by Georges Simenon (1970)
A vagrant living under a bridge is assaulted at night, knocked hard enough to fracture his skull, and thrown into the River Seine. Two bargemen from barges moored nearby fish him out of the cold water before he drowns and he ends up in the hospital in a coma. Chief Superintendent Maigret is called to the scene. One of the bargemen, whose boat is moored near the ramp coming down the embankment, reports seeing two men coming back from under the bridge and departing in a red sports car. The man's identity card provides a name and place of birth - coincidentally the same town as Madame Maigret's sister resides. For once, Madame is able to participate to some degree and assist her husband in his challenging work. The vagrant was at one time a practicing doctor, but has been living in Paris as a bum for many, many years. Maigret knows the down-and-out community do not normally commit violence against each other. What is hidden in the doctor's past?
Georges Simenon
From amazon.com: "Prewar Paris - where buses still sported outside platforms and every neighborhood its own bistro, policemen took time for human problems, and car fumes hadn't yet smothered the smell of chestnut blossoms - serves as the setting for these seventeen stories, featuring Simenon's legendary Jules Maigret."
Georges Simenon
Pietr the Lett had for years been clocked across the European frontiers by Interpol. Who was he, this international swindler with the skin of a chameleon? Was he Oswald Oppenheim, friend of multi-millionaires? Or Olaf Swann, a Norwegian merchant officer down at Fécamp? Or Fédor Yurovich, a down-and-out Russian drunk? Or could he have been the twisted corpse they found on the Pole Star express when it drew into Paris? It cost Maigret one of his best inspectors — and a ducking in the sea — to unravel one of the most tortuous puzzles of identity he had ever handled.
Georges Simenon
When a small time crook—a drunk, thug, pimp, and thief—is murdered on a small Mediterranean island just after he was heard boasting loudly about his policeman "friend" Maigret, Inspector Maigret is compelled to leave Paris to investigate the crime. But no one seems to have a motive for the killing. Not the old English lady and her male "secretary," nor the aging prostitute or the Dutch anarchist. But all of them have secrets they prefer to keep hidden.
Georges Simenon
Madame Maigret telephones to alert her husband that a frightened young man has called at their home and will wait there to see Maigret at his midday meal. When Maigret returns home, he is annoyed to discover that his mysterious guest has left, and more disturbed that one of his prized revolvers has gone with him. Monsieur Maigret is dismayed - but hardly surprised - when a corpse turns up in a railway trunk, shot by his own gun. His search for the elusive and unidentified visitor sends Maigret across the channel to London to investigate one murder... and prevent another.