Maigret and the Headless Corpse

One of Simenon's masterpieces . . . photographic . . . a superior stylist . . . . . . Simenon's subject is how people who are pushed to the edge push themselves over it; the force of the sleuthing is that of psychoanalysis, not police interrogation -- Adam Gopnik * New Yorker * 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 * A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness * Independent * 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 * The Times * The most addictive of writers . . . a unique teller of tales * Observer *