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Portrait image of Francis Durbridge Photo: Stefano Archetti/REX / TT

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Durbridge, Francis

The British crime writer Francis Durbridge was born in Hull in Yorkshire. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School in Bradford, and then at the University of Birmingham where he studied English and Economics and gained a degree in 1933. That same year he succeeded in selling his first radio playscript. He worked for a while at a stockbroking firm but subsequently devoted all his time to...

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Literary figures

Gabriel Hanaud

Gender: Male

A.E.W. Mason created his French Sûreté detective inspector as opposite to Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Gabriel Hanaud is friendly, well-built and rather plump and has a square face. He speaks English with an entertaining accent. Together with is companion, Ricordo, he solves cases in France as well as England, and is regarded as having been a source of inspiration for writers like Christie and Sim...

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