The Murderer (1935)

Not a mystery in the mode that has made Simenon universally famous, this
is a classic psychological novel, issued in France in 1935 but like all
other works of merit, timeless.
The author's stringent control of his
material deepens the reader's feelings for Dr. Hans Kuperus of Sneek, a
small town in Friesland. After killing his wife and her lover, Herr
Schutter, Kuperus escapes suspicion and the townspeople sympathize with
the widower for a time.
Then he begins behaving extravagantly, flaunting
his affair with his housekeeper and scandalizing the crabbed, insular
community in other ways. Finally, the doctor has no practice, no
friends; he and the housekeeper are prisoners in his house.
Faithfully
translated by Sainsbury, the narrative hauntingly describes the
disintegration of human beings, damned by weaknesses that Simenon
compels the reader to recognize and pity.