Maigret in Vichy - (Inspector Maigret) by Georges Simenon (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published as a serial in Le Figaro in 1968.

Book Synopsis

"A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason." --John Le Carré

When his relaxing vacation is interrupted by a small-town murder, Inspector Maigret can't resist lending his investigative powers to the case

Inspector Maigret and his wife take a much needed holiday to Vichy, where they quickly become used to the slower pace of life. But when a woman who they regularly pass by on their daily strolls is murdered, Maigret can't help but offer his assistance to the local Inspector, a former colleague of his.

Set against a backdrop of gorgeous French countryside, Maigret in Vichy shows that even when our trusty detective is outside his jurisdiction, he is still very much in his element.

Review Quotes

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)

About the Author

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.

Ros Schwartz is an award-winning translator from French. Acclaimed for her new version of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince (published in 2010), she has over 100 fiction and nonfiction titles to her name. One of the team retranslating George Simenon's novels for Penguin Classics. She has translated a number of Francophone writers including Tahar ben Jelloun, Fatou Diome and Ousmane Sembène and most recently Max Lobe's A Long Way from Douala.