Hanaud was modelled on two real-life heads of the
Paris Sûreté, and
Marie-François Goron, whose respective memoirs Mason had studied.
Émile Gaboriau's
Monsieur Lecoq was also an inspiration. Mason wanted Hanaud to be a professional detective who was as physically unlike
Sherlock Holmes as possible so, in contrast to the slender Holmes, Hanaud became stout and broad-shouldered. He was to be a genial and friendly soul ready, "as the French detective does", to trust his flair or intuition and to take the risk of acting upon it. In the stories, Hanaud often relies on
psychological methods to solve cases. He is generally assisted by his friend, the fastidious Julius Ricardo, a former
City of London financier. Hanaud made his first appearance in the 1910 novel
At the Villa Rose set in the south of France. He appeared in a further four novels and a novella. His last appearance was in the 1946 novel
The House in Lordship Lane. Hanaud has been portrayed on screen several times – with adaptations of
At the Villa Rose and
The House of the Arrow. He has been seen as one of a number of influences on the creation of
Agatha Christie's Belgian detective
Hercule Poirot. ==Hanaud works==