My Friend Maigret — Georges Simenon

Inspector Maigret investigates the murder of a small-time crook on a Mediterranean island

While Inspector Pyke of Scotland Yard is staying with Maigret to observe his methods, Maigret receives word of a murder in the Midi on the island of Porquerolles. The victim is Marcellin, a man who claims to have been Maigret's friend but was actually a criminal whose girlfriend, a sex worker, Maigret helped out of a scrape years ago.

Travelling to the island, Maigret and Pyke must solve a mystery that takes them deep into the shadowy world of art forgery and the heart of an isolated community with eccentric inhabitants -- and no shortage of secrets. My Friend Maigret is a page-turning mystery set in the sun-drenched south of France about what can happen when past acquaintances resurface.