Maigret and the Minister (Inspector Maigret) - by Georges Simenon (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When an explosive government report goes missing, Maigret must track it down before an honest man takes the fall.

When a government minister telephones Maigret directly, the inspector senses trouble. Auguste Point is not accused of murder, theft, or fraud, but of knowing too much. A devastating disaster at a children's sanatorium has reopened old political wounds, and a long-suppressed engineering report threatens to bring down reputations, careers, and even the government itself--or it would, if it hadn't just gone missing. Wary of entering the murky world of politics, Maigret nevertheless agrees to investigate. Shuttling between ministerial offices and engineering schools, Parisian salons and Brussels hotels, Maigret gradually exposes a web of influence that extends far beyond any single culprit.

One of Georges Simenon's most overtly political Maigret novels, Maigret and the Minister delves into the morass of self-interest and betrayal that underpins a seemingly well-functioning bureaucracy. Lucid and disquieting, it finds Maigret confronting faceless powers that can't be arrested--and asking whether truth even matters when responsibility is everywhere and nowhere at once.

About the Author

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. An intrepid traveler with a profound interest in people, Simenon strove on and off the page to understand--and not to judge--the human condition in all its shades. His books include the Inspector Maigret series and a richly varied body of wider work united by its evocative power, its economy of means, and its penetrating psychological insight. He is among the most widely read writers in the global canon.

Ros Schwartz has translated numerous works of fiction and nonfiction from French, including a new translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince and Mireille Gansel's Translation as Transhumance. The recipient of a number of awards, she was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2009 and received the Institute of Translation and Interpreting's John Sykes Memorial Prize for Excellence in 2017.