When a self-made man appeals to Maigret for protection at his lavish home a years-old grudge from the past resurfaces & the inspector finds himself questioning his own motives Conflict rather than harmony probably reigned in eight out of ten of the still magnificent houses that surrounded the park But he had rarely had the opportunity to breath such a strained atmosphere as the one between these walls Everything seemed fake grating starting with the lodge of the concierge-cum-manservant who was neither a concierge nor a manservant despite his striped waistcoat but a former poacher a murderer turned guard dog Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations' His artistry is supreme' John Banville' 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