A Man's Head
Inspector Maigret #9
Georges Simenon author David Coward translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:3rd Jul '14
Should be back in stock very soon
An audacious plan to prove the innocence of a young drifter awaiting execution takes Maigret through the grey, autumnal streets of Paris. As he pursues the true culprit from lonely docks to elegant hotels and fashionable bars, he confronts the destructive power of a dangerously sharp intellect.
Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. As his audacious plan to uncover the truth unfolds, he encounters rich American expatriates, some truly dangerous characters and their hidden motives.
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'Let's be clear that it's not your professionalism which I question. If you understand nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, it's because from the very start you've been working with facts which had been falsified.'
Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. As his audacious plan to uncover the truth unfolds, he encounters rich American expatriates, some truly dangerous characters and their hidden motives.
This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret's War of Nerves and A Battle of Nerves.
'Maigret emerges as a master of intuition and imagination, who moves in a world rendered intensely real in Simenon's incomparable prose' Christopher Hirst, Independent
Praise for Georges Simenon:
“One 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.” —The Guardian
“These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post
“The matchless French crime novelist.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker
“Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People
“I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner
“An astute observer of human nature, writing in a spare and vivid style.” —Amor Towles
“I never read contemporary fiction–with one exception: the works of Simenon.” —T.S. Eliot
“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré
“One of the most important writers of our century.” —Gabriel García Márquez
“A favorite writer of mine.” —Sigrid Nunez
“A great writer of detail, of atmosphere.” —Leïla Slimani
“Feels incredibly modern…A great writer.” —Ian Rankin
“The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide
“A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London)
“Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London)
“Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray
“A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark
“A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.” —Peter Ackroyd
“Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville
"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . 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" ―Times (London)
"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ―Margaret Atwood
"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ―Financial Times
"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn." ―Stig Abell, The Sunday Times (London)
ISBN: 9780141393513
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 10mm
Weight: 134g
176 pages