Three seasonal stories set in Paris at Christmas, from the celebrated creator of Inspector Maigret.
It is Christmas in Paris, but beneath the sparkling lights and glittering decorations lie sinister deeds and dark secrets...
This collection brings together three of Simenon's most enjoyable Christmas tales, newly translated, featuring Inspector Maigret and other characters from the Maigret novels. In 'A Maigret Christmas', the Inspector receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. In 'Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook', the sound of alarms over Paris send the police on a cat and mouse chase across the city. And 'The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes (A Christmas Story for Grown-Ups)' tells of a cynical woman who is moved to an unexpected act of festive charity in a nightclub - one that surprises even her...
Praise for Georges Simenon“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.” —
The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —
The Washington Post “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
“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