The bar on the Seine

Simenon wrote over 50 novels in the "Maigret Series", each providing the world-weary, pipe-smoking detective with an interesting murder which he solves with an unusual method of investigation, relying on experience, intuition and ruthlessness.

Simenon writes in a terse French, skillfully using few words to describe things seen or felt.

He is a matchless writer about France - both the France loved by tourists and its seamy, brutal underside. "The Bar on the Seine" is a classic example of his art.