The story takes place in Dieppe, when signalman from his office observes the murder and his life turns around. The game between cat and mouse (murderer and witness) beginns.

The reader is absorbed into signalman's inner turmoil which leads to some gruesome action.

True Simenon's classic! Atmospheric and psychological.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Press UK for an advance copy of The Man from London, a stand-alone psychological thriller set in Dieppe, originally published in 1934.

Railway signalman Maloin witnesses a murder and instead of reporting it he goes down to the water to retrieve the suitcase being fought over. The murderer wants it back and a game of cat and mouse ensues.

The Man from London is, essentially, a study of greed and temptation. It is more a novella than a full length novel, fortunately for me as it didn’t really interest me. I like Maigret as I am always entranced by the author’s matter of fact tone that makes even the most outrageous acts appear banal. It is the same in this novel as it follows Maloin’s thought processes and actions after he retrieves the suitcase and examines the contents. I’m not even going to pretend that I understand his thinking, so, as a result, the psychology of the duel between him and the killer was wasted on me.

On a more positive note the novel is extremely atmospheric. I could smell the Gaulloises and taste the coffee, never mind all the other small details that take me back to small town France, not in the 30s I hasten to add.

The Man from London is a short, atmospheric read that I can see being well suited to a more visual medium where the nuances would be more obvious.

Quality Simenon - atmospheric, beautifully described, haunting and short. The ending has an inevitability that somehow isn't telegraphed yet feels right. The descriptions of the central characters are convincing and rounded in a world that's hard and unforgiving. There's a lot here to enjoy.

The Man from London is one of Georges Simenon’s non Maigret novels and it is a well written story that can be read and enjoyed in one sitting

Starting off with the witnessing of a murder the story has all the usual Simenon hallmarks and is definitely recommended

Maloin is a grumpy railway signalman in the port of Dieppe. He works the night shift and has done for decades. From his perch high above the port he can observe everyone and everything. When he sees a suitcase smuggled from the English ferry into Dieppe and a subsequent fatal fight between the two smugglers, he retrieves the case and discovers it is packed with English currency. What is he to do? Call the police? Return the money? He cannot spend it or reveal that he has it as the currency is foreign. And one smuggler, the man from London, has survived and wants the money back.

This is the story of a man limited in intelligence, if not in cunning, who finds himself in a situation which is completely avoidable, but as one bad decision follows another, becomes immeasurably worse. He is not an especially sympathetic man, cruel to wife and family, selfish and greedy, but one who has it in him to try and do the right thing, even if it is too late.

A short novel by Simenon, lacking all the humour of a Maigret tale, but a forceful and compelling story all the same.

Atmospheric Tale.....
Incredibly atmospheric tale of crime, temptation and human nature. Simenon artfully paints his pictures in words with a breathtaking accuracy, the setting here being central to the tale. A short but immersive read, novella length, with some very fitting cover art from Penguin Books.

There is no detection going on here. We watch the main action play out within the first few pages and then follow an ordinary working class man give in to temptation and then grapple with his conscience for the rest of this seemingly slight novella. It is highly atmospheric - a dingy working environment between the docks and the railway tracks, overlooking a nightclub/brothel, and an impoverished, cliff-edge, home setting - and to my mind this atmosphere is central to the story and the character of Louis Maloin. He is an utterly believable and sympathetic creation, along with his wife and daughter, and I’d recommend this book highly for those characters. Perfect cover art for the Penguin version I read - many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Mailon is a signalman at the port of Dieppe in the years between the wars and during his shift one night he witnesses a struggle between two smugglers which results in a murder, with the body of one of the men and their smuggled cargo ending up at the bottom of the harbour. Mailon recovers the cargo and discovers over half a million francs, which he secretes away in his signal box before the other criminal can return. The novel then follows Mailon as he tries to come to terms with his sudden richness, as well as playing cat and mouse with the murderer and the police who are on the hunt around Dieppe.

The Man From London is a short, but intriguing examination of the impact of becoming caught up in a crime and the temptation that it can bring.

Outside of the Maigret novels, I find Simenon can be a bit uneven: this is a noirish little tale that is claustrophobic and packed with atmosphere as a port signalman witnesses first a smuggled suitcase then a murder and gets drawn into this world of crime.

This reminded me of Patricia Highsmith, though in a lighter vein, and there's a strong 'what if' moral to the story. Not as emotive as 'Three Bedrooms in Manhattan', or as slick as the Maigret stories - think a sort of Graham Greene lite. Good as a brisk refresher between heavier reads.

Despite being a lifelong Bibliophile The Man From London is the first Georges Simenon novel I've read, and from this evidence I've obviously been missing out.

Louis Maloin is a middle-aged railway signalman who from his aerie overlooking the harbour at Dieppe, where passengers could disembark from the Newhaven Ferry then jump on a train to continue their journey, he has a great view of the port and surrounding area.
Mailon works the night shift and one evening he sees a passenger, throwing a suitcase to an accomplice on the dock to avoid it having to go through Customs. Intrigued he later sees the pair leave a nearby seedy bar arguing, there's a fight , one of the men is killed ,and him and the mysterious luggage,end up at the bottom of the harbour
Mailon retrieves the suitcase before the attacker has a chance to search for it and discovers that it's contents could change his life. Increasingly paranoid he watches firstly the murdere, who also appears to be following him though never actually speaks, then the police from his signal box expecting to be confronted at any time.

Simenon captures the place and his characters perfectly, after finishing the book I was intrigued enough to find picture of the Gare Maritime Dieppe of the 1930s and it was exactly the picture he'd painted in my mind. Mailon isn't a particularly attractive character in any way, he;'s surly,rude, often aggressive and occasionally indulges in bar fights and the services offered by the local lady of the night. When he does try to change it doesn't go right for him, he's not a loser, more a working class man disillusioned with the rut he's in then overwhelmed when his fortunes appear to be changing.

As ever with a fine writer the descriptions of place and people are as satisfying as the actual plot,given that Simenon wrote nearly 400 books in his lifetime I always assumed they'd be pulp fiction,this book at least is very far from it.
As a side note I did find it highly amusing that at the time of Simenon writing the book there was a problem with British people smuggling cheaper tobacco into France..

A great atmospheric read ,I'll certainly be reading a lot more of Simenon's books, several of which have been recently re-issued by Penguin Classics.