Inspector Hanaud: At the Villa Rose & House of the Arrow

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 A