Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948), known as A. E. W. Mason, was an English novelist, playwright, actor, army officer, intelligence agent and – for a short period – a politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, The Four Feathers, and as the creator of Inspector Hanaud, a French detective who was an early template for Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.