Inspector Gabriel Hanaud is a fictional French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 policeman depicted in a series of novels and short stories by the British writer A. E. W. Mason. He has been described as the "first major fiction police detective of the Twentieth Century".

He was modelled on two real-life heads of the Paris Sûreté

Sûreté

Sûreté is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force, especially the detective branch thereof.-France:...

, Macé and Goron. Émile Gaboriau

Émile Gaboriau

Émile Gaboriau , was a French writer, novelist, and journalist, and a pioneer of modern detective fiction.- Life :Gaboriau was born in the small town of Saujon, Charente-Maritime...

's Monsieur Lecoq

Monsieur Lecoq

Monsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau, a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté...

 was also an acknowledged inspiration. Mason wanted to physically differentiate Hanaud from Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

 as much as possible, and so he made him stout and broad-shouldered in contrast to Holmes who was thin. He often relies on psychological methods to solve cases. Hanaud is assisted by his friend, the fastidious Mr Ricardo, a former City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 financier.

Hanaud makes his first appearance in the 1910 story At the Villa Rose

At the Villa Rose (novel)

At the Villa Rose is a 1910 detective novel by British writer A.E.W. Mason featuring his character Inspector Hanaud.-Film Adaptations:The story has been adapted three times for the screen, first in a 1920 silent version starring Manora Thew and then in further versions in 1930 starring Austin...

set in the south of France. He appeared in a further four novels, and several short stories. His last appearance was in the 1946 novel The House in Lordship Lane

The House in Lordship Lane

The House in Lordship Lane is a 1946 British detective novel written by A.E.W. Mason. It is the fifth and final novel in the Hanaud series of stories featuring Inspector Hanaud of the French police. Unlike the rest of the series, the story is set in England in the Lordship Lane area of South...

. Hanaud was portrayed on screen several times – with adaptations of At the Villa Rose and its sequel The House of the Arrow

He has been seen as one of a number of influences on the creation of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...

.

Hanaud novels

• At the Villa Rose
  At the Villa Rose (novel)
  At the Villa Rose is a 1910 detective novel by British writer A.E.W. Mason featuring his character Inspector Hanaud.-Film Adaptations:The story has been adapted three times for the screen, first in a 1920 silent version starring Manora Thew and then in further versions in 1930 starring Austin...
  
  (1910)
• The House of the Arrow (1924)
• The Prisoner in the Opal
  The Prisoner in the Opal
  The Prisoner in the Opal is a 1928 British detective novel by A.E.W. Mason. It was the third story in the Inspector Hanaud series of novels.Inspector Hanaud of the Paris Sûreté investigates a crime with the assistance of his friend, Mr Ricardo....
  
  (1928)
• They Wouldn't Be Chessmen
  They Wouldn't Be Chessmen
  They Wouldn't Be Chessmen is a 1934 British detective novel by A.E.W. Mason. It is the fourth book in the Inspector Hanaud series of novels.-Bibliography:...
  
  (1934)
• The House in Lordship Lane
  The House in Lordship Lane
  The House in Lordship Lane is a 1946 British detective novel written by A.E.W. Mason. It is the fifth and final novel in the Hanaud series of stories featuring Inspector Hanaud of the French police. Unlike the rest of the series, the story is set in England in the Lordship Lane area of South...
  
  (1946)