A Crime in Holland

A new translation of Georges Simenon’s novel set in a tranquil town on the dutch coast, book seven in the new Penguin Maigret series. ‘Just take a look,’ Duclos said in an undertone, pointing to the scene all round them, the picture-book town, with everything in its place, like ornaments on the mantlepiece of a careful housewife…‘Everyone here earns his living. Everyone’s more or less content. And above all, everyone keeps his instincts under control, because that’s the rule here, and a necessity if people want to live in society.’ When a French professor visiting the quiet, Dutch coastal town of Delfzjil is accused of murder, Maigret is sent to investigate. The community seem happy to blame an unknown outsider, but there are people much closer to home who seem to know much more than they’re letting on: Beetje, the dissatisfied daughter of a local farmer, Any van Elst, sister-in-law of the deceased and a notorious local crook. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret in Holland. “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” (John Gray). “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). “A supreme writer…unforgettable vividness.” (Independent).

Author Biography

Georges Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium, in 1903. He is best know 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.