Lock No. 1: Inspector Maigret #18

Description

A new translation of this novel set in a claustrophobic provincial town, part of the Maigret series Cars drove past along with the trucks and trams, but by now Maigret had realised that they were not important. Whatever roared by like this along the road was not part of the landscape. ... What really counted was the lock, the hooting of the tugs, the stone crusher, the barges and the cranes, the two pilots' bars and especially the tall house where he could make out Ducrau's red chair framed by a window. Maigret is drawn into the orbit of the self-made, mercurial Ducrau, as the latter's past catches up with him.

Georges Simenon (Author) 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. David Coward (Translator) David Coward is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Leeds and has translated many books from French for Penguin Classics.

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)