‘Quite simply a masterpiece’ John Banville‘I’ve just found a stranger in my house. In a bed on the second floor. He was dying when I got there. You’re going to have to deal with it’Hector Loursat has been a drunken recluse since his wife left him eighteen years ago. Shut away in his dilapidated mansion in the small town of Moulins, he barely speaks to his daughter. But when the sound of a gunshot penetrates the padded walls of his study one night, and he discovers a body, Loursat is forced to act. No longer able to ignore the world, he determines to get to the truth of what happened, and save an innocent life.

About the AuthorGeorges Simenon (Author) Georges Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium, in 1903. He is best known 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.ReviewsQuite simply a masterpiece — John BanvilleMore philosophically profound than any of the fiction of Camus or Sartre, and far less self-conscious. This is existentialism with a backbone of tempered steel * New Republic *Book InformationISBN 9780241487099Author Georges SimenonFormat PaperbackPage Count 224Imprint Penguin ClassicsPublisher Penguin Books LtdWeight(grams) 168gDimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 13mm