Night at the crossroads (Penguin Books)

This is a new translation of Georges Simenon's sensational tale of deceit and back-stabbing in an isolated community, book six in the new Penguin Maigret series. 'She came forward, the outlines of her figure blurred in the half-light.

She came forward like a film star, or rather like the ideal woman in an adolescent's dream. 'I gather you wish to talk to me, Inspector...but first of all please sit down...' Her accent was more pronounced than Carl's.

Her voice sang, dropping on the last syllable of the longer words.' Maigret has been interrogating Carl Andersen for seventeen hours without a confession. He's either innocent or a very good liar.

So why was the body of a diamond merchant found at his isolated mansion? Why is his sister always shut away in her room? And why does everyone at Three Widows Crossroads have something to hide? Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels.

"Compelling, remorseless, brilliant". (John Gray). "One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century...Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked żeby his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories".

(Guardian). "A supreme writer...unforgettable vividness".(Independent). Georges Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe.

He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life. Linda Coverdale is the awarding-winning translator of many French works and has been honoured with the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contribution to French literature.