The island itself. Its throbbing heat as if in a belljar under the sun, the scorpion in his son"s bed, the deafening sound of the cicadas. During his first holiday on the island of Porquerolles, Dr Mahe caught a glimpse of something irresistable. As the memory continues to haunt him, he falls prey to a delusion that may offer an escape from his conventional existence - or may destroy him. This is the first English translation of The Mahe Circle, Simenon"s dark, malevolent depiction of an ordinary man trapped in mundanity and consumed by obsession.