A new translation of Simenon’s gripping novel about lives transformed by deceit and the destructive power of lust.It was all real: himself, the room, Andr e still lying on the ravaged bed.For Tony and Andr e, there are no rules when they meet in the blue room at the H tel des Voyageurs. Their adulterous affair is intoxicating, passionate – and dangerous. Soon it turns into a nightmare from which there can be no escape. Simenon’s stylish and sensual psychological thriller weaves a story of cruelty, reckless lust and relentless guilt.’A wondrous achievement, brief, inexorable, pared to, and agonisingly close to, the bone, and utterly compelling; in short, a true and luminous work of art.’ John Banville’A double crime, a dark provincial scandal, and a dreadful sort of triumph . . . presented with shattering power’ San Francisco Chronicle’One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories’ Guardian’A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness’ Independent