[Howard]

As I've said on the Simenon thread, in my opinion the best of Simenon is in his non-Maigret novels, and anyone who's only read Maigret has never really read Simenon.

Having said that, I agree with Jayaprakash that the Maigret books, at their best, are very good. I'd go further and say that Simenon in his Maigret mode is one of a handful of crime writers to be judged at the highest level (in the same company, I'd certainly nominate Raymond Chandler, Patricia Highsmith, and a writer who's somewhat forgotten these days, Ross Macdonald).

If I had to recommend just a few Maigret books to show the series at its best, I'd mention My Friend Maigret, Maigret's Mistake and Maigret Sets a Trap (no idea how easily available they are these days in English).