Simenon wrote over 50 novels in the Maigret series, each providing the world-weary, pipe-smoking detective with an interesting murder which he solves with an unusual method of investigation, relying on experience, intuition and ruthlessness. Simenon writes in a terse French, skillfully using few words to describe things seen or felt. He is a matchless writer about France - both the France loved by tourists and its seamy, brutal underside. THE BAR ON THE SEINE is a classic example of his art.