Strangers in the house
By: by Georges Simenon ; introduction by P.D. James.
Series: New York Review Books classics
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York, USA
Language: eng
Translated from: fre
Translation of: Les inconnus dans la maison
Number of pages: 194
Description: Dirty, drunk, unloved, and unloving, Hector Loursat has been a bitter recluse for eighteen long years -- ever since his wife abandoned him and their newborn child to run off with another man. Once a successful lawyer, Loursat now guzzles burgundy and buries himself in books, taking little notice of his teenage daughter or the odd things going on in his vast and ever-more-dilapidated mansion. But one night the sound of a gunshot penetrates the padded walls of Loursat's study, and he is forced to investigate. What he stumbles on is a murder. Soon Loursat discovers that his daughter and her friends have been leading a dangerous secret life. He finds himself strangely drawn to this group of young people, and when one of them is accused of the murder, he astonishes the world by taking up the young man's defense.