Audiobooks by A.E.W. Mason

Inspector Hanaud: At the Villa Rose & House of the Arrow: Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Crime Dramatisatio

"BBC dramatisations of two classic detective novels featuring Inspector Gabriel Hanaud of the Paris Sûreté The brilliant creation of British author A.E.W. Mason, Inspector Hanaud has been hailed as ‘the first major fiction police detective of the Twentieth Century’, and was one of the inspirations for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. In these engaging whodunits, France’s cleverest investigator is tasked with proving the innocence of two young women, both accused of murder. At the Villa Rose – Madame Dauvray is found strangled at her villa, her priceless jewellery stolen. All the evidence points to her English companion Celia Harland, who has since disappeared. Holidaying in Aix-les Bains, Inspector Hanaud is approached by her fiancé Harry, who persuades him to take up the case…First published in 1910, this gripping mystery was the first outing for Inspector Hanaud, played here by Andrew Sachs, with Nicholas Rowe as Harry and Fiona Clarke as Celia. The House of the Arrow – When a wealthy widow dies suddenly, the finger of suspicion points at her adopted daughter, Betty Harlowe. Her English lawyer, Frobisher, calls in Inspector Hanaud, who has come to Dijon to investigate a spate of poison-pen letters. Can he unravel the mystery surrounding the House of the Arrow? Richard Pasco stars as Hanaud in this adaptation of A.E.W. Mason’s 1924 thriller, alongside Benedick Blythe, Moir Leslie and Deborah Makepeace. At the Villa Rose Hanaud – Andrew Sachs Ricardo – Ian Masters Wethermill – Nicholas Rowe Celia – Fiona Clarke Madame Dauvray/Marthe/Jeanne – Janet Whiteside Helene Vauquiers/Waitress – Alice Arnold Perrichet/Lemerre – Stephen Critchlow Servattaz/Besnard – Sean Baker Adele – Becky Hindley Dramatised by David Benedictus Directed by Marion Nancarrow First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 October 1999 The House of the Arrow Inspector Hanaud – Richard Pasco Jim Frobisher – Benedick Blythe Betty Harlowe – Moir Leslie Ann Upcott – Deborah Makepeace Francine Rollard – Carole Boyd Boris Waberski/Girardot – Alfredo Michelsen Carlos Espinosa/Gaston – Clive Panto Maurice Thevenet – Mark Jones Adapted by Alan Downer Directed by Christopher Venning Music composed and directed by Terence Allbright First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 February 1984 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Lt"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Andrew Sachs, Benedick Blythe, Deborah Makepeace, Fiona Clarke, Full Cast, Ian Masters, Moir Leslie, Nicholas Rowe, Richard Pasco (Narrator)

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Inspector Hanaud: 3 Mysteries: Inspector Hanaud 1–3: At the Villa Rose, The Affair at the Semiramis

"This audiobook contains the first three adventures of A. E. W Mason’s enigmatic and mercurial Sûreté detective, Inspector Hanaud—a key inspiration for Agatha Christie’s celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot. First, Hanaud investigates the murder of wealthy Mme Dauvray at the fashionable French resort of Aix-les-Bains. Then, during a visit to London, Hanaud unravels a case of theft and murder following a costume party at a prestigious hotel. And finally, he seeks to discover the truth behind an allegation of murder and a plague of poison pen letters in the city of Dijon. CONTENTS: Book 1: At the Villa RoseBook 2: The Affair at the Semiramis HotelBook 3: The House of the Arrow"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

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The House of the Arrow

"Wealthy widow Mrs. Harlowe has died at her house in Dijon, apparently of natural causes. But then her brother-in-law accuses her niece Betty of poisoning the old woman; Jim Frobisher, junior partner in the office of Betty’s English solicitors, is dispatched to France to provide legal advice and support. In France, as Jim seeks to discover the truth and clear Betty, he enters into an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic and mercurial Sûreté detective, Inspector Hanaud …"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

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The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel

"While Sûreté inspector Gabriel Hanaud visits the London home of his friend Mr. Ricardo, they receive a visit from Carradine, a young socialite with a disturbing story. A beautiful young woman he met at a costume party has appealed to him for help. Obsessed with a rich American woman’s pearls, this young woman went to steal them from the American’s hotel room … only to find a gang of thieves, who overpowered her. She woke up hours later, alone in the room except for a dead body. Can Hanaud prove her innocence, and bring the real murderers to justice?"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

Audiobook

At the Villa Rose

"At the fashionable French resort of Aix-les-Bains, a murder is discovered: wealthy but naïve Mme Dauvray is found strangled in the salon of her villa, apparently for her famously expensive jewels. Her young English companion, Celia Harland, is missing, and her maid is bound and chloroformed upstairs. A young English inventor who has been courting Miss Harland adamantly protests her innocence, and begs the famous Sûreté detective Inspector Hanaud to investigate …"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

Audiobook

The House Of The Arrow

"A young English girl is accused in Dijon of murdering her French aunt. Hanaud to the rescue! Inspector Hanaud is a member of the French Sûreté. He is said to have been the model for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, as well as the opposite of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. In 1910, Mason undertook to create a fictional detective as different as possible from Sherlock Holmes, who had recently been resuscitated after his supposed death by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1903. Inspector Gabriel Hanaud was stout, not gaunt like Holmes; a professional policeman, not a gentleman amateur; from the French Sûreté, not Victorian England; and relying on psychological insights rather than physical evidence. His 'Watson' is a retired London banker named Mr. Julius Ricardo, though he appears only briefly in this novel."

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Geoffrey Giuliano, The Orb (Narrator)

Audiobook

At the Villa Rose

"Harry Wethermill, the brilliant young scientist, a graduate of Oxford and Munich, has made a fortune from his inventions, and is taking a vacation at Aix-les-Bains. There he meets, and immediately falls in love with, the young and beautiful Celia Harland, who serves as companion to the aging but warm-hearted Madam Dauvray of Paris. All this is observed by Julius Ricardo, a retired financier from the City of London, who spends every August at Aix, expecting there to find a pleasant and peaceful life. Imagine his consternation when he learns that Mme. Dauvray has been brutally murdered, and imagine Harry Wethermill's consternation when he learns that every finger of suspicion is pointed at the now vanished Celia Harland. Implored to do so by Wethermill, Ricardo asks his friend Inspector Hanaud, the great detective of the Paris Sûreté (who is also vacationing in Aix) to involve himself in the case so that the truth may come out. Hanaud agrees to do so (with the permission of the Aix police, of course), and goes to work. Will he be up to the job? And will Harry Wethermill ultimately be glad that he called in the great man? We can only wait to find out. But surely Hanaud will exercise his powerful little grey cells – one of several characteristics he shares with a famous Belgian detective of later decades, and indeed some scholars of mystery stories suggest that Agatha Christie, in her invention of Hercule Poirot, owes a debt to Mason and his invention of Inspector Hanaud. And indeed Julius Ricardo has than a passing resemblance to Arthur Hastings, Poirot's sidekick, who is invariably a few confused steps behind the detective"

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Geoffrey Giuliano, The Orb (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Spanish] - Las cuatro plumas

"Las cuatro plumas mete el dedo en la herida de una de las mayores derrotas del Imprerio británico, cuando en 1885 un desierto implacable y una población orgullosa y fiera le dio una lección en Sudán. Las tropas coloniales fueron arrasadas y su máximo oficial, Gordon, decapitado para humillación de Londres. Cuando los hechos de la novela suceden, ese incidente todavía está muy fresco, y los ingleses saben que tendrán que abandonar Sudán. Es este libro un clásico de la novela de aventuras que tiene en los escenarios exóticos y la valentía de sus protagonistas los elementos imprescindibles que se requieren del género. Las cuatro plumas ha sido llevada al cine hasta en seis ocasiones entre 1911 y 2002, y también a series televisivas. Ello habla de un argumento y un desarrollo de los hechos que no se ha marchitado desde que A.E.W. Mason la publicara por primera vez nada más iniciado el siglo XX. Paisajes africanos, aventuras y debilidades humanas en estado puro, una lectura a la que siempre se regresa."

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Javier Matesanz (Narrator)

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A Romance of Wastdale

"A Romance of Wastdale, published in 1895, is a novel by the British writer A.E.W Mason. In 1921 it was turned into a film of the same name directed by Maurice Elvey and made by Stoll Pictures, Britain’s biggest studio of the silent era. The novel is set in the scenic area of Wastdale, Cumbria, situated in the Lake District National Park and surrounded by some of England’s highest mountains. For centuries, Wastdale Head has been a starting point for walks and climbing trips into the mountains, and it is in this context that this story of mountains and mountaineers and romance and treachery unfolds."

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Christine Rendel (Narrator)

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The Four Feathers

"Just before his regiment sails off to war in the Sudan, British officer Harry Feversham resigns his commission, wanting desperately to be free of his family’s proud military heritage and terrified of risking his life. He is immediately given four white feathers as symbols of cowardice, one by each of his three best friends and one by his fiancée. To disprove this grave dishonor, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proven his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancée. This suspenseful tale movingly depicts a distinctive code of honor that was deeply valued and strongly promoted by the British during the height of their imperial power. Harry’s heroic attempts at redemption offer listeners a glimpse into a vivid array of human emotions."

A.E.W. Mason (Author), Geoffrey Howard (Narrator)

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