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?' Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Burglar's Wife. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent