The Murderer (1935)

Not a mystery in the mode that has made Simenon universally famous, this

is a classic psychological novel, issued in France in 1935 but like all

other works of merit, timeless.

The author's stringent control of his

material deepens the reader's feelings for Dr. Hans Kuperus of Sneek, a

small town in Friesland. After killing his wife and her lover, Herr

Schutter, Kuperus escapes suspicion and the townspeople sympathize with

the widower for a time.

Then he begins behaving extravagantly, flaunting

his affair with his housekeeper and scandalizing the crabbed, insular

community in other ways. Finally, the doctor has no practice, no

friends; he and the housekeeper are prisoners in his house.

Faithfully

translated by Sainsbury, the narrative hauntingly describes the

disintegration of human beings, damned by weaknesses that Simenon

compels the reader to recognize and pity.