{"product_id":"inspector-maigretisbn-9780141394770","title":"Inspector Maigret","description":"\u003cb\u003e“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA chilling Inspector Maigret mystery set on the Belgian border\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“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...’”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaigret 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.\u003cb\u003ePraise for Georges Simenon:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The matchless French crime novelist.” —Adam Gopnik, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “An astute observer of human nature, writing in a spare and vivid style.” —Amor Towles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I never read contemporary fiction–with one exception: the works of Simenon.” —T.S. Eliot\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “One of the most important writers of our century.” —Gabriel García Márquez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A favorite writer of mine.” —Sigrid Nunez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A great writer of detail, of atmosphere.” —Leïla Slimani\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Feels incredibly modern…A great writer.” —Ian Rankin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.” —Peter Ackroyd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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\" ―\u003ci\u003eTimes\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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.\" ―\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn.\" ―Stig Abell, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cb\u003eGEORGES SIMENON \u003c\/b\u003e(1903–1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. 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 have made him a household name in continental Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShaun Whiteside\u003c\/b\u003e is a translator of French, Dutch, German, and Italian literature. He has translated many novels, including \u003ci\u003eManituana\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAltai\u003c\/i\u003e by Wu Ming, \u003ci\u003eThe Weekend\u003c\/i\u003e by Bernhard Schlink, \u003ci\u003eSerotonin\u003c\/i\u003e by Michel Houellebecq, and \u003ci\u003eMagdalene the Sinner\u003c\/i\u003e by Lilian Faschinger, which won him the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation in 1997.\u003cp\u003e                    \u003c\/p\u003e                        \u003cp\u003eGeorges Simenon\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e                    \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e                                \u003cp\u003eTHE FLEMISH                    HOUSE\u003c\/p\u003e                \u003cb\u003e                    \u003ci\u003eTranslated by Shaun Whiteside\u003c\/i\u003e                \u003c\/b\u003e                \u003cp\u003e                                    \u003c\/p\u003e                                            \u003cb\u003ePENGUIN BOOKS\u003c\/b\u003e            \u003cp\u003ePublished by the Penguin Group\u003cbr\u003e Penguin                Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Group                (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Group                (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P                    2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Ireland, 25                St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)\u003cbr\u003e                Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia                (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11                Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Group                (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson                New Zealand Ltd)\u003cbr\u003e Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Block D, Rosebank                Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Gauteng 2193, South Africa\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003ePenguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80                Strand, London WC2R ORL, England\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                www.penguin.com            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eFirst published in French as\u003ci\u003e Chez les                    Flamards\u003c\/i\u003e by Fayard 1932\u003cbr\u003eThis translation first published in Penguin                Books 2014\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eCopyright 1932 by Georges Simenon                Limited\u003cbr\u003eTranslation copyright © Shaun Whiteside, 2014\u003cbr\u003eGEORGES SIMENON ®                Simenon.tm\u003cbr\u003e MAIGRET ® Georges Simenon Limited\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eCover © Harry Gruyaert\/Magnum Photos\u003cbr\u003eFront                cover design by Alceu Chiesorin Nunes\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eThe moral rights of the author and                translator have been asserted\u003c\/p\u003e                        \u003cp\u003eISBN 978-0-698-19386-4\u003c\/p\u003e                                            \u003cp\u003e                Title Page            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                                Copyright            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                About the Author            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                1. Anna Peeters            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                2. The \u003ci\u003eÉtoile Polaire\u003c\/i\u003e            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                3. The Midwife            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                4. The Portrait            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                5. Maigret’s Evening            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                6. The Hammer            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                7. A Three-Hour Gap            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                8. The Visit to the Ursulines            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                9. Around a Wicker Armchair            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                10. Solveig’s Song            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                11. Anna’s Ending            \u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                EXTRA: Chapter 1 from \u003ci\u003eThe Madman of Bergerac\u003c\/i\u003e            \u003c\/p\u003e                    \u003cb\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR\u003c\/b\u003e        \u003cp\u003eGeorges Simenon was born on 12 February            1903 in Liège, Belgium, and died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived            for the latter part of his life. Between 1931 and 1972 he published seventy-five novels            and twenty-eight short stories featuring Inspector Maigret.\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003eSimenon always resisted identifying himself            with his famous literary character, but acknowledged that they shared an important            characteristic:\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e            \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy motto, to the extent that I have                one, has been noted often enough, and I’ve always conformed to it. It’s                the one I’ve given to old Maigret, who resembles me in certain points …                ‘understand and judge not’.\u003c\/p\u003e                \u003cp\u003ePenguin is publishing the entire series of            Maigret novels.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e            PENGUIN CLASSICS        \u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cb\u003eTHE FLEMISH HOUSE\u003c\/b\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of            Chekhov’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— William Faulkner\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘A truly wonderful            writer … marvellously readable – lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the            world he creates’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— Muriel Spark\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘Few writers have ever conveyed with such a            sure touch, the bleakness of human life’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— A. N. Wilson\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘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’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘A novelist who entered his fictional world            as if he were part of it’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— Peter Ackroyd\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘The greatest of all, the most genuine            novelist we have had in literature’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— André Gide\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘Superb … The most addictive of            writers … A unique teller of tales’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘The mysteries of the human personality are            revealed in all their disconcerting complexity’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— Anita Brookner\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘A writer who, more than any other crime            novelist, combined a high literary reputation with popular appeal’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— P. D. James\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘A supreme writer … Unforgettable            vividness’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e — \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘Compelling, remorseless,            brilliant’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— John Gray\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e‘Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth            century’\u003c\/p\u003e        \u003cp\u003e— John Banville\u003c\/p\u003e                                    \u003cp\u003e1. Anna Peeters\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eWhen Maigret got off the train at Givet                station the first person he saw, right opposite his compartment, was Anna                Peeters.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eIt was as if she had predicted that he                would stop at this precise spot on the platform! She didn’t seem either                surprised or proud of the fact. She was just as he had seen her in Paris, as she                must always have been, dressed in a gunmetal suit and black shoes, wearing a hat                whose shape or even colour it was impossible to remember afterwards.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eHere, in the wind that swept the                platform, where only a few passengers were now walking, she looked taller, a little                stouter. Her nose was red, and she was holding a handkerchief rolled up in a                ball.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘I was sure you would come,                inspector …’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eWas she sure of herself, or sure of him?                She didn’t smile as she greeted him. She was already asking him questions:\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘Do you have any other                luggage?’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eNo! Maigret had only his bellows case,                in coarse mellowed leather, and he carried it himself, in spite of its weight.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eThe only people to leave the train were                third-class passengers, who had already disappeared. The girl held out her platform                ticket to the ticket collector, who looked at her insistently.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eOutside, she went on without fuss:\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘At first I thought of getting a                room ready for you at home. Then I thought it through. In the end I imagine                it’s better for you to stay at a hotel. So I’ve booked the best room at                the Hôtel de la Meuse.’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eThey had walked barely a hundred metres                along the little streets of Givet, and already everyone was turning to look at them.                Maigret walked heavily, dragging his suitcase along at his side. He tried to notice                everything: the people, the houses, and particularly his companion.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘What’s that noise?’                he asked her, hearing a sound that he couldn’t identify.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘The Meuse in spate, slapping                against the piers of the bridge. Boat transport has been suspended for three weeks                now.’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eEmerging from a sidestreet, they                suddenly came upon the river. It was broad. Its banks were indistinct. In places the                brown waters spread into the meadows. Elsewhere, a boathouse emerged from the                water.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eIt held at least a hundred barges, tugs                and dredgers, pressed tightly against one another, forming a huge block.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘Here’s your hotel. It                isn’t very cosy. Do you want to stop and take a bath?’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eIt was baffling! Maigret couldn’t                define the sensation that he felt. Never, he was sure, had a woman ever aroused his                curiosity as much as this one; she stayed calm and unsmiling, made no attempt to                look pretty and sometimes dabbed her nose with her handkerchief.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eShe must have been between twenty-five                and thirty. A lot taller than the average, she was solidly built, with a bone structure that stripped her features of all grace.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eThe clothes of a lower-middle-class                woman, extremely sober. A calm, almost distinguished reserve.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eShe treated him like a guest. She was at                home. She thought of everything.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘I have no reason to take a                bath.’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘In that case, will you come                straight to the house? Give your suitcase to the porter. Porter! Take this suitcase                to room 3. The gentleman will be back shortly.’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eAnd Maigret thought, as he looked at her                from the corner of his eye: ‘I must look like an idiot!’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eFor there was nothing of the little boy                about him. Even though she wasn’t exactly frail, he was twice as wide as she                was, and his big overcoat made him look as if he was carved from stone.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘Aren’t you                tired?’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘Not at all!’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘In that case, I can already tell                you the first few bits of information on the way …’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eShe had already given him the first bits                of information in Paris! One fine day when he got to his office, he had found this                strange woman who had been waiting for him for two or three hours, and whom the                office boy had been unable to send away.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘It’s personal!’ she                had announced as he questioned her in front of two police inspectors.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eAnd once they were alone she had handed                him a letter. Maigret had recognized the handwriting of one of his wife’s                cousins, who lived in Nancy.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e                \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy dear Maigret,\u003c\/p\u003e                \u003cp\u003eMiss Anna Peeters has been                    recommended to me by my brother-in-law, who has known her for about ten years.                    She is a very responsible young woman, who will tell you of her misfortunes                    herself. Do what you can for her …\u003c\/p\u003e                        \u003cp\u003e‘Do you live in Nancy?’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘No, in Givet!’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘But the letter …’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘I went to Nancy on purpose,                before coming to Paris. I knew my cousin knew someone important in the police force                …’\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003eShe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e            \u003cp\u003e‘If you don’t agree to look                at our case, my parents and I will be lost, and it will be the most hateful                miscarriage of justice …’\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304880885989,"sku":"NP9780141394770","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780141394770.jpg?v=1730758728","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/inspector-maigretisbn-9780141394770","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}