Publisher's Synopsis
Inspector Hanaud, Mason's cunning French detective, investigates a plot to steal a priceless pearl necklace belonging to the Rajah of Chitipur. A young opera singer is involved, along with her vanished accomplice. All is not as it appears and the many characters refuse to permit themselves to be moved about like pawns by the mastermind. They Wouldn't Be Chessmen is thought by many to be the best of the Hanaud series. Alfred Edward Woodley Mason was a British author and politician. He authored more than 20 books, including At The Villa Rose, a mystery novel in which he introduced his French detective, Inspector Hanaud. His best-known book is The Four Feathers, which many consider to be his masterpiece, and which has been made into a number of films. Other works include The House of the Arrow, No Other Tiger, The Prisoner in the Opal and Fire Over England. He also contributed a short story, The Conjurer, to The Queen's Book of the Red Cross.
