Georges Simenon Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Belgian born writer Georges Simenon (Liège, February 13, 1903 – September 4, 1989), is considered one of the best mystery writers of all times, even though some of his “psychological novels” are only being discovered. He was also a very prolific writer, and was known to be able to write anywhere between 60 to 80 pages a day. Such ability to write quickly produced almost 200 novels, 150 novellas, a number of autobiographical works, quite a number of articles and even more so called pulp novels which he wrote under various pseudonyms. When counted, Simenon had almost 550 million copies of his works printed.

Order of Inspector Maigret Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett / Pietr the Latvian 1931 Description / Buy
2 Maigret Meets a Milord / The Carter of 'La Providence' (Short Story) 1931 Description / Buy
3 The Death of Monsieur Gallet / The Late Monsieur Gallet / Maigret Stonewalled 1931 Description / Buy
4 The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien / The Crime of Inspector Maigret / Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets 1931 Description / Buy
5 A Battle of Nerves / A Man\'s Head / Maigret Bides His Time / The Patience of Maigret / Maigret\'s Patience 1931 Description / Buy
6 The Yellow Dog / Maigret and the Concarneau Murders 1931 Description / Buy
7 Maigret at the Crossroads / The Night at the Crossroads 1931 Description / Buy
8 Maigret in Holland / A Crime in Holland 1931 Description / Buy
9 The Sailors' Rendezvous / Maigret Answers a Plea / The Grand Banks Cafe (Short Story) 1931 Description / Buy
10 The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin / Maigret at the Gai-Moulin 1931 Description / Buy
11 Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine / The Two-Penny Bar 1931 Description / Buy
12 The Shadow Puppet / Maigret Mystified 1932 Description / Buy
13 Maigret Goes Home / The Saint-Fiacre Affair / Maigret on Home Ground / Maigret and the Countess 1932 Description / Buy
14 Maigret and the Flemish Shop / The Flemish House 1932 Description / Buy
15 Maigret and the Death of a Harbor-Master / Misty Harbour / Maigret and Monsieur Labbe 1932 Description / Buy
16 The Madman of Bergerac 1932 Description / Buy
17 Liberty Bar / Maigret on the Riviera 1932 Description / Buy
18 Lock No. 1 / The Lock at Charenton 1933 Description / Buy
19 Maigret / Maigret Returns 1934 Description / Buy
20 The Cellars of the Majestic / Maigret and the Hotel Majestic 1942 Description / Buy
21 The Judge's House / Maigret in Exile 1942 Description / Buy
22 Maigret and the Spinster / Cécile is Dead 1942 Description / Buy
23 Maigret and the Fortuneteller / To Any Lengths / Signed, Picpus (Short Story) 1944 Description / Buy
24 Félicie / Maigret and the Toy Village 1944 Description / Buy
25 Inspector Cadaver / Maigret's Rival 1944 Description / Buy
26 Maigret Gets Angry / Maigret in Retirement 1947 Description / Buy
27 Maigret in New York / Maigret in New York's Underworld 1947 Description / Buy
28 Maigret's Holiday / A Summer Holiday / No Vacation for Maigret 1948 Description / Buy
29 Maigret's Dead Man / Maigret's Special Murder 1948 Description / Buy
30 Maigret's First Case 1949 Description / Buy
31 My Friend Maigret / The Methods of Maigret 1949 Description / Buy
32 Maigret at the Coroner's / Maigret and the Coroner 1949 Description / Buy
33 Maigret and the Old Lady 1950 Description / Buy
34 Madame Maigret's Own Case / The Friend of Madame Maigret / Madame Maigret's Friend 1950 Description / Buy
35 Maigret's Memoirs 1951 Description / Buy
36 Maigret in Montmartre / Maigret and the Strangled Stripper / Maigret at Picratt's 1951 Description / Buy
37 Maigret Takes a Room / Maigret Rents a Room 1951 Description / Buy
38 Maigret and the Burglar's Wife / Maigret and the Tall Woman 1951 Description / Buy
39 Maigret and the Gangsters / Inspector Maigret and the Killers / Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters 1952 Description / Buy
40 Maigret's Revolver 1952 Description / Buy
41 Maigret and the Man on the Bench / Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard 1953 Description / Buy
42 Maigret Afraid / Maigret Is Afraid 1953 Description / Buy
43 Maigret's Mistake 1953 Description / Buy
44 Maigret Goes to School 1954 Description / Buy
45 Maigret and the Calame Report / Maigret and the Minister 1954 Description / Buy
46 Maigret and the Dead Girl / Maigret and the Young Girl 1954 Description / Buy
47 Maigret and the Headless Corpse 1955 Description / Buy
48 Maigret Sets a Trap 1955 Description / Buy
49 Maigret's Failure 1956 Description / Buy
50 Maigret Enjoys Himself / Maigret's Little Joke / None of Maigret's Business 1957 Description / Buy
51 Maigret Travels / Maigret and the Millionaires 1958 Description / Buy
52 Maigret Has Scruples / Maigret's Doubts 1958 Description / Buy
53 Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses 1959 Description / Buy
54 Maigret's Secret / Maigret Has Doubts 1959 Description / Buy
55 Maigret in Court 1960 Description / Buy
56 Maigret and the Old People / Maigret in Society 1960 Description / Buy
57 Maigret and the Idle Burglar / Maigret and the Lazy Burglar 1961 Description / Buy
58 Maigret and the Black Sheep / Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse 1962 Description / Buy
59 Maigret and the Saturday Caller (Short Story) 1962 Description / Buy
60 Maigret and the Tramp / Maigret and the Dosser / Maigret and the Bum 1963 Description / Buy
61 Maigret's Fury / Maigret Loses His Temper / Maigret's Anger 1963 Description / Buy
62 Maigret and the Ghost / Maigret and the Apparition 1964 Description / Buy
63 Maigret on the Defensive / Maigret Holds His Own / Maigret Defends Himself (Short Story) 1964 Description / Buy
64 Maigret and the Nahour Case 1966 Description / Buy
65 Maigret and the Pickpocket / Maigret's Pickpocket 1967 Description / Buy
66 Maigret in Vichy / Maigret Takes the Waters 1968 Description / Buy
67 Maigret Hesitates 1968 Description / Buy
68 Maigret's Boyhood Friend / Maigret's Childhood Friend 1968 Description / Buy
69 Maigret and the Killer 1969 Description / Buy
70 Maigret and the Wine Merchant 1970 Description / Buy
71 Maigret and the Madwoman / Maigret\'s Madwoman 1970 Description / Buy
72 Maigret and the Loner 1971 Description / Buy
73 Maigret and the Informer / Maigret and the Flea 1972 Description / Buy
74 Maigret and Monsieur Charles 1973 Description / Buy

Order of Inspector Maigret Short Story Collections

# Read Title Published Details
1 Maigret's Pipe: Seventeen Stories 1945 Description / Buy
2 Maigret et les petit cochons sans queue 1950 Description / Buy
3 Maigret's Christmas 1976 Description / Buy

Order of Georges Simenon Standalone Novels

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Girl with a Squint 1931 Description / Buy
2 The Engagement 1933 Description / Buy
3 Tropic Moon 1933 Description / Buy
4 The Window Over the Way (Short Story) 1933 Description / Buy
5 The Lodger 1934 Description / Buy
6 The Long Exile 1935 Description / Buy
7 Donadieu's Will 1936 Description / Buy
8 The Man Who Watched Trains Go By 1938 Description / Buy
9 Girl In Waiting 1938 Description / Buy
10 Three Crimes 1938 Description / Buy
11 The Strangers in the House 1940 Description / Buy
12 The Widow 1942 Description / Buy
13 The Truth About Bebe Donge 1942 Description / Buy
14 Across the Street 1942 Description / Buy
15 The Suspect 1944 Description / Buy
16 Monsieur Monde Vanishes 1945 Description / Buy
17 Three Bedrooms in Manhattan 1946 Description / Buy
18 Act of Passion 1946 Description / Buy
19 The Mahé Circle 1946 Description / Buy
20 Death of a Nobody (Short Story) 1947 Description / Buy
21 Pedigree 1948 Description / Buy
22 The Snow Was Dirty 1948 Description / Buy
23 Magnet of Doom 1948 Description / Buy
24 The Bottom Of The Bottle 1949 Description / Buy
25 Four Days in a Lifetime 1949 Description / Buy
26 The Pitards 1949 Description / Buy
27 Strange Inheritance 1950 Description / Buy
28 The Heart of a Man 1950 Description / Buy
29 A New Lease On Life 1951 Description / Buy
30 The Burgomaster of Furnes 1952 Description / Buy
31 Escape in Vain 1952 Description / Buy
32 Havoc by Accident 1952 Description / Buy
33 On the danger line 1952 Description / Buy
34 Belle 1952 Description / Buy
35 In Two Latitudes 1952 Description / Buy
36 The Trial of Bebe Donge 1952 Description / Buy
37 Dirty Snow 1953 Description / Buy
38 Red Lights 1953 Description / Buy
39 The Iron Staircase 1953 Description / Buy
40 The Watchmaker of Everton (Short Story) 1954 Description / Buy
41 The Clockmaker (Short Story) 1954 Description / Buy
42 Big Bob 1954 Description / Buy
43 The Accomplices (Short Story) 1955 Description / Buy
44 The Rules of the Game 1955 Description / Buy
45 The Burial of Monsieur Bouvet 1955 Description / Buy
46 The Fugitive 1955 Description / Buy
47 A Sense of Guilt 1955 Description / Buy
48 The Little Man From Archangel 1956 Description / Buy
49 The Stowaway 1957 Description / Buy
50 Sunday (Short Story) 1958 Description / Buy
51 The President 1958 Description / Buy
52 The Son 1958 Description / Buy
53 The Widower (Short Story) 1959 Description / Buy
54 The Grandmother 1959 Description / Buy
55 The Negro 1959 Description / Buy
56 Young Cardinaud 1959 Description / Buy
57 The Blue Room 1960 Description / Buy
58 Betty 1960 Description / Buy
59 Justice 1960 Description / Buy
60 The Family Lie (Short Story) 1960 Description / Buy
61 The Train 1961 Description / Buy
62 Striptease 1961 Description / Buy
63 Poisoned Relations (Short Story) 1961 Description / Buy
64 The hatter's ghosts 1961 Description / Buy
65 The Door (Short Story) 1962 Description / Buy
66 The House on Quai Notre Dame 1962 Description / Buy
67 The Others (Short Story) 1962 Description / Buy
68 The Bells of Bicetre 1963 Description / Buy
69 The Magician 1963 Description / Buy
70 Inquest on Bouvet 1963 Description / Buy
71 The Man With the Little Dog 1964 Description / Buy
72 The Venice Train 1965 Description / Buy
73 The Survivors 1965 Description / Buy
74 Black Rain 1965 Description / Buy
75 Ticket of Leave 1965 Description / Buy
76 The Cat 1966 Description / Buy
77 The Old Man Dies 1966 Description / Buy
78 The Mouse 1966 Description / Buy
79 Fate of the Malous 1966 Description / Buy
80 The Little Saint 1967 Description / Buy
81 The Brothers Rico 1967 Description / Buy
82 The Reckoning (Short Story) 1967 Description / Buy
83 The neighbours 1968 Description / Buy
84 The Prison 1968 Description / Buy
85 The Premier 1968 Description / Buy
86 The confessional. 1968 Description / Buy
87 The Patient 1968 Description / Buy
88 The Witnesses 1968 Description / Buy
89 Uncle Charles Has Locked Himself in 1969 Description / Buy
90 Uncle Charles 1969 Description / Buy
91 November 1970 Description / Buy
92 The Rich Man 1970 Description / Buy
93 Enigmas 1970 Description / Buy
94 The Glass Cage 1971 Description / Buy
95 The Innocents 1972 Description / Buy
96 The Disappearance Of Odile 1972 Description / Buy
97 The Girl in His Past / Le temps d'Anaïs 1976 Description / Buy
98 The Nightclub 1977 Description / Buy
99 The White Horse Inn (Short Story) 1979 Description / Buy
100 The Little Doctor 1981 Description / Buy
101 The Outlaw 1987 Description / Buy
102 The Murderer 2013 Description / Buy
103 The Hand 2016 Description / Buy

Order of Georges Simenon Non-Fiction Books

# Read Title Published Details
1 Simenon's Paris 1970 Description / Buy
2 When I Was Old 1971 Description / Buy
3 Letter to My Mother (Short Story) 1976 Description / Buy
4 Intimate Memoirs: Including Marie-Jo's Book 1981 Description / Buy

Order of Inspector Maigret Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 L'Étoile du Nord 1938 Description / Buy

Georges Simenon Anthologies

# Read Title Published Details
1 Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews 1957 Description / Buy
2 Nine Detective Stories 1964 Description / Buy
3 City Sleuths and Tough Guys 1989 Description / Buy
4 Murder Intercontinental 1996 Description / Buy
5 The Oxford Book of Detective Stories 2000 Description / Buy
6 Murder Most Merry 2002 Description / Buy
7 Murder On The Railways 2003 Description / Buy
8 The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction 2004 Description / Buy
+ Click to View all Anthologies
Print: Print PDF

Simenon is best known and remembered for a series of 75 novels and 28 short stories covering the adventures of police commissioner (Commissaire) Maigret. The first novel in the series appeared in 1931, while the last one hit the shelves in 1972. Currently there is quite a number of sites that continue to discuss Maigrets cases (http://www.trussel.com/f_maig.htm). The success of the Maigret series meant that the works from this series were translated into all major languages, while several of them became movies and radio plays. Maigret became particularly popular in Great Britain, where Simenon’s works were used as a base for two Maigret television series (1960-63 and 1992-93).

Simenon spent a good period of his life and career in the United States. This, so called Simenon’s “American” period is considered his most creative. Simenon drew quite some inspiration from his life in America as some of his novels were set in the scenery he lived through: (Trois chambres à Manhattan – Three Rooms in Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New – Maiget in New York York (1947), Maigret se fâche – Maigret Gets Angry (1947)).

Some of his “psychological novels” have only recently begun to catch the eye of the reading public, and include titles like La neige était sale – Snow is Dirty (1948) or Le fils – Sons (1957). H also wrote a series of autobiographical works like Je me souviens – I Remember (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes – Intimate memoirs (1981).

Georges Simenon Awards

While living and working in the US, Simenon was awarded the MWA (Mystery Writers of America) Grand Master Award.

In Belgium he was also nominated in 2005 for the title “De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). There were two versions of this title: Flemish and Wallon one. In the first he was in 77th place and in the other he came in 10th.

Georges Simenon Books Into Movies:

Prolific writing and popularity with readers brought along quite a number of movies and TV series being produced based on Georges Simenon works, to be precise exactly 142. Only in 2016 two TV movies were made based on Inspector Maigret series: “Maigret’s Dead Man” and “Maigrest Sets a Trap”. The first movie based on a Simenon novel was made as early as 1932: “Night At The Crossroads”. Out of these, there were 10 different TV series completed based on Simenon’s writings.

Some of Simenon’s novels are considered as a basis for some of the best movies made in the so called Film Noir genre.

Best Georges Simenon Books

There are many accounts that Georges Simenon’s tales of mystery, scandal and even sexual misconduct are in many ways based on his personal life story. It would be hard today to say what differentiates truth for fiction, but here are some of the Simenon’s key written works:

Inspector Maigret novel series. It is said that if you read one of the novels in the Inspector Maigret series, you will read all 75 of them. Of course, the quality of all is not equal, but you are sure to enjoy practically all of them, particularly if you are a mystery novel buff.

Intimate Memoirs (1981): Some critics have called Simenon’s Inspector Maigret series as “comfort food” that you recover from his more serious work. This autobiographical work only confirms, as one critic said, that a good meal was not the only thing Georges Simenon liked to enjoy. A wife and two mistresses will do the trick in that respect.

The Mahé Circle: One of so called “more serious” works of Simenon that was only recently translated into English. In it you can find the essential Simenon male character. As with most Simenon main characters presented in his “serious” works discovering different freedoms poses a challenge in making a distinction between what is just enough and what is going overboard.

Any of the mentioned “American” series novels of Simenon are worth a read, particularly “Three Rooms in Manhattan”.

In any case, anything you grab that has Georges Simenon’s name on the cover is worth your reading time. They are bound to be worth your time. As far as the movies produced based on the Simenon works, any produced during the golden era of Film Noir (late Forties to early Sixties) should be a fascinating watch for film buffs even today.

When Does The Next Georges Simenon book come out?

Georges Simenon doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Hand and was released on October, 6th 2016.

BookSeries.orgBook Notification

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

BookSeries.org