

      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?

      Maigret and the Yellow Dog
      3,8
    • Maigret and the Ghost

      • 145bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      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.

      Maigret and the Ghost
      3,8
    • The Krull House

      • 208bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      "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

      The Krull House
      3,7
    • 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.

      Maigret at the crossroads
      3,8
    • The Widow Couderc

      • 100bladzijden
      • 4 uur lezen

      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.

      The Widow Couderc
      3,7
    • Letter to my mother

      • 64bladzijden
      • 3 uur lezen

      Simenon explores the complexity of parent child relationships and the bitterness of things left unsaid in this stark, confessional piece.

      Letter to my mother
      3,8
    • Maigret's Failure

      • 176bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      “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.

      Maigret's Failure
      3,7
    • "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

      Betty
      3,6
    • Maigret Hesitates

      • 192bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a mysterious letter writer warns Inspector Maigret that a murder is imminent, Maigret must trace the messages back to their source before it is too late When a series of letters, penned on expensive stationery, arrives at Maigret's desk claiming that a murder will take place but that the writer is unsure as to who will die, who will do the killing, and when the killing will occur, Maigret's interest is piqued. He quickly traces the stationery back to the house of Emile Parendon, an eminent lawyer. But once there, the inspector finds that pinning down clues to a crime not yet committed isn't easy. When a murder does take place, the identity of the victim surprises even Maigret. A twisty and engrossing mystery, Maigret Hesitates puts the great detective's powers to the test.

      Maigret Hesitates
      3,7
    • Maigret and the Dead Girl

      • 176bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      “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 When the body of a young girl is found in a Montmartre park, Maigret must team up with a rival investigator to bring her killer to justice. Maigret and fellow inspector Lognon clash in their investigations into the murder of an unknown young woman in Paris. Maigret endeavors 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
      3,7
    • 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?--Provided by publisher.

      Inspector Maigret: Maigret's Madwoman
      3,6