Belgian-born French novelist, one of the most skilled and literate writers of detective fiction. Simenon is best known as the creator of Paris police detective Inspector Maigret. He turned out 84 Maigret mysteries and 136 other novels, but he never wrote the 'big' novel that many critics demanded of him. Over 500 million copies of Simenon's books have been printed and translated into 50 languages.

"'Truth never seems true. I don't mean only in literature or in painting. I won't remind you either of those Doric columns whose lines seem to us strictly perpendicular and which only give that impression because they are slightly curved. If they were straight, they'd look as if they were swelling, don't you see?'" (from Maigret's Memoirs, 1950)

Georges Simenon was born in Liège on 13 February 1903, the first son of Désiré Simenon and Henriette Brüll. Because his birthday was Friday the 13th, his superstitious aunt changed the date to February 12. Simenon's father was an accountant for an insurance company. He died in 1921. At the age of sixteen Simenon was forced by his father's ill health to abandon his studies. He worked as a baker and a bookseller and started his career as a writer at a local newspaper, Gazette de Liège. This experience provided the young Simenon with the perfect apprenticeship. At the age of seventeen he published his first novel. He joined a group of painters, writers, and dilettantes who called themselves La Caque (The Cask) and spent time drinking, trying drugs, and discussing philosophy and art. Later he returned to the group and several of its members in the novel LE PENDU DE SAINT PHOLIEN (1931). In 1923 he married Règine Renchon, a young artist, whom he had met in Liège. The marriage ended in divorce.

In 1922 Simenon went to Paris, publishing short stories and popular novels under almost two dozen different pen names. He worked as an office clerk for a right-wing writer, and was a secretary to a wealthy aristocrat, the Marquis de Tracy. Simenon lived in France from 1923 to 1939, during which time his writing turned into an industry of novels. Between 1923 and 1933 Simenon produced more than 200 books of pulp fiction under several pseudonyms. From 1931 to 1934 Simenon wrote 19 Maigret novels. After a pause of 8 years, Maigret returned again in 1942 with three new stories.

The social life of Paris provided for the successful author innumerable sources of delight. In 1925 Simenon saw the legendary Josephine Baker dance in the famous show, La revue Nègre, and they became close friends. In 1928 and 1929 he sailed the rivers and canals of France, Holland, and Northern Europe, writing all the while. These journeys supplied material for several of his novels, among them LE CHARRETIER DE LA 'PROVIDENCE' (1931). Throughout the 1930s Simenon lived in many houses, he cruised the Mediterranean, and travelled in Lapland, Africa, and eastern Europe. In Odessa Simenon saw starving people and was followed by the secret police. Simenon's LES GENS D'EN FACE (1933), an anti-communist novel, was considered by André Gide an accurate description of the Russian atmosphere.

Between the years 1934 and 1935 Simenon made an around-the-world cruise. "I have never been able to write a novel about a country which I have known only as a tourist, and I have never traveled around the world with a notebook in hand, jotting down impressions." (preface in Simenon: An American Omnibus, 1967)

The first novel, which Simenon published under his own name, was PIETR-LE-LETTON (1930, The Strange Case of Peter the Lett), where he introduced to the public Inspector Maigret. The character was apparently modelled on the author's great-grandfather. In this and the following books Simenon combined his moral objectivity and psychological insight to create characters that are wholly credible. Another series character, Jean Dollent, "the Little Doctor", appeared in short stories, which have been collected in The Little Doctor (1943). In the early 1930s Simenon produced eighteen Maigret books, but abandoned the character for eight years. By the end of the 1930s he was the favorite of such writers as André Gide, Ford Madox Ford (who mentions him in Vive Le Roy), and Robert Graves.

In 1939 Simenon was appointed commissioner for Belgian refugees at La Rochelle. When the German army invaded France, Simenon settled in Fontenay. During the years of occupation he continued writing and enjoyed success in the film business - under Nazi bureaucracy nine films based on his text were produced.

After the war Simenon found himself in the lists of collaborators. In 1945 he moved to Canada and from there to Tucson, Arizona. He spent the late 1940s and early 1950s in the United States. In New York Simenon met the bilingual young French-Canadian woman, Denyse Ouimet, with whom he had one of the great love affairs of his life. The relationship inspired the novel TROIS CHAMBRES Á MANHATTAN (1946). He married Denise in 1949 and moved with his new family to Connecticut, where he lived for the next five years. During this period he wrote several novels with an American background. Belle (1954) was a story of murder in a small Connecticut community. The Hitchhiker (1955) explored a battle of wills between husband and wife, and The Brothers Rico (1954) was a Mafia story. Simenon's unusually hard-boiled style echoes the work of Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain.

"Call me Mike."
But there was no mistake about it. This was no license to get chummy with him. It applied to the respectful familiarity which in certain groups, in certain small towns, surrounds those of importance.
He looked like a politician, a state senator, or a mayor, or like someone who bosses the political machine and makes judges and sheriffs alike. He could have played any role of these parts in the movies, especially in a Western, he knew, and it was obvious that it pleased him, that he kept polishing up the resemblance.
"How about a highball?" he proposed, pointing at the bottle.
"I never drink."
(from The Brothers Rico)

Simenon's semi-autobiographic, naturalistic PEDIGREE (1948) was exceptionally long compared to most novels, over five hundred pages. Simenon wrote the book after a doctor misread an x-ray and told him that he had less than two years to live. The book was meant for his young son so that he would be able to know about his father when he grew up. However, Simenon still had 41 years ahead.

In 1955 Simenon returned to Europe and settled eventually in Lausanne, Switzerland. Beneath the illusion of a happy household, Simenon's marriage was deteriorating and his family disintegrating. He had started a sexual relationship with Teresa Sburelin, a new servant, who became his devoted companion. In 1964 Denise entered a psychiatric clinic, never returning to Epalinges, their home. Her bitter memoir of the marriage, Un Oiseau pour le chat, was published in 1978. Simenon's daughter Marie-Jo began the first of several psychiatric treatments in 1966, but ultimately in 1978 she committed suicide. In MÉMOIRES INTIMES I-II (1981) Simenon blamed Denise for her death.

The critic and awarded mystery writer H.R.F. Keating selected My Friend Maigret (1949) and Maigret in Court (1960) in 1987 for his list of the one hundred best crime novels. Maigret's method of investigation doesn't rely on vast amounts of police work. He operates more on the basis of intuition. His method also has many similarities with hermeneutics – the theory of interpretation, of understanding the significance of human actions, utterances, products, and institutions. In My Friend Maigret a small-time crook is murdered on the island of Porquerolles off the Mediterranean coast. Maigret is sent to investigate. He collects impressions, and tries to see behind the facts that the local inspector offers him. Thoughts start to rise up from his subconscious. "He sensed a whole heap of things, as he always did at the start of a case, but he couldn't have said in what form this mist of ideas would sooner or later resolve itself." And in the end he finds the answer.

A number of actors have impersonated Maigret in films and television series. Simenon's favorite was Jean Renoir's brother Pierre, who appeared in La Nuit du carrefour (1932). The director had happy memories of the film. His nephew Claude made his debut as a cameraman, Jacques Becker was producer, and the famous film critic and historian Jean Mitry was part of the crew. The film has been praised for its poetic atmosphere full of fog, rain, and car-lights. Jean Gabin played the inspector in Maigret tend un piège (1957), Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre (1959), and Maigret voit rouge (1963), carrying off the role with appropriate world-weariness. Simenon's stories have also inspired a number of other films, including L'ainé des Ferchaux (1963), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Charles Vanel, Stéfania Sandrelli, and Jean-Paul Belmondo. The story was remade in 2000 as a television series, directed by Bernard Stora. Belmondo played the old millionaire, Dieudonné Ferchaux.

The Bibliothèque Simenon opened in Liège in 1961, and in 1966 a statue of Commissaire Maigret was unveiled in Delfzijl, Holland. The last Maigret, MAIGRET ET MONSIEUR CHARLES, was published in 1972, and the next year Simenon announced his retirement. In the following years he published only non-fiction of an autobiographical sort. In his autobiography QUAND J'ÉTAIS VIEUX (1971, When I Was Old) Simenon claimed to have had sex with more than twenty thousand different women. LETTRE À MA MÈRE (1974) examined his relationship to his mother. Simenon died in Lausanne, on September 4, 1989. He left instructions at his death that his body be cremated without any ceremony and that his ashes, mingled with his beloved daughter's, be scattered beneath a huge tree in the back garden of his last house in Lausanne.

The Maigret books focus on the circumstances and stresses that compel one person to murder another. They are written in a spare, undecorated style. Simenon described them as sketches, comparable to the sort of things a painter does for his pleasure or for preliminary studies. The production of 115 'Simenons', short, intense psychological analyses of modern man, started with LE RELAIS D'ALSACE (1931, The Man from Everywhere). Among these works is his most Dostoyevskyan tale L'HOMME QUI REGARDAIT PASSER LES TRAINS (1938, The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By), which centers on the theme of the sense of guilt – as do many of his stories. Simenon's more or less optimistic side and joy in life is seen in such novels as LE PETIT SAINT (1965, The Little Saint) and LE PRÉSIDENT (1958, The Premier). L'HORLOGER D'EVERTON (1954) was filmed by Bernard Tavernier in 1973. In the story a father, Dave Galloway, begins to review his own life, when he hears that his son Ben has murdered a man and eloped with an underage girl. Dave realizes that he, his father, and Ben "were of the same breed, all three of them. ... It seemed to him that, in the whole world, there were only two sorts of men, those who bow their heads and the others."

Maigret is the son of a farmer of the countryside near Moulins. He came to Paris as a young man originally to study medicine. Instead he joined the police, and rose from uniformed bicycle patrolman to superintendent. His wife Louise is a fine cook, who often prepares heavy, hearty peasant fare - cassoulet, calves' liver, and his favorite, choucroute. They live in an apartment on the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir. Maigret's office is at the Quai des Orfévres, where sandwiches and beer are delivered during his interrogations. During his investigations Maigret consumes quantities of wine, endless glasses of beer, and Calvados. Heavy drinking is combined with pipe smoking. - Other police detectives in Maigret novels: Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, Torrence. - Best Maigret film: Maigret tend un piége, 1957 (dir. by Jean Delannoy, with Jean Gabin as Maigret and Annie Girandot) - see more information later below. - Television Maigrets: Rupert Davies (1970) and Richard Harris (1988), Michael Gambon (1992) in Britain, Heinz Rühmann in Germany, Jan Teuling in Holland, Gino Cervi in Italy, Boris Tenin in Russia, Kinya Aikawa in Japan, Jean Richard and Bruno Cremer in France - See also: Lawrence Treat and modern police procedural novel.

For further reading: The Art of Simenon by T. Narjerac (1952); Simenon in Court by R. Raymond (1963); Simenon by B. de Fallois (1971, rev. ed.); Simenon by F. Lacassin and G. Sigaux (1973); Georges Simenon by T. Young (1976); Georges Simenon by F.F. Becker (1977); Simenon's Paris by F. Frank (1983); Georges Simenon, a Critical Biography by S. Erskin (1987); The Man Who Wasn't Maigret by P. Marnham (1992); Simenon: A Biography by Pierre Assouline (1997); 'Georges Simenon' by George Grella, in Mystery and Suspense Writers, vol. 2, ed. by Robin W. Winks (1998) - Suom.: Suomeksi Simenonin teoksia on käännetty hyllymetrillinen ellei toinenkin. Kaikki Maigret -teokset on suomennettu.

Selected bibliography:

• First published book: AU PONT DES ARCHES, 1920
• First Maigret: PIETR-LE-LETTON, 1930 - The Strange Case of Peter the Lett (tr. by Anthony Abbott) / Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Maigret ja Latvialainen (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• AU RENDEZ-VOUS DES TERRE-NEUVAS, 1931 - The Sailors Rendezvous / Maigret Keeps a Rendezvous (tr. by Margaret Ludwig) - Maigret ja turskanpyytäjät (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• LE CHARRETIER DE LA "PROVIDENCE", 1931 - The Crime at Lock 14 / The Triumph of Inspector Maigret / Maigret Meets a Milord - Maigret ja kaitselmuksen hevosmies (suom. Reino Hakamies)
• LE CHIEN JAUNE, 1931 - A Face for a Clue (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / The Patience of Maigret / Maigret and the Yellow Dog (tr. by Linda Asher) - Keltainen koira (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• UN CRIME EN HOLLANDE, 1931 - A Crime in Holland (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / Maigret Abroad (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / Maigret in Holland (translated by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret Hollannissa (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LE DANSEUSE DU GAI-MOULIN, 1931 - At the "Gai-Moulin" (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / Maigret at the Gai-Moulin (tr. by by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret murhaajana (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• M. GALLET, DÉCÉDÉ, 1931 - The Death of M. Gallet (tr. by Anthony Abbott) / Introducing Inspector Maigret / Maigret Stonewalled (tr. by Margaret Marshall)
• LA NUIT DU CARREFOUR, 1931 - The Crossroad Murders (tr. by Anthony Abbott) / Inspector Maigret Investigates / Maigret at the Crossroads - Maigret ja tienristeyksen valot (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• LE PENDU DE SAINT PHOLIEN, 1931 - The Crime of Inspector Maigret (tr. by Anthony Abbott) / Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (tr. by Tony White) - Maigret ja matkalaukku (suom. Aili Palmén)
• LE RELAIS D'ALSACE, 1931 - The Man from Everywhere
• LA TÊTE D'UN HOMME, 1931 - A Battle of Nerves (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / Maigret’s War of Nerves (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret ja mies Seinen rannalta (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• L'AFFAIRE SAINT FIACRE, 1932 - The Saint-Fiacre Affair (tr. by Margaret Ludwig) / Maigret Goes Home (tr. by Robert Baldick) - Maigret kotikylässään (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• CHEZ LES FLAMANDS, 1932 - The Flemish Shop / Maigret and the Flemish Shop (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret rajan pinnassa (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LE FOU DE BERGERAC, 1932 - The Madman of Bergerac (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret vastatuulessa (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LA GUINGUETTE À DEUX SOUS, 1932 - Guinguette by the Seine / Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / The Bar on the Seine (translated by David Watson) - Maigret maalaiskapakassa (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• "LIBERTY-BAR", 1932 - Liberty Bar / Maigret on the Riviera (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Murha Rivieralla (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• L'OMBRE CHINOISE, 1932 - The Shadow on the Courtyard / Maigret Mystified - Maigret ja varjokuva ikkunassa (suom. Aili Palmén)
• LE PORT DES BRUMES, 1932 - Death of a Harbor Master (tr. by Stuart Gilbert) / Maigret and the Death of a Harbor-Master (tr. by Stuart Gilbert) - Sumujen satama (suom. Ilkka Pastinen)
• LES GENS D'EN FACE, 1933 - The Window over the Bay (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury)
• L'ÂNE ROUGE, 1933 - The Night Club (tr. by Jean Stewart)
• LES FIANÇAILLES DE M. HIRE, 1933 - Mr. Hire's Engagement (tr. by Daphne Woodward)
• L'ÉCLUSE NO. 1, 1933 - The Lock at Charenton (tr. by Margaret Ludwig) - Maigret kanavasululla (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LES GENS D'EN FACE, 1933 - The Window over the Way (by Robert Baldick)
• LA MAISON DU CANAL, 1933 - The House by the Canal (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury)
• LE COUP DE LUNE, 1933 - Tropic Moon (tr. by Stuart Gilbert)
• MAIGRET, 1934 - Maigret Returns (tr. by Margaret Ludwig) - Maigret ja sukulaispoika (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• L'HOMME DE LONDRES, 1934 - Newhaven-Dieppe - Mies Lontoosta (suom. Annikki Suni)
• LE TESTAMENT DONADIEU, 1937 - The Shadow Falls - (tr. by Stuart Gilbert) - Testamentti (suom. Sulamit Reenpää)
• L'ASSASSIN, 1937 - The Murderer (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury)
• LE CHEVAL-BLANC, 1938 - The White Horse Inn (translated by Norman Denny)
• LE SUSPECT, 1938 - The Suspect (translated by Stuart Gilbert)
• LES RESCAPÉS DU TÉLÉMAQUE', 1938 - The Survivors (tr. by Stuart Gilbert)
• L'HOMME QUI REGARDAIT PASSER LES TRAINS, 1938 - The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (tr. by Stuart Gilbert) - Mies ja junat (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MONSIEUR LA SOURIS, 1938 - The Mouse (tr. by Robert Baldick)
• LES INCONNUS DANS LA MAISON, 1939 - The Strangers in the House (tanslated by Geoffrey Sainsbury)
• CHEZ KRULL, 1939 - Chez Krull (translated by Daphne Woodward)
• BERGELON, 1941 - The Delivery (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LA VEUVE COUDERC, 1942 - Ticket of Leave (tr. by John Petrie) / The Widow (tr. by John Petrie)
• CÉCILE EST MORTE, 1942 - Maigret and the Spinster (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret'n tyttöystävä (suom. Maijaliisa Auterinen)
• LES CAVES DU MAJESTIC, 1942 - Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (tr. by Caroline Hillier) - Maigret ja hotellin kahvinkeittäjä (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LA MAISON DU JUGE, 1942 - Maigret in Exile (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LA VÉRITÉ SUR BÉBE DONGE, 1942 - The Trial of Bébé (tr. by Louise Varèse)
• SIGNÉ PICPUS, 1944 - To Any Lengths (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) / Maigret and the Fortuneteller (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury) - Maigret ja selvännäkijä (suom. Ulla-Kaarina Jokinen)
• L'INSPECTEUR CADAVRE, 1944 - Maigret's Rival (tr. by Helen Thomson) - Maigret ja tarkastaja (suom. Erkki Jukarainen)
• FÉLICIE EST LÀ, 1944 - Maigret and the Toy Village (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LES NOUVELLES ENQUÊTES DE MAIGRET, 1944
• JE ME SOUVIENS...., 1945
• LA FRUITE DE M. MONDE, 1945 - Monsieur Monde Vanishes (tr. by Jean Stewart)
• TROIS CHAMBRES À MANHATTAN, 1945 - Three Beds in Manhattan (tr. by Lawrence G. Blochman) - Kolme huonetta Manhattanilla (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• MAIGRET À NEW YORK, 1947 - Maigret in New York's Underworld (tr. by Adrienne Foulke) - Maigret New Yorkissa (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MAIGRET SE FÂCHE, 1947 - Maigret in Retirement
• LA PIPE DE MAIGRET, 1947 - Maigret's Pipe (tr. by Jean Stewart)
• MAIGRET ET L'INSPECTEUR MALCHANCEUX, 1947 - The Short Cases of Inspector Maigret
• LE PASSAGER CLANDESTIN, 1947 - The Stowaway (tr. by Nigel Ryan)
• LE BILAN MALÉTRAS, 1948 - The Reckoning (tr. by Emily Read)
• LA NEIGE ÉTAIT SALE, 1948 - The Snow Was Black (tr. by Louise Varèse) / The Stain on the Snow / Dirty Snow (translated by Marc Romano) - Lumi oli likaista (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• MAIGRET ET SON MORT, 1948 - Maigret's Special Murder (tr. by Jean Stewart) / Maigret's Dead Man (tr. by Jean Stewart) - Maigret ja hänen vainajansa (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LES VACANCES DE MAIGRET, 1948 - Maigret on Holiday (tr. by Geoffrey Sainsbury ) / No Vacation for Maigret - Maigret viettää lomaa (suom. Sinikka Kallio-Visapää)
• PEDIGREE, 1948 - Pedigree (tr. by Robert Baldick)
• LA PREMIÈRE ENQUÊTE DE MAIGRET, 1949 - Maigret's First Case (tr. by Robert Brain) - Komisario Maigretin ensimmäinen juttu (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MON AMI MAIGRET, 1949 - My Friend Maigret (tr. by Nigel Ryan) / The Methods of Maigret - Ystäväni Maigret (suom. Sinikka Kallio-Visapää)
• LE FOND DE LA BOUTEILLE, 1949 - The Bottom of the Bottle (tr. by Cornelia Schaeffer)
• MAIGRET CHEZ LE CORONER, 1949 - Maigret at the Coroner's (translated by Frances Keene) / Maigret and the Coroner (tr. by Frances Keene) - Maigret syrjästäkatsojana (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LA VIEILLE DAME, 1950 - Maigret and the Old Lady (tr. by Robert Brain) - Maigret ja vanha rouva (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• L'AMIE DE MADAME MAIGRET, 1950 - Madame Maigret's Friend (tr. by Helen Sebba) / Madame Maigret's Own Case / The Friend of Madame Maigret (translated by Helen Sebba) - Rouva Maigret'n ystävätär (suom. Maijaliisa Auterinen)
• LES PETITS COCHOMS SANS QUEUS, 1950
• MAIGRET AU "PICRATT'S", 1951 - Maigret in Montmartre (tr. by Daphne Woodward) / Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (tr. by Cornelia Schaeffer) - Maigret ja Picrattin tanssijatar (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• UNE VIE COMME NEUVE, 1951 - A New Lease of Life (tr. by by Joanna Richardson)
• MAIGRET EN MEUBLÉ, 1951 - Maigret Takes a Room (tr. by Robert Brain) / Maigret Rents a Room (tr. by Richard Brain) - Maigret vuokraa huoneen (suom. Anna Louhivuori)
• MAIGRET ET LA GRANDE PERCHE, 1951 - Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (tr. by J. Maclaren-Ross) / Inspector Maigret and the Burglar's Wife - Maigret ja humalasalko (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LES MÉMOIRES DE MAIGRET, 1951 - Maigret's Memoirs (tr. by Jean Stewart) - Maigret muistelee (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• UN NOËL DE MAIGRET, 1951 - Maigret's Christmas (tr. by Jean Stewart)
• LES FRÈRES RICO, 1952 - The Brothers Rico (tr. by Ernst Pawel)
• LA MORT DE BELLE, 1952 - Belle (tr. by Louise Varèse) / Tidal Waves
• MAIGRET, LOGNON ET LES GANGSTERS, 1952 - Inspector Maigret and the Killers (tr. by Louise Varèse) / Maigret and the Gangsters (tr. by Louise Varèse) - Maigret ja gangsterit (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LE REVOLVER DE MAIGRET, 1952 - Maigret's Revolver (tr. by Nigel Ryan) - Maigret'n revolveri (suom. Aili Palmén)
• MAIGRET ET L'HOMME DU BANC, 1953 - Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) / Maigret and the Man on the Bench (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja penkillä istuskelija (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MAIGRET A PEUR, 1953 - Maigret Afraid (tr. by Margaret Duff) - Maigret pelkää (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MAIGRET SE TROMPE, 1953 - Maigret's Mistake (tr. by Alan Hodge) - Maigret erehtyy (suom. Aili Palmén)
• FEUX ROUGES, 1953 - Red Lights (translated by Norman Denny)
• LE GRAND BOB, 1954 - Big Bob (translated by Eileen M. Lowe)
• MAIGRET À L'ÉCOLE, 1954 - Maigret Goes to School (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret koulussa (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• L'HORLOGER D'EVERTON, 1954 - The Clockmaker (translated by Norman Denny) / The Watchmaker of Everton (tr. by Norman Denny) - film The Clockmaker of Saint Paul (1973), dir. by Bernard Tavernier, starring Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jean Denis, Julien Bertheau, Yves Afonso
• MAIGRET ET LA JEUNE MORTE, 1954 - Maigret and the Young Girl (tr. by Daphne Woodward) / Inspector Maigret and the Dead Girl - Maigret kilpasilla (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MAIGRET CHEZ LE MINISTRE, 1955 - Maigret and the Minister (tr. by Moura Budberg) / Maigret and the Calame Report (tr. by Moura Budberg) - Maigret ja kadonnut asiakirja (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LES COMPLICES, 1955 - Rikostoverit (suom. Aili Palmén)
• MAIGRET ET LE CORPS SANS TÊTE, 1955 - Maigret and the Headless Corpse (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja kahvilan emäntä (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET TEND UN PIÈGE, 1955 - Maigret Sets a Trap (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Maigret virittää ansan (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• EN CAS DE MALHEUR, 1956 - A Case of Emergency (translated by Helen Sebba) / In Case of Emergency (translated by Helen Sebba) - Kuolemani varalta (suom. Sulamit Reenpää)
• UNÉCHEC DE MAIGRET, 1956 - Maigret's Failure (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Maigret epäonnistuu (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LE PETIT HOMME D'ARKHANGELSK, 1957 - The Little Man from Archangel (tr. by Nogel Ryan) - Pikku mies Arkangelista (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LE NÈGRE, 1957 - The Negro (tr. by Helen Sebba)
• MAIGRET S'AMUSE, 1957 - Maigret's Little Joke (tr. by Richard Brain) / None of Maigret's Business - Maigret huvittelee (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LE FILS, 1957 - The Son (tr. by Daphne Woodward)
• STRIP-TEASE, 1958 - Striptease (translated by Robert Brain) - Striptease (suom. Mirja Rutanen)
• MAIGRET VOYAGE, 1958 - Maigret and the Millionaires (tr. by Jean Stewart) - Maigret matkustaa (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LES SCRUPULES DE MAIGRET, 1958 - Maigret has Scrupules (tr. by Robert Eglesfield) - Maigret psykiatrina (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• LE PRÉSIDENT, 1958 - The Premier (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Pääministeri (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• MAIGRET ET LES TÉMOINS RÉCALCITRANTS, 1959 - Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Maigret ja vastahakoiset todistajat (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• UNE CONFIDENCE DE MAIGRET, 1959 - Maigret Has Doubts (tr. by Lyn Moir) - Maigret uskoutuu (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• DIMANCHE, 1959 - Sunday (translated by Nigel Ryan)
• LE VEUF, 1959 - The Widower ( translated by Robert Baldick)
• MAIGRET AUX ASSISES, 1960 - Maigret in Court (tr. by Robert Brain) - Maigret oikeudessa (suom. Kaj Kauhanen)
• L'HOURS EN PELUCHE, 1960 - Teddy Bear (tr. by Henry Clay) - Ylilääkäri (suom. Sulamit Hirvas)
• MAIGRET ET LES VIEILLARDS, 1960 - Maigret in Society (tr. by Robert Eglesfield) - Maigret ja vanhukset (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LE VOLEUR PARESSEUX, 1961 - Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (tr. by Daphne Woodward) - Maigret ja valikoiva varas (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LES BRAVES GENS, 1962 - Maigret and the Black Sheep (tr. by Helen Thomson) - Maigret ja kunnon ihmiset (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LE CLIENT DU SAMEDI, 1962 - Maigret and the Saturday Caller (tr. by Tony White) - Maigret ja lauantaipäivän asiakas (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LA CHAMBRE BLEU, 1963 - The Blue Room ( translated by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LA COLÈRE DE MAIGRET, 1963 - Maigret Loses His Temper (tr. by Robert Eglesfield) - Maigret raivostuu (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LE CLOCHARD, 1963 - Maigret and the Dosser (tr. by by Jean Stewart) / Maigret and the Bum (tr. by Jean Stewart) - Maigret ja mies siltojen alta (suom. Osmo Mäkeläinen)
• LES ANNEAUX DE BICÊTRE, 1963 - The Patient (tr. by Jean Stewart) - Sairaalan kellot (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET LE FNTÔME, 1964 - Maigret and the Ghost (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) / Maigret and the Apparation (translated by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• MAIGRET SE DÉFEND, 1964 - Maigret on the Defensive (tr. by Alastair Hamilton) - Maigret puolustautuu (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LE CHAMBRE BLEU, 1964 - The Blue Room (translated by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LE PETIT SAINT, 1965 - The Little Saint (tr. by Bernard Frechtman) - Pikku pyhimys (suom. Elina Hytönen)
• LETTRE À MON JUGE, 1965 - Kirje tuomarilleni (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LE TRAIN DE VENICE, 1965 - The Venice Train (tr. by Alastair Hamilton) - Juna Venetsiasta (suom. Ulla-Kaarina Jokinen)
• LA PATIENCE DE MAIGRET, 1965 - The Patience of Maigret (translated by Alastair Hamilton) / Maigret Bides His Time (translated by Alastair Hamilton) - Maigret on kärsivällinen (suom. Inkeri Sallamo)
• MAIGRET ET L'AFFAIRE NAHOUR, 1966 - Maigret and the Nahour Case (tr. by Alastair Hamilton) - Maigret kansainvälisessä seurassa (suom. Aili Palmèn)
• LE VOLEUR DE MAIGRET, 1967 - Maigret's Pickpocket (tr. by Nigel Ryan) / Maigret and the Pickpocket (by Nigel Ryan) - Maigret ja taskuvaras (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• Simenon: An American Omnibus, 1967
• LE DÉMÉNAGEMENT, 1967 - The Neighbours (tr. by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson) / The Move (tr. by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson)
• LE CHAT, 1967 - The Cat (tr. by Bernard Frechtman) - Kissa (suom. Sulamit Reenpää)
• LA PRISON, 1968 - The Prison (tr. by Lyn Moir)
• L'AMI D'ENFANCE DE MAIGRET, 1968 - Maigret's Boyhood Friend (tr. by by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja hänen lapsuudenystävänsä (suom. Sulamit Reenpää)
• MAIGRET Á VICHY, 1968 - Maigret Takes the Waters (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) / Maigret in Vichy (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret Vichyssä (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• MAIGRET HÈSITE, 1968 - Maigret Hesitates (tr. by Lyn Moir) - Maigret epäröi (suom. Marja Luoma)
• NOVEMBRE, 1969 - November (tr. by Jean Stewart)
• MAIGRET ET LE TUEUR, 1969 - Maigret and the Killer (tr. by Lyn Moir) - Maigret ja tappaja (suom. Aili Palmén)
• LA FOLLE DE MAIGRET, 1970 - Maigret and the Madwoman (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja harmaasilmäinen nainen (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• QUAND J'ÉTAIS VIEUX, 1970 - When I Was Old (tr. by Helen Eustis)
• MAIGRET ET LE MARCHAND DE VIN, 1970 - Maigret and the Wine Merchant (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja viinikauppias (suom. Sulamit Reenpää)
• LE RICHE HOMME, 1970 - The Rich Man (by Jean Stewart)
• MAIGRET ET L'HOMME TOUT SEUL, 1971 - Maigret and the Loner (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen) - Maigret ja yksineläjä (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• LA DISPARATION D'ODILE, 1971 - Odile katoaa (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• MAIGRET ET L'INDICATEUR, 1971 - Maigret and the Flea (tr. by Lyn Moir) / Maigret and the Informer (tr. by Lyn Moir) - Maigret ja ilmiantaja (suom. Sinikka Kallio)
• Last Maigret: MAIGRET ET MONSIEUR CHARLES, 1972 - Maigret and Monsieur Charles (tr. by Marianne Alexandre Sinclair) - Maigret ja monsieur Charles (suom. Irmeli Sallamo)
• LES INNOCENTS, 1972 - The Innocents (tr. by Eileen Ellenbogen)
• LETTRE À MA MÈRE, 1974 - Letter to My Mother (translated by Ralph Manheim)
• MÉMOIRES INTIMES I-II in 1981 - Intimate Memoirs (translated by Harold J. Salemson) - Intiimit muistelmat (suom. Ulla-Kaarina Jokinen)

Selected Maigret films:

• LA NUIT DU CARREFOUR, 1932 - MAIGRET AT THE CROSSROADS/THE CROSSROADS MURDER, dir. by Jean Renoir - adapted from the novel of the same title (1931)
• LA CHIEN JAUNE, 1932 - A FACE FOR A CLUE, dir. by Jean Tarride - adapted from the novel of the same title (1931)
• LA TÊTE D'UN HOMME, 1933 - A BATTLE OF NERVES, dir. by Julien Duvivier - adapted from the novel of the same title (1931)
• PICPUS, 1943 - TO ANY LENGHTS, dir. by Richard Pottier - adapted from the collection Signé Picpus (1944)
• CÉCILE EST MORTE, 1944 - MAIGRET AND THE SPINSTER, dir. by Maurice Tourneur - adapted from the story of the same title (1942)
• LES CAVES DU MAJESTIC, 1945 - MAIGRET AND THE HOTEL MAJESTIC, dir. by Richard Potter - adapted from the story of the same title (1942)
• MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER, dir. by Burgess Meredith - based on La Tète d'un homme (1931)
• BRELAN D'AS, 1952, dir. by Henri Verneuil - partly based on Le Témoignage de l'enfant de choeur in the collection Maigret et l'inspecteur malchanceux - puis malgracieux (1947)
• MAIGRET MÈNE L'ENQUÊTE, 1955 - MAIGRET AND THE SPINSTER, dir. by Stany Cordier - partly based on Cécile est morte in the collection Maigret revient (1942)
• MAIGRET TEND UN PIÈGE, 1958 - MAIGRET SETS A TRAP - dir. by Jean Delannoy - adapted from the novel of the same title (1955)
• MAIGRET DIRIGE L'ENQUÊTE (tv), 1955, dir. by Stanley Cordier
• MAIGRET ET L'AFFAIRE SAINT-FIACRE, 1959 - THE SAINT-FIACRE AFFAIR / MAIGRET GOES HOME, dir. by Jean Delannoy - adapted from L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (1932)
• MAIGRET VOIT ROUGE, 1963 - MAIGRET AND THE GANGSTERS/INSPECTOR MAIGRET AND THE KILLERS, dir. by Gilles Grangier - adapted from Maigret, Lognon et les gangsters (1952)
• MAIGRET À PIGALLE, 1966, dir. by Mario Landi, starring Gino Cervi
• MAIGRET UND SEIN GRÖSSTER FALL, 1966 dir. by Alfred Weidenmann, starring Heinz Rühmann
• LA CHIEN JAUNE (tv), 1968, dir. by Claude Barma, starring Henry Czarniak
• MAIGRET ET L'HOMME DU BANC (tv), 1973, dir. by René Lucot, starring Jean Richard
• MAIGRET EN MEUBLÉ (tv), 1972
• MAIGRET HÉSITE (tv), 1975
• MAIGRETET LES GANGSTERS (tv), 1977
• LIBERTY BAR (tv), 1979
• MAIGRET Á VICHY (tv), 1984
• MAIGRET ET LE MARCHAND (tv)
• MAIGRET (tv), 1988, dir. by Paul Lynch, starring Richard Harris
• television film 1991, starring Bruno Cremer
• Granada television series 1992-93, starring Michael Gambon