Georges Simenon has 78 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 10 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 65 ratings. The most-rated is Pietr the Latvian.
Pietr the Latvian
Summary
The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos. Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man. His firm muscles filled out his jacket and quickly pulled all his trousers out of shape. He had a way of imposing himself just by standing there. His assertive presence had often irked many of his own colleagues. In Simenon's first novel featuring Maigret, the laconic detective is taken from grimy bars to luxury hotels as he traces the true identity of Pietr the Latvian. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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. David Bellos is Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University and has won many awards for his translations including the Man Booker International Translator's Award (2005).
©2013 Georges Simenon (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Maigret's Holiday
Summary
At what point in the day could the note have been slipped into his pocket, his left breast pocket? It was an ordinary sheet of glazed squared paper, probably torn out of an exercise book. The words were written in pencil, in a regular handwriting that looked to him like a woman's. For pity's sake, ask to see the patient in room 15. When Inspector Maigret's wife falls ill on their seaside holiday, a visit to the hospital leads him on an unexpected quest to find justice for a young girl.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin
Summary
In the 10th installment to the Inspector Maigret series, the city of Simenon's youth comes to life in this new translation of this disturbing tale set in Liège. In the darkness, the main room is as vast as a cathedral. A great empty space. Some warmth still seeps from the radiators. Delfosse strikes a match. They stop a moment to catch their breath, and work out how far they have still to go. And suddenly the match falls to the ground, as Delfosse gives a sharp cry and rushes back towards the washroom door. In the dark, he loses his way, returns, and bumps into Chabot. Maigret observes from a distance as two boys are accused of killing a rich foreigner in Liège. Their loyalty, which binds them together through their adventures, is put to the test, and seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship and their freedom. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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.
©1940 Georges Simenon, Translation ©2014 Frank Wynne (P)2014 Audible Studios
Cecile Is Dead
Summary
A new translation of this moving novel about the destructive power of greed. Poor Cécile! And yet she was still young. Maigret had seen her papers: barely 28 years old. But it would be difficult to look more like an old maid, to move less gracefully, in spite of the care she took to be friendly and pleasant. Those black dresses that she must make for herself from bad paper patterns, that ridiculous green hat! In the dreary suburbs of Paris, the merciless greed of a seemingly respectable woman is unearthed by her long-suffering niece, and Maigret discovers the far-reaching consequences of their actions. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Spinster. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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.
©2015 Georges Simenon (P)2015 Audible, Ltd
Maigret Gets Angry
Summary
Maigret is cajoled out of retirement by a case involving an old classmate in book 26 of the new Penguin Maigret series. All that was still unclear, for sure. Ernest Malik had been right when he had looked at Maigret with a smile that was a mixture of sarcasm and contempt. This wasn't a case for him. He was out of his depth. This world was unfamiliar to him, and he had difficulty piecing it all together. Peacefully tending his garden in the countryside, Maigret is called upon to investigate a rich family with skeletons in their cupboard - and finds himself confronted by lies, snobbery and malice. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories has 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.
©2015 Georges Simenon (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
Maigret and the Minister
Summary
When a public tragedy threatens to expose a scandal within the Paris government, the Minister of Public Works calls in a favour to Maigret. A public project has collapsed and resulted in the death of 128 children after a report warning officials about the unsafe structure was disregarded. Now, that report has resurfaced, along with allegations that several politicians and contractors involved with the project may have suppressed its findings to avoid a scandal. Maigret must enter the shifty world of politics, dogged by members of the security police wherever he goes. In an unfamiliar world of decadent diplomatic officials, fanatic followers of political parties and suspicious staff in politicians' entourages, Maigret grimly sticks to what he knows best: finding the perpetrators of criminal acts.
©1954 Georges Simenon (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
The Yellow Dog
Summary
Georges Simenon's gripping tale of small town suspicion and revenge, part of the new Maigret series. There was an exaggerated humility about her. Her cowed eyes, her way of gliding noiselessly about without bumping into things, of quivering nervously at the slightest word, were the very image of a scullery maid accustomed to hardship. And yet he sensed, beneath that image, glints of pride held firmly in check. She was anaemic. Her flat chest was not formed to rouse desire. Nevertheless, she was strangely appealing, perhaps because she seemed troubled, despondent, sickly. In the windswept seaside town of Concarneau, a local wine merchant is shot. In fact, someone is out to kill all the influential men and the entire town is soon sent into a state of panic. For Maigret, the answers lie with the pale, downtrodden waitress Emma, and a strange yellow dog lurking in the shadows... Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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 Asher is a former fiction editor of the New Yorker and the award winning translator of many works from French including those of Milan Kundera.
©2014 Georges Simenon (P)2014 Audible Ltd
Maigret and the Tall Woman
Summary
A visit from the tall, thin woman he arrested many years ago - now married to a hapless burglar - leads Maigret on a tortuous investigation in which he struggles with a formidable suspect. 'When he had set them to work, Maigret had had a merry, almost fierce glint in his eye. He had set them loose on the house like a pack of hounds on the trail of a scent, encouraging them not with his voice, but by his whole attitude...would events have played out in the same manner, if the man from Rue de la Ferme hadn't been a heavyweight like him, both physically and psychologically?' This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Burglar's Wife.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
Maigret at Picratt's
Summary
A young cabaret dancer in a black silk dress leads Maigret into a seamy world of nightclubs, drug addiction and exploitation on the streets of Montmartre. 'He opened the door for her and watched her walk away down the huge corridor, then hesitate at the top of the stairs. Heads turned as she passed. You sensed she came from a different world, the world of the night, and there was something almost indecent about her in the harsh light of a winter's day.' This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Strangled Stripper and Maigret in Montmartre.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2017 Audible, Ltd.
Maigret and the Old Lady
Summary
Maigret uncovers some troubling family politics in this new translation, book 33 of the Maigret series. When a charming elderly widow appeals to him for help, Inspector Maigret travels to a seaside village in Normandy - uncovering a lost fortune and some poisonous family politics.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien
Summary
Georges Simenon's haunting tale about the lengths to which people will go to escape from guilt, translated by Linda Coverdale as part of the new Penguin Maigret series. A first ink drawing showed a hanged man swinging from a gallows on which perched an enormous crow. And there were at least twenty other etchings and pen or pencil sketches that had the same leitmotif of hanging. On the edge of a forest: a man hanging from every branch. A church steeple: beneath the weathercock, a human body dangling from each arm of the cross... Below another sketch were written four lines from François Villon's Ballade of the Hanged Men. On a trip to Brussels, Maigret unwittingly causes a man's suicide, but his own remorse is overshadowed by the discovery of the sordid events that drove the desperate man to shoot himself. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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.
©2014 Georges Simenon (P)2014 Audible Ltd
The Shadow Puppet
Summary
One by one the lighted windows went dark. The silhouette of the dead man could still be seen through the frosted glass like a Chinese shadow puppet. A taxi pulled up. It wasn't the public prosecutor yet. A young woman crossed the courtyard with hurried steps, leaving a whiff of perfume in her wake. Summoned to the dimly-lit Place des Vosges one night, where he sees shadowy figures at apartment windows, Maigret uncovers a tragic story of desperate lives, unhappy families, addiction and a terrible, fatal greed. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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. Anthea Bell is the award-winning translator of numerous French and German works: from the Asterix comics to W. G. Sebald's literary masterpiece Austerlitz. Audible will be producing all 75 Maigret titles.
©2014 Georges Simenon (P)2014 Audible Studios
Maigret's Revolver
Summary
When Maigret's .45 revolver is stolen from his home, he becomes embroiled in a murder in which the gun may have played a deadly role. Maigret is the victim of a burglary in which the .45 revolver he had received as a gift from the FBI is stolen. That evening Maigret attends a dinner where François Lagrange, an acquaintance of Maigret's friend, is expected but fails to appear due to ill health. Following his instincts, Maigret decides to investigate Lagrange's absence and uncovers a body stowed in a trunk as well as Lagrange, who refuses to talk and seems to have lost his mind. Only Maigret can uncover the truth - and the fateful role his revolver may have played.
©1952 Georges Simenon (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
The Night at the Crossroads
Summary
A new translation of Georges Simenon's sensational tale of deceit and back-stabbing in an isolated community, part of the new 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 17 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? Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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.
©2014 Georges Simenon (P)2014 Audible Studios
A Man's Head
Summary
Slowly the Czech was becoming animated, but in a muted way, so typical of the man. Maigret now noticed his hands, which were long, surprisingly white, and dotted with freckles. They seemed to reach out and take part in the conversation. '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.' Set in the in the atmospheric and squalid streets of Paris, Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. In another one of Maigret's unconventional and audacious plans, he arranges the escape of the condemned man in an attempt to prove his theory. The presumed murderer goes on the run across Paris and its suburbs, dropping misleading clues along the way and leading Maigret into the labyrinthine twists of the mystery. Maigret is in for more than he bargained for, as he encounters rich American expatriates, dangerous foreigners and their hidden motives. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, 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.
©1931 Georges Simenon, Translation ©2014 Frank Wynne (P)2014 Audible Studios
Signed, Picpus
Summary
Maigret dismantles an intricate network of lies stretching from Paris to Nice. Mechanically, he had put his pince-nez down on the blotter and looked at it there with his large, short-sighted eyes. It is at that moment that the strange thing happens. One of the lenses, acting as a mirror, reflected the criss-cross, hatched ink marks which had dried on the blotter, and he could just make out a couple of words. This novel has been published in previous translations as To Any Lengths and Maigret and the Fortuneteller. Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories has 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.
©2015 Georges Simenon (P)2015 Audible, Ltd
Maigret and the Lazy Burglar
Summary
Set against a high-profile hunt for the latest criminal gang to hit Paris, Maigret is determined to track down the murderer of a quiet crook for whom he cannot help feeling affection and respect. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Idle Burglar.
©2018 Georges Simenon (P)2019 Audible, Ltd
Maigret in New York
Summary
What was it about him that had struck Maigret so forcefully? Little John had cold eyes! Four or five times in his life, he had met people with cold eyes, those eyes that can stare at you without establishing any human contact. Persuaded to sail to New York by a fearful young law student, Maigret finds himself drawn into the city's underworld and a wealthy businessman's closely guarded past.
©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
Maigret Is Afraid
Summary
Maigret stumbles upon a series of murders in Fontenay-le-Comte while visiting an old school friend. On his way home from a conference, Maigret stops to visit an old school friend in Fontenay-le-Comte. A man in the same train car introduces himself and asks if Maigret has come to help solve the murder case. In fact, the man's brother-in-law had been murdered four days earlier, followed by the murder of a local widow in the same way, a blow to the head with a pipe. While Maigret is in town, a third murder is reported. Maigret soon discovers that there are two warring factions in the town, a clear class separation, and an air of suspicion that only he can put to rest.
©1953 Georges Simenon (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
Maigret et le clochard
Summary
À Paris, une nuit de mars, deux bateliers tirent de la Seine un clochard grièvement blessé. L'un d'eux, le jeune Van Houtte, affirme avoir noté la présence d'une Peugeot 403 rouge sur le quai, peu de temps avant le drame. Maigret retrouve les occupants de la voiture, mais ceux-ci parviennent à prouver leur innocence. L'identification du clochard ne va pas sans surprises : il s'agit d'un ancien médecin du nom de François Keller qui, n'ayant pu concilier son idéalisme avec la mentalité bourgeoise de sa femme et de son milieu, a rompu tout lien avec la société et a pris place dans le monde marginal de la "cloche"...
©1949 / 1992 / 2008 Georges Simenon Ltd. All rights reserved. GEORGES SIMENON All rights reserved. MAIGRET Georges Simenon Ltd. All rights reserved / Les Presses de la Cité (P)1992 Productions Jacques Canetti