John Banville, a celebrated author known for his literary fiction, including the Booker Prize winner "The Sea," also writes crime novels under the pseudonym Benjamin Black (until recently). Banville credits the crime fiction of Georges Simenon as an epiphany, revealing to him a wealth of literary avenues. "One (reads Simenon for) ... the atmosphere, vividness, and human insight." Simenon was a prolific Belgian writer, publishing around 400 novels, including 75 novels featuring the police detective Jules Maigret. Over the next three years, the Maigret books will all be reprinted, with 30 standalone works to follow next year.

My introduction to Simenon was "The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien," a 1931 work that struck me as distinctly of its era. Maigret feels he has inadvertently pushed a man toward shooting himself. The circumstances are unusual as there seems to be no reason for the man's suicide. Superficially, he appeared a rather unremarkable fellow with access to a substantial amount of money. Further adding to the intrigue is the sudden appearance of various individuals taking a keen interest in Maigret's investigation.

The Maigret novels are pretty short and efficiently paced. Banville has faulted them for being formulaic, preferring his "hard novels." I may see the same thing over time, but I will just enjoy these treats until then.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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