Maigret and the man on the bench - Georges Simenon

'His artistry is supreme' John Banville

'He was wearing a dark suit, a beige raincoat and on his feet, which were twisted at an odd angle, he wore yellow-brown shoes, which seemed out of keeping with a day as colourless as this.
Apart from his shoes he looked so ordinary that he would have passed completely unnoticed on the street or on one of the numerous caf terraces on the boulevard.'

'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