The Grand Banks Cafe - Georges Simenon

'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves


It was indeed a photograph, a picture of a woman. But the face was
completely hidden, scribbled all over in red ink. Someone had tried to
obliterate the head, someone very angry. The pen had bitten into the
paper. There were so many criss-crossed lines that not a single square
millimetre had been left visible.

On the other hand, below the
head, the torso had not been touched. A pair of large breasts. A light-coloured silk dress, very tight and very low cut.

Sailors
don't talk much to other men, especially not to policemen. But after
Captain Fallut's body is found floating near his trawler, they all
mention the Evil Eye when they speak of the Ocean's voyage.

Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as The Sailors' Rendezvous.

'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray

'One of the
greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian


'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent