The plump, middle-aged and ever-optimistic Inspector Gabriel Hanaud features in A.E.W. Mason's detective fiction. This was the last outing for inspector Hanaud who was said to be one of the inspirations for Agatha Christie's creation of Hercule Poirot. Julius Ricardo hitches a lift home across the English Channel to see his friend Inspector Hanaud and en route picks up an escapee from a prison ship, who holds a grudge against Daniel Horbury, M.P. When Horbury is found dead at his home in Lordship Lane, Inspector Hanaud and Ricardo assist Scotland Yard in the investigation, which also involves the owner of a shipping line. This is a classic Hanaud thriller that will not fail to delight crime fans everywhere.