Cecile is Dead: Inspector Maigret #20

Description

A new translation of this moving novel about the destructive power of greed, part of the Maigret series Poor Cecile! And yet she was still young. Maigret had seen her papers- barely twenty-eight years old. But it would be difficult to look more like an old maid, to move less gracefully, in spite of the care she took to be friendly and pleasant. Those black dresses that she must make for herself from bad paper patterns, that ridiculous green hat! In the dreary suburbs of Paris, the merciless greed of a seemingly respectable woman is unearthed by her long suffering niece, and Maigret discovers the far-reaching consequences of their actions.

Georges Simenon was born in Li ge, Belgium, in 1903. He is best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret novels and his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.

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 "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." -Andre 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."lle -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)