Autorentext

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. An intrepid traveler with a profound interest in people, Simenon strove on and off the page to understand-and not to judge-the human condition in all its shades. His books include the Inspector Maigret series and a richly varied body of wider work united by its evocative power, its economy of means, and its penetrating psychological insight. He is among the most widely read writers in the global canon.

Klappentext

A spate of murders sends shock waves through a small rainswept town-where, unfortunately for the killer, Maigret happens to be passing through.

Traveling back from a police congress in Bordeaux, Maigret stops off to see his friend, the investigating magistrate of the small town of Fontenay-le-Comte. In the past three days, the inspector's friend tells him, two locals have been bludgeoned to death. On the scene by sheer coincidence, Maigret would rather not get involved-until a third murder occurs, and public unrest threatens to reach a flash point. The townsfolk believe the clannish ruling elite is shielding certain figures from investigation, and Maigret is inclined to agree. Fearing a miscarriage of justice, he sets out to learn the truth-however socially inconvenient or disturbing. In gray, windswept Fontenay, emotions are already hovering on a knife's edge before the anonymous notes start arriving. But is the writer trying to facilitate or obstruct justice? A dark and atmospheric tale of local tensions and tormented minds, Maigret Is Afraid is an unmissable foray into small-town evil for Georges Simenon's iconic detective.