The Snow Was Dirty

The Snow Was Dirty by Georges Simenon.

In an unnamed city under occupation, a young criminal moves toward increasingly brutal acts despite his relative material security. Georges Simenon examines violence without allowing hardship to become a complete explanation for it.

Read it for the discomfort of a story that resists reassuring motives. The novel asks what remains of ordinary moral judgment in a world organized around deceit and coercion.