Maigret, Simenon and France

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was one of the most successful 20th-century authors of crime fiction. His 75 Maigret novels and 28 Maigret short stories published between 1931 and 1972 found international success, (he is the only non-anglophone crime writer who has found such international renown). His Maigret stories are regarded by many as having established a new direction in crime fiction, emphasising social and psychological portraiture rather than focussing on a puzzle to be solved or on ""action."" This book examines the importance of social class and social change in the Maigret stories, with a particular emphasis on the early formative novels, and the development of plot, characterization and settings. The work seeks to establish the extent to which Simenon's portrait of French society is historically accurate and the nature of the influence of the author's own class position and ideology on his fiction.