Georges Simenon: Maigret and the Tramp: Inspector Maigret #60

“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 When a beggar is pulled from the River Seine, having been badly beaten, Inspector Maigret must investigate the man to uncover his attacker. While sleeping under the Pont Marie bridge, a homeless man known as Doc is viciously beaten and thrown into the River Seine to drown. A pair of bargemen manage to rescue him, and his identification reveals he was once a doctor in Mulhouse, where, coincidentally, Inspector Maigret’s sister-in-law lives. Seizing on this connection, Maigret must delve into the man’s personal circumstances to figure out just who might have wanted him dead—and why. A fascinating, fast-paced story about the past lives we try to leave behind, and the ways in which they return, Maigret and the Tramp is a riveting mystery from Georges Simenon.