10 h 53 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 53 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A wealthy woman dies in Dijon, and her will leaves the living with reasons to doubt one another.
In A. E. W. Mason’s The House of the Arrow, Mrs Harlowe’s death draws young English solicitor Jim Frobisher into a troubling case. He is honest and decent, but out of his depth in this French town. Ann Upcott, the dead woman’s companion, and Betty Harlowe, her niece, both have futures bound to the household and its inheritance.
Inspector Hanaud of the French Sûreté arrives to test every story. Humorous and theatrical, he seems to play the fool while watching everyone closely. As money and family ties breed doubt, a seemingly peaceful household becomes a puzzle of trust. The pleasure lies in following a sharp detective through a patient investigation, where an easy impression may not be enough.
What you’ll discover
- A detective worth watching Meet Hanaud, whose playful manner gives little away about the sharp mind behind it.
- A will that matters Follow an inheritance that binds Ann Upcott and Betty Harlowe to an unsettled household.
- An outsider’s uncertain footing Enter the case with Jim Frobisher, a decent solicitor facing unfamiliar ground in Dijon.
- Trust under pressure Explore how money and family ties turn familiar people into objects of doubt.
- A patient, clever puzzle Enjoy a measured mystery that makes room for close observation and a detective’s strong personality.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy classic detective puzzles will find a lively companion here: clues set fairly in view, a showman sleuth with a sharp mind, and a French town full of locked rooms and quiet menace.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A blackmailer's letters send a lawyer abroad
- Hanaud plays the clown while hunting something else
- Betty answers and Waberski's charge collapses
- A book about arrow poison changes everything
- Ann tells of a dark night in the house
- The sealed rooms give up odd clues
- An arrow in a penholder and a man dead
- Charming surfaces hide what people really are
- Loyalty, need and chance drive the choices
- Mason plays fair and keeps the clues in view
Who’s who
- Jim FrobisherA cautious young London solicitor and solitary mountaineer who crosses to Dijon to protect a client and finds himself drawn into a case he does not understand.
- HanaudA large, theatrical detective from the Paris Sûreté who jokes and clowns while quietly hunting a writer of anonymous letters and a possible poisoner.
- Betty HarloweA slender, proud young woman of twenty who has inherited a fortune and wants the cloud of suspicion over her house lifted.
- Ann UpcottA bright, lively English companion at the Maison Grenelle who tells of a frightening night and fears she could have prevented a death.
- Boris WaberskiA shambling, tobacco-stained Russian who lives off the family, demands money, and accuses Betty of murder when he is refused.
- Jeremy HaslittThe senior partner of a stately London law firm, who senses that some hidden family secret lies behind the blackmailer's letters.
- Monsieur BexBetty's small, fussy Dijon notary, who prizes propriety and is eager to offer his own suggestions to the great detective.
- Nicolas MoreauHanaud's quiet, loyal agent, who follows suspects, checks facts and obeys every order without a flicker of expression.
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The House of the Arrow
by A. E. W. Mason · 1924
A lawyer crosses to Dijon to save Betty Harlowe from Boris Waberski while Hanaud hunts something darker.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
A London solicitor opens a letter from a Russian gambler who wants five hundred pounds from a dying woman's fortune. Within weeks the woman is dead, and the same man accuses her adopted daughter of poisoning her.
The House of the Arrow at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 50 min fast, 7 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 87,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1924by A. E. W. Mason
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A blackmailer's letters send a lawyer abroad
Mr. Haslitt, a London solicitor, opens a strange letter from Dijon. It comes from Boris Waberski, a gambling Russian related by marriage to a client, Mrs. Harlowe. He asks for five hundred pounds, claiming her will already makes him rich. Haslitt smiles, because the will leaves everything to her adopted daughter, Betty.
Mrs. Harlowe dies three weeks later, and a second letter arrives. Now Waberski demands one thousand pounds and threatens trouble. Then comes the blow. He accuses Betty of poisoning her aunt on the night of April 27. A friend of Betty's named Ann Upcott writes to Jim by name, though he has never heard of her.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1924
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mason, A. E. W. The House of the Arrow. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-arrow.
Mason, A. E. W. (2026). The house of the arrow. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-arrow (Original work published 1924)
Mason, A. E. W. The House of the Arrow. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-arrow.
@book{mason2026house,
author = {Mason, A. E. W.},
title = {The House of the Arrow},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-arrow},
note = {First published 1924}
}
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What is The House of the Arrow about?
It follows young solicitor Jim Frobisher, who travels to Dijon after a Russian blackmailer accuses Betty Harlowe of poisoning her aunt. The detective Hanaud takes charge, and a poison arrow, a locked door and a missing necklace deepen the mystery.
Who is Hanaud in the novel?
Hanaud is a senior detective from the Paris Sûreté who jokes and plays the clown while working with great care. He is sent to Dijon to find the writer of poisonous anonymous letters and ends up investigating a death.
Is The House of the Arrow a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by A. E. W. Mason, set in Dijon in the early twentieth century. The Maison Grenelle and its characters are invented, though the city's churches, tower and streets are real.
The author
A. E. W. Mason
1865–1948 · English novelist
Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (1865–1948) was a British novelist and politician, born in London, where he also died. He wrote The Four Feathers (1902), At the Villa Rose (1910), and The House of the Arrow (1924). He served as a Member of Parliament for Coventry from 1906 to 1910.
More by A. E. W. Mason
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