The Strange Case of Peter the Lett

novel by Simenon

Also known as: “Pietr-le-Letton”

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July 14, 2026

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"The Strange Case of Peter the Lett" is the English title of Pietr-le-Letton, the first novel by Georges Simenon to feature the famous fictional detective Jules Maigret. Published in 1931, it introduced Maigret as an unassuming, compassionate, and streetwise Parisian police commissioner. Simenon, a prolific Belgian-French author, wrote 83 more Maigret novels, alongside numerous other psychological novels and autobiographical works. Maigret's investigative method relies on psychological intuition and understanding the perpetrator's motives, rather than strict deduction or procedure.12

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Georges Simenon
…own name was Pietr-le-Letton (1929; The Strange Case of Peter the Lett), in which he introduced the imperturbable, pipe-smoking Parisian police inspector Jules Maigret to fiction. Simenon went on to write 83 more detective novels featuring Inspector Maigret, as well as 136 psychological novels. His total literary output consisted of…
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…own name was Pietr-le-Letton (1929; The Strange Case of Peter the Lett), in which he introduced the imperturbable, pipe-smoking Parisian police inspector Jules Maigret to fiction. Simenon went on to write 83 more detective novels featuring Inspector Maigret, as well as 136 psychological novels. His total literary output consisted of…
Read More