Im 9 A Mans Head

A new translation of Georges Simenons gripping novel set in an insular fishing community book eight in the new Penguin Maigret series. It was indeed a photograph a picture of a woman. But the face was completely hidden scribbled all over in red ink. Someone had tried to obliterate the head someone very angry. The pen had bitten into the paper. There were so many crisscrossed lines that not a single square millimetre had been left visible. On the other hand below the head the torso had not been touched. A pair of large breasts. A lightcoloured silk dress very tight and very low cut. Sailors dont talk much to other men especially not to policemen. But after Captain Falluts body is found floating near his trawler they all mention the Evil Eye when they speak of the Oceans voyage. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as The Sailors Rendezvous. Compelling remorseless brilliant John Gray 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