Maigret and the Old Lady (Inspector Maigret) - by Georges Simenon (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A maid dies after sipping a poisoned drink on a country estate. Was the woman of the house the true target, as she claims, or will Maigret uncover another story?

In the tranquil coastal village of Étretat, a young maid has died after drinking an arsenic-laced sleeping draught. The murderer's real target, however, was the elderly widow Valentine Besson. Or so Valentine declares when she visits Maigret in Paris, humbly requesting that he take on the case.

Swapping his official patch for the seaside, Maigret encounters mixed opinions on the Besson family, whose late patriarch was a face cream magnate. Is Valentine a sweet old lady or a cold-hearted phony? Is the mutual loathing with her beautiful, unhappy daughter a red herring or the key to the mystery? In these picture-postcard surroundings, Maigret must distinguish truth from window dressing--and quell his own rising distaste for grim reality--before tragedy strikes again.

About the Author

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. An intrepid traveler with a profound interest in people, Simenon strove on and off the page to understand--and not to judge--the human condition in all its shades. His books include the Inspector Maigret series and a richly varied body of wider work united by its evocative power, its economy of means, and its penetrating psychological insight. He is among the most widely read writers in the global canon.

Ros Schwartz has translated numerous works of fiction and nonfiction from French, including a new translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince and Mireille Gansel's Translation as Transhumance. The recipient of a number of awards, she was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2009 and received the Institute of Translation and Interpreting's John Sykes Memorial Prize for Excellence in 2017.