Author:Georges Simenon,Shaun Whiteside
'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray
'What he thought he had discovered, in place of the joyful candour that she usually displayed, was an irony which was neither less cheerful nor less childish, but which troubled him ... He wondered now if his exultation wasn't down to the fact that she was playing a part, not just to deceive him, not just to hide something from him, but for the pleasure of acting a part'
When one of his best inspectors is shot, Maigret decides to book himself into Mademoiselle Clément's well-kept Paris boarding house nearby in order to find the culprit.
'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian
'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent
Fierce, bleak and compellingly written . . . with pitiless landscapes of hopeless longing, random cruelty and galloping fate warmed only by the twilit lyricism of doomed desire. These are novels of eye-opening, spine-tingling control and intensity.
—— Boyd Tonkin , The IndependentOne of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories
—— GuardianCompelling . . . Simenon shows how close the deranged mind is to the ordinary mind'
—— Financial TimesMarrison's tense debut expertly evokes a sense of place . . . the highly unusual denouement will catch most readers by surprise
—— Publishers WeeklyA gripping thriller . . . a readable, complex tale, astutely paced . . . If the mark of a good whodunnit is that you can't actually guess whodunnit, then The Drowning Ground does its job well. Despite following the plot closely, I was still taken aback by the denouement
—— The HeraldMove over Morse
—— Oxford TimesWith an intricate plot with numerous twists and an intriguing cop with a complex history, Marrison rivets the reader straight through to the novel's chilling conclusion. An author to watch, he scores high with this impressive debut
—— Richmond Times DispatchAn assured début which promises much for the future
—— crimefictionlover.comSo many characters with so many secrets and deviant behaviours make this début mystery by James Marrison a real winner. The author's complex plotting, haunted characters, and gorgeous descriptions of winter are an absolute joy to read even as the action takes one suspenseful turn, then another and then another to an unexpected denouement. When it seems as though all the clues have been resolved, Marrison saves one last shocking revelation for the final chapter.. . . Expertly setting us up for the next chapter in the series ( I can't wait!), Marrison writes lovingly of his new hero, Guillermo Downes, a detective plagued by demons both internal and external yet determined to expose murder most foul whenever and wherever he can
—— curledup.comA masterful novel . . . The protagonists are wonderfully portrayed. Downes is a bit of a mystery, a man born in Buenos Aires of a Argentinian mother and an English father. What led him to leave his homeland and make a life for himself in this small English town? Perhaps the answer will be revealed in the next novel in the series, something I'm eagerly anticipating
—— marilynmystertreads.comGripping . . . like an ecclesiastical version of House of Cards
—— The TimesWell-researched, intelligently observed and highly credible . . . Fast-moving and suspenseful, it’s elegantly written entertainment from a first-rate storyteller.
—— Mail on SundayGrips like a vice and manages to convey all the drama of an election without resorting to melodrama
—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday ExpressAn electric read, like a shot of adrenalin to the heart . . . rollicking and literate . . . an insightful and witty thriller
—— Tim Stanley , Literary ReviewPage-turning heaven
—— Alice Jones , IndependentSlick and fast-paced
—— Expressthis year's most highly anticipated psychological thriller
—— Sunday Timesaddictive
—— ObserverIf you like your books twisty and your narrators unreliable and flawed, this is for you
—— CosmopolitanWow, now I know why it has caused such a stir. Taut, tight, utterly compulsive. Once you embark you won't want to get off until the very last stop
—— Tammy CohenArtfully crafted and utterly riveting. The Girl on the Train's clever structure and expert pacing will keep you perched on the edge of your seat, but it's Hawkins' deft, empathetic characterization that will leave you pondering this harrowing, thought-provoking story about the power of memory and the danger of envy.
—— Kimberly McCreight, New York Times-bestselling author of Reconstructing AmeliaDamn you #girlonthetrain . . . you unputdownable, you. So twisty, compassionate and gritty. Loved it. Deserves to be massive
—— Tweet from Julia CrouchGoing to be THE book of 2015. Sexy, smart & v intricately plotted
—— Tweet from Eva DolanBrilliant, fast-moving, very clever. Add to your January wish-list now!
—— Tweet from Mark EdwardsBe ready to be spell-bound . . . It's the kind of book you'll want to press into the hands of everyone you know, after you've turned the last page, just so they can share your obsession and you can relive it
—— Laura Kasischke, author of The RaisingCompulsively readable…. It actually hurt to put it down
—— JOY FIELDING, New York Times bestselling author of Now You See HerI'm calling it now: The Girl on the Train is the next Gone Girl. Paula Hawkins' highly anticipated debut novel is a dark, gripping thriller with the shock ending you crave in a noir-ish mystery
—— BustleA gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller
—— Entertainment Weekly (US)Gone Girl fans will devour this psychological thriller . . . Hawkins' debut ends with a twist that no one - least of all its victims - have seen coming
—— People Magazine (US)[Paula Hawkins] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming
—— Entertainment Weekly (US)distinctive, intelligent and unpredictable
—— The Timesperfectly paced, from its arresting beginning to its twist ending; it's not an easy book to put down . . . what really makes The Girl on the Train such a gripping novel is Hawkins' remarkable understanding of the limits of human knowledge, and the degree to whcih memory and imagination can become confused
—— NPR.orgA complex and increasingly chilling tale courtesy of a number of first-person narratives that will wrong-foot even the most experienced of crime fiction readers
—— Irish TimesThe Girl on the Train marries movie noir with novelistic trickery . . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend
—— USA Todayachieves a sinister poetry . . . Hawkins keeps the nastiest twist for last
—— Financial Times[L]ike Gone Girl, Hawkins' book is a highly addictive novel about a lonely divorcee who gets caught up in the disappearance of a woman whom she had been surreptitiously watching. And beyond the Gone Girl comaparisons, this book has legs of its own
—— GQ.comHawkins' masterful deployment of unwittingly unreliable narration to evoke the aftershocks of abuse and trauma is a powerful way of exploring women's marginalization
—— Huffington PostSprings new surprises on us . . .Pulses will be quickened
—— The Good Book GuideThe Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl
—— New York TimesHalfway through and I can't stop reading it. My kinda thriller!
—— Tweet from Armistead Maupinit's BLIDDY FABLISS, isn't it! A long long time since a book gripped me like this
—— Tweet from Marian KeyesThe Girl on the Train is one of those delicious thrillers that can be devoured in four sittings, that's two return journeys on a typical train trip! There's a whiff of Agatha Christie and a dollop of Gone Girl with plenty of blind alleys that we happily wander up and get lost in. Pick it up, solve the crime and pass it on . . .
—— Ryan TubridyAgatha Christie meets Rear Window...a taut psychological thriller that's chockful of chilling twists.
—— Mail on Sunday, Events MagazineClever, exciting and full of twists, this is undoubtedly the cream of this year's crop
—— Daily MailUnputdownable . . . the new literary sensation . . . nothing short of sensational
—— Daily Mail...this unusual clammy-palmed thriller.
—— THE TIMESHawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character.
—— GUARDIAN