Sun, sand, the Côte d’Azur―and a mysterious dead man with multiple hidden lives. Who was Mr. Brown? And why does the mystery of his life preoccupy Maigret so? Georges Simenon’s Maigret arrives in Antibes on the French Riviera tasked with discreetly solving the murder of one Mr. Brown, stabbed in the back as he returned to the house of his mistress and her mother. As Maigret investigates, he finds himself drawn to the seedy dive bar frequented by the late Mr. Brown, and strangely absorbed in his ruminations on the many secret lives of this cipher of a man. Is Maigret simply distracted by the sun, surf, and vacationers, or is there something else about the case that is preoccupying him? And is it keeping him from seeing the truth in this tale of murder on the Côte d’Azur? 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. David Watson is a translator and editor.