‘Acute psychological insight and a distinctive, spare, atmospheric style … Simenon ought to be spoken of in the same breath as Camus, Beckett and Kafka’ Independent on SundayThe death of a beloved former ambassador unearths disturbing truths in this classic novel featuring Simenon's literary legend ‘He had seldom been so perplexed by human beings.Would a psychiatrist, a teacher or a novelist … have been better placed to understand characters who had suddenly materialized from another century?’ The violent death of a distinguished former ambassador, the Comte de Saint-Hilaire – an old man without political secrets or enemies – confounds Inspector Maigret, until a bundle of letters promises to uncover the tragic truth. 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian‘Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend’ Boyd Tonkin, The Times