Not a whodunnit, the guilty man is in plain sight from the beginning - this is a sombre psychological novel which explores why and how the Hatter has murdered five women in a period of a few weeks; how the women are connected to each other and also to the hatter. It is also an exploration of the hatter's mind, his reaction when he realises that a close neighbour, an immigrant Jew, knows he is the killer. It's a claustrophobic novel, centred in the area around the hatter's house, the nightly debates in the local bar on the killer's identity and mentality, the killer's ultimate downfall, sordid and undignified. Not a story to be enjoyed, but certainly to be admired for its atmosphere and its insight into the cunning as well as desperation of a perverse and criminal mind.

Simenon - master of the moment .....

As usual I find Simenon astounding in his capturing of the moment, his ability to draw me in and be part of what is happening, to make me see the shaded nuances. He is a master.

Everyone wants to be understood, to be accepted, to be seen and in this study Simenon made me see the hatter and his ghosts so clearly. I walked his walk with him and felt his confusion, his euphoria, his doubts, his anguish, even his elation.

A good one.

<i>An ARC gently provided by the publishers via Netgalley</i>

I loved Georges Simenon's Maigret books. New published books I find every is very different. However, I enjoyed reading The Hatter's Ghosts. From the very beginning we know who's the killer but it takes long time to find out what were the killer's motives.

Kachoudas is a tailor in his town and has a regular routine each day where he goes to a local cafe in the evening, following his neighbour Leon Labbre, the hatter, on the same path. There have been a series of murders in the town and Kachoudas sees something that identifies his neighbour as the killer. Here begins a game of cat and mouse and the reader is given insight into the mind of the killer, who is quite cocky and feels justified by his actions.

This is the second thriller I've read by Maigret and it keeps the reader on the edge of the seat much of the way through. I really like how he's able to provide so much tension within such a short work. It's a bit horrific in a way, but it is a great read.

Overall I give this 3.5 stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Classic for the advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.

The Hatter's Ghosts is a Psychological Thriller.
I believe that this is Simenon's best genre.
I loved it.
None of Simenon's ideas are ordinary. He always keeps the reader guessing about something.
Even though I have read this story before in an earlier translation, some parts of the rendering surprised me.
This modern translation is excellent.
The story also has been excellent.
I don't understand quite why, given the content of the works, reading Simenon always cheers me up, and I end up with a broad smile.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

This is Simenon at his darkest. He had a real skill to induce a state of terror in his characters (and sometimes his readers!) In a way this novel is a mirror image of the Cornell Woolrich story 'It Had To Be Murder' and the Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation 'Rear Window'. Here, it isn't an innocent man keeping watch on a murderer, it is the murderer himself keeping watch on the man who could get him caught. It is also a clever cat and mouse game between the murderer and a young journalist.
Simenon was a master at this sort of psychological thriller and here he was writing at the peak of his creativity.

This standalone novel by Belgian author Georges Simenon was originally published in 1949 as Les Fantômes du chapelier and is now available from Penguin Classics in an English translation by Howard Curtis. Although Simenon is better known for his series of Maigret detective novels, he also wrote many books like this one – short psychological thrillers, some of which he referred to as romans durs, or ‘hard novels’. I have read a few of them and my favourite so far has been The Venice Train; this one has some similar plot elements, but is a much darker story.

The novel is set in La Rochelle during a wet and miserable December. It has been raining for twenty days, ever since an old lady was found murdered near the canal. Since then, more bodies have been discovered, all of them elderly women and all of them strangled with a cello string. The newspapers are full of speculation over who the murderer might be, but the reader knows from the opening pages exactly who is responsible – and so does the tailor Kachoudas, who has seen something that has convinced him of the killer's identity. As the rest of the story unfolds, we are kept wondering whether Kachoudas will go to the police or whether he’ll be the murderer's next victim.

Although we know from the beginning who the culprit is, there’s still a sense of mystery because we have no idea why he has set out to kill so many women and how he has chosen his victims. The truth is eventually revealed and we discover exactly what is going on behind closed doors, but as this is just a short novel (as many of Simenon’s seem to be), I can’t really go into the plot in any more detail without spoiling it. Anyway, the mystery is only one aspect of the story; the real interest is in following the thought processes of the murderer as he tries to justify his actions to himself and deal with his conflicted thoughts and emotions.

The Hatter’s Ghosts is an atmospheric, unsettling novel and I loved the descriptions of the dark, rainy streets of La Rochelle. The Howard Curtis translation is clear and accessible and feels quite modern, while also preserving the tone of the 1940s. If you’re new to Simenon, or have only read his Maigret books, I can definitely recommend any or all of the standalones I’ve read so far – as well as this one and The Venice Train, I have read The Man from London and The Strangers in the House and am looking forward to investigating some of his others.

This was a good story and I enjoyed reading it. I gave it 3.5 stars rounded up as it is better than 3 stars. It just didn't thrill me enough to get the higher ratings but I enjoyed it all the same. I love reading penguin classics as there is always a wide variety of types of stories. It's classed as general fiction but it felt alot like a mystery/crime. I really loved the fact the book was through the eyes of a the bag guy. I haven't read many books like this. It was a refreshing change to what I normally read. I loved that this book was translated from French but maybe this was why it didn't thrill me so much. I liked the atmosphere and tension. I liked the variety of characters but didn't become emotionally invested in their development. This book would be more suited to fans who love crime mystery book loves or those who like reading books from the killers pov. I definitely felt that the ending was particularly exciting. 

Many thanks to the author, translator and publishers for creating this chilling novel. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog yesterday https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-hateer-s-ghost-by-georges-simenon-penguin-3-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365 retail links are on my blog

In addition to the celebrated Maigret novels Georges Simenon wrote many other novels. Some of these he characterised as Roman Durs (hard novels). Simenon didn't view these as commercial in nature and felt no need to make concessions to morality or popular taste. I have read a few and they have have been uniformly excellent (The Snow Was Dirty aka Dirty Snow, The Mahé Circle and The Hand).

I do not know the extent to which The Hatter's Ghosts (1948) could be called a Roman Durs but it shares the same bleak and noirish tone. It’s also unusual and very good.

The rain fell for twenty days in La Rochelle during which five women were murdered. Simenon takes us into the small town world and the daily lives of the community. The story is told from the murderer’s perspective. At the outset he is calm, confident, assured, and even arrogant. Over the course of this short novel his mind unravels.

The Hatter's Ghosts is another dark, atmospheric and compelling novel from a writer who is about so much more than just Maigret.

We should be grateful for Penguin's new translations of Simenon's novels. The Hatter's Ghosts is the latest non-Maigret roman dur to appear and while its impact is less immediate than some of its predecessors, it soon turns out to be an intense and disturbing depiction of serial killing from the killer's point of view. It's fascinating in its focus on his seemingly matter of fact motivations, his (to him at least) logical thought processes, his misogyny and his desire to both demonstrate his cleverness and his desire both to stop and to be caught. I'll read any Simenon novel Penguin cares to publish.

Penguin, through their Penguin Modern Classics series have done a real number on the works of Georges Simenon.
I was originally drawn to their literary archivist intentions when they announced they were re-publishing all of the Maigret novels in sequence, one a month. I bought and read each one.
They are doing the works, quite literally on the collection of Simenon’s wider writing, bringing them up to date and making them available to a new readership.
Each original book has had a fresh touch with now familiar translators like Howard Curtis, as in this case, lending their skill and expertise. The advantage of using individuals, familiar with the original text and the author’s style leads to a polished English edition. The packaged is further enhanced by wonderful book covers.
The Hatter’s Ghosts is a new story to me.
A clever account from the perpetrator’s perspective. Why do people kill? Slowly as the murderer seemingly tries to justify his motives and becomes less disciplined in his method and approach do we see Simenon’s unique style in exploring the crime genre. How does a serial killer end their killing spree? After their purpose is accomplished? Rather perhaps only once they are arrested or killed themselves. Once a person crosses that line, however respectable, can they control the need to take another victim.
I loved the sense of close proximity between the Tailor and the Milliner. The openness of one and the concealment of the other yet the sense of a symbiotic relationship.
I especially liked the unravelling of mystery and the insights offered. The manic and quite meticulous behaviour that degenerates into almost a plea to be found out and someone calling time on their activities that terrified the community.
A thoughtful and illuminating story, carefully translated and wonderfully packaged into a book worthy of any bookcase.

The Mind Of A Murderer…
The mind of a murderer is explored in this short, haunting novella perfectly translated from the French. In a small French town a killer lurks, as one man discovers his identity a game begins. A chilling piece of work, both dark and disturbing. As is usual, the atmospherics are perfection and the character studies are intense - particularly as the reader is taken deep into the darkest recesses of the killer’s mind and tormented soul.

This is an excellent translated haunting and chilling novella, a classic from Georges Simenon, a psychological examination of the mind of a killer, initially superior and confident, but then slowly beginning to unravel. The atmospheric setting is the small town of La Rochelle, its population currently living in a climate of terror and fear after the murders of a group of elderly women, strangled by a garrotte of cello string. The murderer Monsieur Leon Labbe is a well respected citizen, running a hat shop on the Rue du Minage, with a sick wife, Mathilde, that has garnered him the sympathy of many, they are unaware he has killed her. Opposite the hat shop is the loner and shunned tailor, Kochoudas and his family, no first name is given.

Labbe is a man of routines and rituals, the pair observe and know each other well, with Kochoudas routinely following Labbe in the evening to the Cafe des Colonnes with its group of regulars that includes DCI Pigeac, the man in charge of the murder investigation. It is here that Kochoudas accidently learns that Labbe is the killer, and so the games begin. Surprisingly, Labbe needs Kochoudas, he serves a necessary purpose and is indispensable to him. In this wonderful novella, the reader is taken into the darkness of Labbe's mind and thoughts, his personal history, his intentions and his ghosts. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

The Hatter’s Ghosts an intense psychological study of a murderer, with a rather gripping cat-and-mouse story as its carrier.

Set in La Rochelle, Simenon creates an oppressive, brooding atmosphere as we see a town frightened by a series of murders of elderly women. The whole book is written from the point of view of the respectable hatter Léon Labbé, who from early on is established as the murderer. His motives emerge gradually, as we get a remarkable portrait of a mind at first arrogant and assured but which begins to come apart at the psychological seams. It is a dark and enveloping book; even though I’m not wholly convinced by Simenon’s psychology at times, I found it gripping and involving. As always, he creates an excellent sense of place and character, and introduces real tension as a conflicted Labbé flirts with exposure.

This new translation by Howard Curtis is excellent. Curtis manages to preserve the atmosphere of the original, but introduces the occasional word like “loser” which may not have been in general use as Simenon wrote the book, but whose dismissiveness and modern associations perfectly convey the arrogance of Labbé. I found the prose a pleasure to read.

This is a dark, haunting book. I haven’t always got on well with Simenon’s non-Maigret books, but this was very good and I ca recommend it.

(My thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley.)