Recounting the history of the reception (or simply the history of the translation) of Simenon’s work in Hungary would be a huge undertaking, because of its larger cultural and social implications. This article therefore limits itself to the study of Simenon’s crime fiction (the Maigret series) using a systemic approach: instead of focusing only on the texts themselves, it privileges the study of the editorial system. Different periods can be distinguished in the translation process of Simenon’s crime novel series from the early 1960s onwards, although some novels still remain unpublished. The translation of the novels reflects how the work of the translator progressively became professionalized, although there was not a particular translator dedicated to Simenon’s oeuvre in Hungary. Before the change in regime, less attention was paid to the book’s paratexts, while in the capitalist book market of the new system, editorial paratexts became more complex in order to capture the reader’s attention.