Cécile Is Dead (Inspector Maigret)

By: Georges Simenon

Published by Picador, 2026-01-06

“I’ve read a lot of Simenon, who’s a favorite writer of mine.” —Sigrid Nunez

In a run-down Paris suburb, housebound widow Juliette Boynet is strangled. For Inspector Maigret, this murder hits home more than most: he’s well acquainted with Juliette’s live-in carer, her selfless niece Cécile. For months, the frightened young woman has complained of an unseen nocturnal intruder. And less than twenty-four hours after her aunt’s murder, Cécile is also found dead. She didn’t have an overactive imagination after all, Maigret reflects guiltily. Focusing his investigation on Cécile and Juliette’s apartment building, with its eccentric concierge and motley assortment of tenants, Maigret ponders how the two murders are linked. Does the wealthy Juliette’s criminal activity hold the answer? Did an heir kill for an inheritance? Or is the truth stranger than even Maigret can foresee? With deft care, Maigret untwists an astonishing tale of greed and treachery in Cécile Is Dead.