Death Threats: And Other Stories

Description

A new selection of stories featuring the celebrated literary detective, Inspector Maigret An ageing boxer caught in a love triangle. A wealthy Parisian family on the brink of collapse. A mysterious murder in a hotel in Cannes. These tales of human frailty and deceit - three of which are being published in English for the first time - distil the atmosphere, themes and psychological intensity that make Simenon's famous detective series so compelling. Written during the Second World War, just a few years after Simenon had published what was intended to be his last novel featuring Inspector Maigret, these stories encapsulate Simenon's storytelling genius and economy of style. Translated by Ros Schwartz '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' Boyd Tonkin, Times

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.

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. -- John Banville * Financial Times * Simenon's supreme virtue as a novelist, to burrow beneath the surface of his characters' behaviour; to empathise . . . it is this unfailing humanity that makes the Maigret books truly worth reading -- Graema Macrae Burnet * Guardian * 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 -- Boyd Tonkin * Times * Compelling...tense...readers will surely race through each story with relish -- Martin Bentham * Evening Standard *