The Judge's House (Inspector Maigret)

Exiled to a sleepy town in western France, Maigret is relieved when he has to handle a challenging case. There's been a murder in a mussel farming village and its most respected resident, the former judge Monsieur Forlacroix, has tried to dispose of the body in the river. But why will no one admit to knowing the dead man? And what connects him to Forlacroix's pianist daughter, Lise, who is kept locked in her bedroom? With studied patience and an eye for subliminal clues, Maigret teases out the dark secrets that everyone in this insular community, it seems, has a motive to protect. A heady and atmospheric page-turner, The Judge's House is Georges Simenon at his suspenseful best.