A mix of three late-1960s novellas by Simenon. The first story, "Maigret's Boyhood Friend," is the best of the trio, and involves a mystery revolving around the death of a woman who was the mistress of multiple individuals; who murdered her? A sinister concierge, and a broken-down con-artist that is the titular friend hold the key to the mystery. The second story, "Big Bob," revolves around a doctor's quasi-investigation as to why a friend of his died -- was it suicide or murder? The third story, "November," is told from the point of view of a young woman, and the tangle of a failed father, shiftless and jealous brother, drunken mother -- and a vanished Spanish maid. The other two stores aren't bad, but they're not up to the mark with Maigret stores. ( )