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Maigret and the Headless Corpse
Maigret and the Headless Corpse
Oct 6, 2024 10:21 AM

Author:Georges Simenon,Howard Curtis

Maigret and the Headless Corpse

'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect' Daily Telegraph

A baffling case. A mysterious inheritance.

It starts when a man's arm is fished out of Paris's Canal Saint-Martin. Then the rest of the body is retrieved - apart from the head. Inspector Maigret is determined to unearth the truth behind this disturbing murder. When he meets the strangely taciturn owner of a shabby local bistro, Madame Calas, who says her husband is away, the pieces start to fall into place. But, as the dogged, laconic detective discovers, nothing in this tangled case is as it seems.

Reviews

Not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor.

—— Boyd Tonkin , The Times

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

One of Simenon's masterpieces ... Simenon's subject is how people who are pushed to the edge push themselves over it; the force of the sleuthing is that of psychoanalysis, not police interrogation.

—— Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker

Direct, spare, sensously atmospheric, hypnotic in its realism, and honest in a way that few novelists would dare to be

—— John Banville

To me, Simenon is as good as Camus

—— Hanif Kureishi , Guardian

Irresistible . . . read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss

—— The Sunday Times

Every year, Simenon would rage at the “idiots of Stockholm” who yet again had refused him the Nobel Prize in literature. I used to think this was crazy; now I think it quite sane. His romans durs are spare and harsh, with a deep understanding of human nature; this is one of his finest

—— Julian Barnes , The Week

The genius of Simenon, aided by a brilliant translation, compels the eye and captures the heart.

—— Barry Turner , Daily Mail

A welcome new translation of a key Simenon standalone. With its sensuously detailed rustic setting and edgy interactions between a widow managing her own farm and the dissolute, privileged ex-convict Jean, this is quietly hypnotic fare

—— Financial Times

Thrilling

—— Richard & Judy Book Club

Packed with twists

—— Daily Express

"Dramatic, thrilling, and very disturbing...Yet another masterpiece by this brilliant star...the prose manages to be breathtakingly seductive and pulse triggering at the same time.

—— Kapprakt

Pulse-raiser about nightmare case... Grens' own journey is nicely intertwined with the plot...Clever intrigue and twists.

—— Tara

Set in the ever-moody and hauntingly beautiful city of New Orleans, The Butcher and the Wren tells the story of a meticulous serial killer and the distinguished forensic pathologist, Dr. Wren Muller, set out to stop him. After researching countless horrific true crime cases over the last several years, we have no doubt Urquhart will knock it out of the park with this one. This is the perfect book to pick up if you want to 'Keep it weird.'

—— Brett Nicole Hayden, The Everygirl , -

A serial killer novel like none you have ever read, The Butcher and the Wren takes a cat-and-mouse chase between two instantly memorable antagonists and turns all the conventions of the genre upside down. Dark, twisty, full of authentic detail, it'll have you listening to the night in an entirely different way

—— Neil Nyren, Booktrib , -

If you've ever wanted to actually get inside the mind of a serial killer, look no further

—— Paste Magazine

Jaw-droppingly good

—— Sun on Sunday

That. Twist. You will gasp out loud and question everything you've read so far... with Just Another Missing Person, Gillian McAllister has secured her crown as the queen of the mind-bending plot twist.

—— HOLLY SEDDON

Ingenuously plotted

—— Guardian

Praise for Wrong Place, Wrong Time

—— -

It's perfection, every word, every moment. A masterpiece . . . I had my mind blown apart. After I finished it I sat with my mouth hanging open in awe. One of the best books I've ever read

—— Lisa Jewell

A spellbinding 'whydunnit'. A novel with a difference. Richly layered

—— Sunday Times

It's absolutely AMAZING. The plot is astonishing - original and ingenious

—— Marian Keyes

Extraordinary and Sinister. The mystery overlaps with blackmail and revenge in a dark and convoluted plot that takes the breath away.

—— Daily Mail

A stunning, clever and ingeniously plotted thriller with jaw-dropping gasp out loud twists

—— The Sunday Express

In his new thriller, Robert Harris wrests [a] fascinating period back from its unjust oblivion, showing how closely its complex landscape of constitutional crises and Puritan politics played out in new unregulated media resonates with us today

—— The Critic

Harris, deft as ever, weaves a hefty amount of historical fact into the narrative, politics, religion, colonial life, family ties - as well as themes of forgiveness and reconciliation. Underneath it all though is the remorseless and building propulsion of hunter and prey

—— New Statesman

A drama so involving and nerve-wracking, you can barely turn the pages fast enough. Historic!

—— Saga Magazine

Another fantastic piece of historical fiction from Robert Harris, immaculately researched and utterly believable

—— IPU Review

A gripping thriller and a timely reminder of the dangers of a deeply divided and intolerant society

—— The Shropshire Magazine

The book excels in its stunning recreation of the landscape of America... Harris proves himself to be masterful at this and it gives the book a vibrant memorability

—— New Statesman

Few writers combine history, politics and excitement of a thriller as enthrallingly as Robert Harris does.

—— Sunday Times

What Harris does here is nothing short of masterful.

—— Irish Times

Harris displays an impressive grasp of the historical context without taxing his readers by showing his 'workings'.

—— Church Times

Based on real and fascinating history, this is Robert Harris's best since An Officer and a Spy

—— The Times

Pacy and tense, and the pungently evoked past offers up some shrewd present-day parallels

—— Mail on Sunday

An absolutely stunning historical novel and a ripping crime thriller at the same time. I've been recommending it far and wide and buying it for people for Christmas!

—— Dead Good

The best historical fiction combines a gripping plot with meticulous research - leaving the reader inspired to learn more about the real-life protagonists. And the latest release from Robert Harris once more proves his mastery of the genre

—— Soldier

I loved Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris, which achieves the astonishing feat of taking 17th-century events and people and telling their stories in 21st-century language without a single seam showing

—— Ben Macintyre , The Times

Thrilling

—— Gregory Doran , The Times

This is a novel that asks big historical questions. You could read it as a pure thriller, and it is one of Harris's most compellingly paced to date. You could read it as a piece of intelligent historical immersion. I think it is more; I think it is his best novel since Fatherland.

—— Sunday Times

It's a belter.

—— The Times

If only all historical thrillers could be this entertaining.

—— Observer

In this tense and beautifully written account of the ensuing manhunt, Harris brings sympathy to characters on either side of the civil war that divided a nation.

—— Daily Mail

A brainy, compulsive page-turner.

—— Daily Telegraph

A violent, gripping, globetrotting chase thriller

—— Daily Mirror

He’s my go-to person that I know will keep me entertained

—— Jane Garvey

[A] rich, propulsive novel

—— Sunday Times
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