And then of course there is Simenon, who is like eating fine patisserie between long gourmet dinners. This one sees Maigret is in the USA attending a Coroner’s investigation of what might be a murder. His puzzlement over American methods is great. He cannot help but become involved.

People recommend Alan Furst in the same category as Philip Kerr, but he doesn’t hold up to the amazingly researched and extraordinary daring of PK. The Bernie Gunther novels are in the first person which allows him to make hilarious derogatory remarks about the Nazis, and to my mind he is funnier and sharper than Chandler, to whom he is often compared.

Stuck in bed with a broken ankle I turned to Philip Kerr and re-read with great pleasure the first three great Bernie Gunther novels: March Violets, The Pale Criminal and A German Requiem. The first set in pre-war Berlin, the second towards the end of WW2 and the third in Vienna, during the filming of The Third Man. He is really good, and re-reading is a total joy.