Based on his own experiences, Georges Simenon tells of a period in his youth when he was befriended by three men. Unbeknownst to him, these three would go on to commit a series of wholly reprehensible crimes. Yet it was only by chance that these travesties inspired Simenon to become a crime writer, rather than tread the path of evil himself. One of the 20th century's most prolific and widely read authors, Georges Simenon (1903â€"1989) is widely recognized as one of the most skillful and literate writers of detective fiction, famed for his Commissaire Maigret novels.