This is a new translation of a French classic by the ‘Maigret’ writer but it is very different from those detective stories and much darker in tone.

The central character, Doctor Charles Alavoine, lives a respectable life with his wife and children but views it all as a bourgeois sham. So, when he meets Martine, he is suddenly and passionately obsessed with her. The events which follow from that meeting lead to Charles writing this book, a letter to the investigating magistrate evaluating the evidence of serious crime.

Simenon is not the first writer to explore what might be termed crimes of passion but what is fascinating about this book is the connection to his own life as a confirmed ‘sexaholic’ and his lifelong obsession with prostitutes and casual relationships. Read in this light, the book is an endeavour to explain himself and to be understood.

The ending is not unexpected but the book makes for grim reading as it explores the impossibility of fully possessing another person so that all relationships, even the most passionate, somehow fall short.

Its a superb story but that’s a sad conclusion!