The Cellars of the Majestic : Inspector Maigret

''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray

''Try to imagine a guest, a wealthy woman, staying at the Majestic with her husband, her son, a nurse and a governess . . . In a suite that costs more than a thousand francs a day . . . At six in the morning, she''s strangled, not in her room, but in the basement locker room''

Below stairs at a glamorous hotel on the Champs-Élysées, the workers'' lives are worlds away from the luxury enjoyed by the wealthy guests. When their worlds meet, Maigret discovers a tragic story of ambition, blackmail and unrequited love.

This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Hotel Majestic.

''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