“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré When a Montmarte stripper overhears a plot to murder

“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

A case involving a countess's shadowy past draws Chief Inspector Maigret into the world of striptease artists and morphine addicts.