"One of Simenon's masterpieces" -- Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker
A man’s dismembered body is found in a canal, and only Maigret can uncover the killer
When a man’s headless body is discovered in Paris’s Saint-Martin Canal, Maigret is quick to answer the call. It is in this very neighborhood that he meets a strangely taciturn woman who runs a cafe. Her husband is away on a trip—or so she says. As is often the case, Maigret soon learns that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
As shocking as it is incisive, Maigret and the Headless Corpse is a compelling mystery from Georges Simenon.
About the Author
Georges Simenon (1903–1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. He is best known in the English-speaking world as the author of the Inspector Maigret books. His prolific output of more than four hundred novels and short stories has made him a household name in continental Europe.
Praise For…
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.” —André Gide
“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)
