Tokyo Express | Translated by Jesse Kirkwood On the evening of the thirteenth of January, Tatsuo Yasuda invited one of his clients to join him at the Koyuki restaurant in Akasaka. His guest was a senior official at one of the government ministries. I acquired a reading copy of Tokyo Express back in November. At … Continue reading Tokyo Express | Seichō Matsumoto #JPNcrimefiction
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantlepiece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocca-case. The Sign of the Four was my latest lucky spin for the Classics Club and my second Sherlock Holmes story. There's not a lot to be said about another Sherlock Holmes story that hasn't already been … Continue reading The Sign of the Four | Arthur Conan Doyle #CCspin
As always when he returned home at night, Maigret paused at the same place, just past the gas lamp, and looked up at the lit windows of his apartment. Every July since 2017, there has been one rainy, cold, miserable weekend that becomes my Maigret weekend. This past weekend was it! There is nothing sweeter … Continue reading Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
Some images you record unconsciously, with the precision of a camera, and when you find them later in your memory, sometimes you rack your brains to recall where you saw them. Maigret Goes to School is my ninth Maigret. I'm well and truly hooked! This story sees Maigret leave Paris to help out with a … Continue reading Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
There was a moment, between Quai des Orfevres and Pont Marie, when Maigret paused, so briefly that Lapointe, who was walking beside him, paid no attention. Happy Bastille Day! Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! Picking up a Maigret is like falling into a soft, cosy blanket with a tray of strong cheeses, biscuits and a robust red … Continue reading Maigret and the Tramp | Georges Simenon #FRAfiction
I've been wanting to read a Sherlock Holmes story for a long time now. I purchased my lovely Knickerbocker classic editions about five years ago with the good intentions of reading them in chronological order. Ever since then, I have been putting A Study in Scarlet on my CC Spin list, in the hope it … Continue reading A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle #CCspin
A big part of the reason I love reading Maigret's so much is the glimpse into life in Paris in the middle of the 20th century. Maigret and the Killer opens with Mrs Maigret and her man, dining out with friends discussing the merits of the Madame Pardon's 'unparalleled boeuf bourguignon...filling, yet refined', provincial … Continue reading Maigret and the Killer | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
Police procedural is not my usual fare, but sometimes book club leads me down a path I wouldn't choose for myself, yet it turns out okay in the end. I very nearly used the 'not enough time' excuse to not read this book, but a recent rainy weekend gave me a chance to check it … Continue reading The Good Turn | Dervla McTiernan #AWW
Reading a Maigret or two during Paris in July has now become one of those things that I look forward to with a great deal of anticipation each year. Because of this though, I now associate Maigret with dreary, winter nights and rainy days (although not so much of the rain this year). My last … Continue reading Maigret and the Ghost #62 | Georges Simenon
Maigret's Anger is my fifth Maigret. It was probably the lightest, easiest one of the lot so far, but it was also very atmospheric. Paris in summer hummed and sweated along in the background as Maigret worked a case around his old beat, in Montmartre. It was almost as hot that evening as it had been … Continue reading Maigret’s Anger #61 | Georges Simenon
A Maigret Christmas contains three very different stories by Georges Simenon - A Maigret Christmas, Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook and The Restaurant near Place des Ternes - yet they all share a similar sense of melancholy and loneliness. In Simenon's world, Christmas is not a time for goodwill and cheer, so seasonally well-adjusted … Continue reading A Maigret Christmas | Georges Simenon #ShortStories
Also known as Signed Picpus or Maigret and the Fortune Teller, Signe Picpus was one of the three Maigret books that Simenon published in 1944. My 2015 edition was translated by David Coward. According to wikipedia, Simenon actually wrote Signe Picpus in 1941. It was serialised into 34 instalments between 11th of December 1941 and … Continue reading Signe Picpus | Georges Simenon
Maigret's First Case is my second Georges Simenon book. I'm not reading the Maigret books in any particular order and so far it doesn't seem to matter. Especially as this one, #30 in the series, is a flashback to Maigret's early days in the police force and, as such, provides an insight into how his … Continue reading Maigret’s First Case | Georges Simenon
The Guggenheim Mystery is the follow up story to Siobhan Dowd's 2007 The London Eye Mystery. Dowd sadly died of cancer at the end of 2007. She had been contracted to write two Ted Spark mysteries, but other than selecting the title of book two, she died before planning any of it.The Siobhan Dowd Trust (established … Continue reading The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens
Georges Simenon (1903 - 1989) is a Belgian writer best known for his 75 book Maigret crime series. One of my regular bookshop customers has been pre-ordering these books every quarter year in anticipation of the next batch of translated copies since 2014. Crime is not my usual genre, but I've been quietly curious all … Continue reading Maigret’s Mistake | Georges Simenon
bronasbooks.com 