PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS : MAIGRET GOES TO SCHOOL : INSPECTOR MAIGRET #44 – GEORGES SIMENON-HOWARD CURTIS

His artistry is supreme John Banville Maigret wouldn t have admitted that what intrigued him most was the victim s face. All he had seen of it so far was one profile. Was it the bruises that gave her that sullen air? She looked like a bad-tempered little girl. Her combed-back brown hair was very smooth but naturally wavy. The rain had diluted her make-up a little and, instead of making her older or uglier, it made her younger and more appealing. Maigret and his fellow inspector Lognon find themselves trying to out-manoeuver each other when they investigate the case of a mysterious young woman whose new life in Paris is tragically cut short. 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 Guardian