When the wealthy widow Madame Dauvray is found murdered at the Villa Rose in Aix-les-Bains, suspicion falls on her young companion Celia Harland, who has gone missing—along with Dauvray's valuable jewels. The famous French detective Inspector Hanaud is called in to solve the mystery, which involves a séance, a missing chauffeur, and a web of deceit. A. E. W. Mason was inspired to write this story after his own stay at an inn near London, where he saw the names of two victims of a famous murder scratched into a windowpane. Inspired by that case, he incorporated other small details from other murder cases into this narrative. A. E. W. Mason (died 1948) was an influential writer of the modernist period. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. The golden age of detective fiction produced some of the most beloved and influential works in the literary canon. At The Villa Rose is a fine specimen of this tradition, combining ingenious plotting with richly drawn characters and an atmosphere of suspense that keeps readers turning pages.
