Alfred Edward Wooley Mason was born in 1865. He was educated at Dulwich College before being sent up to Oxford University. Once his formal education was completed, Mason went on to become an actor.

He began his writing career with historical fiction and then moved into the arena of politics, becoming a Liberal Member of Parliament for Coventry in 1906. But his love of writing carried on and Mason developed his style to incorporate detective fiction, introducing one of the earliest fictional detectives, Inspector Hanaud, the Gallic counterpart to Sherlock Holmes. His detective fiction contains material clues and spontaneity.

Throughout the course of his life he produced over thirty titles. A E W Mason died in 1948.