Erle Stanley Gardner
1889-1971
Creator of Perry Mason
The most famous and popular fictional Lawyer
Gardner was born in 1889 in Malden, Massachusetts. Interestingly Gardner had little formal legal training, he left High School in 1909 and spent a month at Law School, it's aledged he left early after his interest in boxing developed into a demonstration. He then settled in California where he became a self-taught attorney, passing the state bar exam in 1911. He later moved to Ventura, California, where he practiced law until 1933, by then Perry Mason had been created and Gardner relocated to Temecula, California, where he lived out the rest of his life.
In his spare time, he began to write and in 1923 submitted one of his novels to a popular pulp magazine. It was so awful that the magazine's staff turned it in to the circulation director as a joke, proposing the novel as a featured piece worthy of a special publicity campaign. Thinking his staff had gone mad, the circulation director bounced the story back with a scathing memo, ripping Gardner's novel to pieces. One of his kinder comments read: this plot has whiskers like Spanish moss. After the laughs, Gardener's novel was mailed back, accompanied by the customary boiler-plate rejection letter. In a twist of fate, the circulation director's note was included by mistake, confronting Gardner with the brutal truth. Many writers might have thrown in the towel at this point, but Gardner rose to the challenge. He reworked the original story, and sent it back. Impressed that Gardner had taken the criticism to heart, the magazine bought the story, thus launching the writing career of the author who would go on to create the most memorable attorney in crime fiction history. He created many characters for the pulps, including Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of America's most famous fictional Lawyyer, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason. With the success of Perry Mason, he wrote less for the pulp magazines, eventually ceasing entirely, except for occasional non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
Gardner also spent time on a project called "The Court of Last Resort", this he undertook with friends & colleagues in the forensic, legal and investigative communities. The project sought to review miscarriages of justice against the, possibly, innocent who were convicted due to poor legal representation or the inadequate, careless or malicious actions of police and prosecutors and most especially, with regard to the abuse or misinterpretation of medical and other forensic evidence. The resulting 1952 book earned Gardener his only Edgar Award, in the Best Fact Crime category.
The Perry Mason Novels
Listed here in order of publication. Use the links to amazon.com and amazon.co.uk to check prices and for different editions available.
The Case of The Velvet Claws - 1933
Synopsis
A spoiled woman is keen to keep news of her affairs from her powerful husband, even if it costs Perry his freedom when she swears he was on the murder scene.
The Case of the Sulky Girl - 1933
Synopsis
A bratty heiress wants to keep the news of her marriage a secret from the guardian who controls her purse strings, but when he's murdered, her groom is accused.
The Case of the Lucky Legs - 1934
Synopsis
A mistake at a murder scene dogs Perry while he tries to represent a woman taken in by a con man.
The Case of the Howling Dog - 1934
Synopsis
A nervous man hires Perry to have the howling dog next door stopped -- but by all reports, the dog doesn't howl. But in the household, a woman walks out on her husband and vanishes.
The Case of the Curious Bride - 1935
Synopsis
A woman claiming not to be a bride consults Mason about her 'friend' whose husband, long thought to have died in a plane crash, turns up alive.
The Case of the Counterfeit Eye - 1935
Synopsis
A man hires Perry to find out who stole a very expensive glass eye and substituted a cheap copy. Then a wealthy man gets murdered by a man whose carbon-paper mask reveals his empty eye socket.
The Case of the Caretaker's Cat - 1935
Synopsis
After his employer dies in a fire, a caretaker hires Mason to allow him to keep his cat against the wishes of the men who inherit. When the caretaker is killed, Mason defends the woman accused of his murder.
The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece - 1936
Synopsis
When two men change bedrooms at a house-party, everyone thinks that the sleepwalker with the carving knife killed the wrong man.
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop 1936
Synopsis
Mason gets a telephone call from a man who identifies himself as Anglican Bishop William Mallory, recently returned from many years in Australia, and tells Mason that he will testify on the behalf of Mason's client, if Mason can find him. But Mason observes that a bishop who's delivered many sermons is unlikely to stutter.
The Case of the Dangerous Dowager - 1937
Synopsis
Mason is hired to retrieve a spoiled granddaughter's gambling IOUs by a wealthy cigar-smoking dowager. A murder aboard a gambling ship is beyond the three-mile limit.
The Case of the Lame Canary - 1937
Synopsis
A snoopy neighbour and a canary whose claws have been cut too short provide the clues to an illicit affair and a murder.
The Case of the Substitute Face - 1938
Synopsis
During a dark and stormy night aboard ship, a man goes missing. A portrait photograph is mysteriously changed out of a frame. Mason must solve the mystery to save a life.
The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe - 1938
Synopsis
Mason defends an elderly woman who claims to have no memory of shooting a man, but he needs to know why she would go shoplifting when she has plenty of money in her purse
The Case of the Perjured Parrot - 1939
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman (Helen) accused of murdering a businessman. It was notable for the testemony of a parrot who repeated the phrase "Put down the gun Helen. Awk, you've shot me."
The Case of the Rolling Bones - 1939
Synopsis
A murder during the California Gold Rush has ramifications that lead to murder in the present day.
The Case of the Baited Hook - 1940
Synopsis
Mason is given a third of a $10,000 bill to represent a masked woman in the future. It takes him almost until the murder trial to find out which cheating woman is his client.
The Case of the Silent Partner - 1940
Synopsis
A dynamic young businesswoman is in danger of losing control of her flower shop, and someone sends poisoned bonbons to a nightclub hostess. Mason must reacquire some stock and defend the businesswoman
The Case of the Haunted Husband - 1941
Synopsis
A cigarette girl in San Francisco leaves her job and the city abruptly, and hitchhikes to LA, but gets in a car crash with a would-be Romeo, waking up in the hospital to find herself charged with his death.
The Case of the Empty Tin - 1941
Synopsis
A snoopy spinster discovers the passing of coded messages sealed into empty tins, but it's someone else who gets killed in the basement
The Case of the Drowning Duck - 1942
Synopsis
Perry Mason and Della Street are on a vacation in Palm Springs when a wealthy businessman asks for advice regarding his daughter's boyfriend, a chemist who drowns ducks and becomes a murder suspect.
The Case of the Careless Kitten - 1942
Synopsis
Mason defends Della Street, who is accused of helping a material witness or possible murder suspect vanish from a crime scene. Key clues in the murder case are the behaviour of a greedy kitten and the impersonation of an elderly crippled woman.
The Case of the Buried Clock - 1943
Synopsis
A returning war veteran stumbles across a buried clock that seems to be keeping sidereal time. A murder victim is found in a rural area where it seems all the neighbors go out for walks at night.
The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito - 1943
Synopsis
A wealthy prospector is camping in his own back yard, someone tries to poison Perry and Della, Paul Drake poses as a drunken prospector, and the clue to the murder is the sound of a mosquito flying in lazy circles.
The Case of the Crooked Candle - 1944
Synopsis
A key element in a complicated story of a body found on a beached boat is a candle that's standing at a steep angle.
The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde - 1944
Synopsis
A beautiful blonde gets a fist in the eye from her employer's son, and Mason must defend her when her roommate is murdered.
The Case of the Golddigger's Purse - 1945
Synopsis
Mason is surprised to hear that someone wants to consult him about a sick goldfish, and the case also concerns a crooked partner, a secret formula and a golddigging ingenue accused of murder.
The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife - 1945
Synopsis
A shady promoter is blocking the sale of a valuable island when he comes up with an oil lease, but when he's murdered on a pleasure cruise, it's his wife who stands trial for murder.
The Case of the Borrowed Brunette - 1946
Synopsis
A young woman is hired to impersonate someone because her measurements and coloring match a very specific list. It's a tricky ploy in a divorce and soon leads to a murder charge against her chaperone.
The Case of the Crying Swallow (short story) - 1947
Synopsis
Major Claude Winnett, war hero, lives with his wife and mother on a vast sea-side estate. Some jewelry is missing, and his wife has disappeared.
The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse - 1947
Synopsis
There are two gorgeous fan dancers with the same name, two blood-soaked ostrich fans, a samurai sword and a horse with a very unusual addition to its saddle.
The Case of the Lazy Lover - 1947
Synopsis
A man tells everyone that his wife has run away with his best friend, who seems to have a strange lack of enthusiasm about the affair. The case leads to murder and a trial that hinges on multiple sets of footprints.
The Case of the Lonely Heiress - 1948
Synopsis
Perry Mason is hired to find the identify of an "heiress" who ran ads in a lonely hearts magazine. Later, he defends the heiress against a murder charge.
The Case of the Vagabond Virgin - 1948
Synopsis
A man picks up an innocent young hitchhiker and gets into even more trouble when his partner is found murdered.
The Case of the Crimson Kiss (short story) - 1948
Synopsis
The corpse has the outline of a beautiful set of lipsticked lips on its forehead, apparently a farewell kiss.
The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom - 1949
Synopsis
First Mason gets his face slapped by a beautiful burglar in his office building, then a Tijuana wedding trip leads to a murder.
The Case of the Cautious Coquette - 1949
Synopsis
At the behest of Mason, who is representing a young man hit by a car, Paul Drake places an ad in the paper asking for witnesses to the hit and run. To Mason's astonishment, two different drivers are identified, one by a mysterious letter enclosing a key.
The Case of the Negligent Nymph - 1950
Synopsis
A young woman swims to Mason's canoe to escape a vicious watchdog, then is accused of jewel theft and murder. But it's the dog who provides the key to the murder.
The Case of the One-Eyed Witness - 1950
Synopsis
When a mysterious woman hires Mason over the telephone, he must defend her in a case that involves an adoption racket and her husband's murder. A woman in an eyepatch is a key witness.
The Case of the Fiery Fingers - 1951
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman twice - once on theft charges, and then on murder charges.
The Case of the Angry Mourner - 1951
Synopsis
A playboy is murdered in his lakeside cabin and a mother and daughter, who had both been there, start to suspect each other so call on Perry Mason for help.
The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink - 1952
Synopsis
A waitress in a favourite restaurant of Mason's runs out in the middle of the lunch rush, leaving behind her moth-eaten mink, and is hit by a car. Later, a message in lipstick helps Mason disprove the murder case against her framed boss.
The Case of the Grinning Gorilla - 1952
Synopsis
Mason buys the diary of a drowned woman at an auction, and after a murder he finds himself confronted by a hypnotized gorilla.
The Case of the Hesitant Hostess - 1953
Synopsis
A hostess at a nightclub seems determined to convince a jury that Mason's client committed armed robbery, so he goes over her story in painstaking detail on the stand.
The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister - 1953
Synopsis
Mason, hired to protect a family from illegitimate blackmail, ends up defending a woman who the police claim murdered the blackmailer.
The Case of the Irate Witness (short story) - 1953
Synopsis
How did Mason's client get the stolen money? This may be a short story, but it still has room for a courtroom scene.
The Case of the Fugitive Nurse - 1954
Synopsis
When young Steffanie Malden, recently widowed by the death of her husband, the very successful surgeon Summerfield Malden, consults Mason, she wants the $100,000 her husband and nurse hid from his wife and the IRS in a love nest, but changes priorities when the authorities prosecute her for murder.
The Case of the Runaway Corpse - 1954
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman accused of poisoning her husband - even though witnesses saw the corpse climb out the motel window.
The Case of the Restless Redhead - 1954
Synopsis
Perry Mason helps a young defense attorney get an innocent verdict from a woman accused of theft. Later, he defends her in a murder case with a large number of twists.
The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary - 1955
Synopsis
Perry Mason defends the daughter of a man convicted of armed robbery, who first loses her trailer, all her clothes and her diary.
The Case of the Glamorous Ghost - 1955
Synopsis
A scantily-clad woman claims she's got amnesia, and can't remember a thing about the jewel smuggling or the murder.
The Case of the Nervous Accomplice - 1955
Synopsis
Pery Mason is hired by a woman whose husband is having an affair to wreck it, then defends her on a murder charge.
The Case of the Terrified Typist - 1956
Synopsis
After a temporary typist who enjoys trick photography has left Mason's office in a tearing hurry, he and Della find some diamonds stuck in chewing gum on the bottom of her desk. Her murder trial features an ending unique in the Mason series.
The Case of the Gilded Lily - 1956
The Case of the Demure Defendant - 1956
Synopsis
A woman confesses to murder during a therapy session, and her doctor consults Mason as to the legal ramifications. Later Mason defends the woman in court.
The Case of the Screaming Woman - 1957
Synopsis
Perry Mason defends a woman accused of murdering a doctor running an illegal adoption agency.
The Case of the Lucky Loser - 1957
Synopsis
Perry Mason defends a man previously convicted of killing a man with an automobile while intoxicated. When the body is found to have been killed with a gun, Mason argues double jeopardy as a plea, but eventually clears his client of all crimes.
The Case of the Daring Decoy - 1957
Synopsis
Perry Mason defends a man embroiled in a stock battle who is accused of killing a business rival's secretary. Was the woman in the nightie and the mudpack trying to keep the gun herself, or palm it off?
The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll - 1958
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman against charges of two murders - she has already stolen $4,000, stabbed a man with an ice pick and fled a fatal accident but he is convinced she is innocent of murder.
The Case of the Long-legged Models - 1958
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman accused of murdering the man who murdered her father, and does so by juggling identical guns until no one knows what's what.
The Case of the Calendar Girl - 1958
Synopsis
Mason masterfully defends a man accused of murdering a corrupt politician by shoving the blame onto a model. When the model is accused of murder using the evidence Mason uncovered, Perry defends her.
The Case of the Singing Skirt - 1959
Synopsis
Mason's client is framed for theft and fired because she wouldn't help cheat a casino patron. Then she's accused of murder, and the gun juggling begins.
The Case of the Mythical Monkeys - 1959
Synopsis
Gladys Doyle, secretary of underworld moll turned bestselling novelist Mauvis Meade, keeps an appointment in her employer's stead at mountaintop Summit Inn, but gets stuck in the mud on her way back and spends the night with a man who vanishes. A crucial clue is a scarf printed with the three mythical monkeys -- "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."
The Case of the Deadly Toy - 1959
Synopsis
A boy with a toy printing press and a .22 leads Perry Mason to a murder trial where his mother is on trial for the murder of his father, and his wealthy grandfather will do anything to get her convicted.
The Case of the Waylaid Wolf - 1960
Synopsis
A woman defends herself from date rape by stealing his car. When her would-be rapist is found dead, Mason defends her on the murder charge and does some spectacular misdirection with the evidence.
The Case of the Duplicate Daughter - 1960
Synopsis
Perry's not sure which woman was running away from the murder garage wearing only a nightie and as a retainer he asks for title to all the money found in the garage.
The Case of the Shapely Shadow - 1960
Synopsis
A secretary, convinced her boss is being blackmailed, hire Mason to secure evidence, but when her boss is found murdered, she needs him to defend her on murder charges.
The Case of the Spurious Spinster - 1961
Synopsis
A shoebox full of cash and an elderly mine owner who disappears, wheelchair and all, leave a secretary charged with murder.
The Case of the Bigamous Spouse - 1961
Synopsis
Gwynn Elston, door-to-door saleswoman, finds herself implicated in the murder of her best friend's new husband.
The Case of the Reluctant Model - 1962
Synopsis
Mason gets involved in a case of slander when an art dealer says a painting by Phellipe Feteet is a fake. When Mason goes to the apartment of the main witness all he finds is a very dead body.
The Case of the Blonde Bonanza - 1962
Synopsis
Mason thinks it's crazy that someone is paying a beautiful girl $100 a week to put on weight, but she might be a missing heir -- or a murderer.
The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands - 1962
Synopsis
An interesting legal point arises about an embezzler who gambles on the ponies and wins, and an interesting murder trial centres on some trout packed in dry ice.
The Case of the Amorous Aunt - 1963
Synopsis
Perry Mason defends a young woman accused of murdering her aunt's fiance'
The Case of the Stepdaughter's Secret - 1963
Synopsis
Blackmail leads to murder on a yacht and a cash-filled purse on the bottom of the ocean weighted down with a gun.
The Case of the Mischievous Doll - 1963
Synopsis
Mason is hired to identify a woman based on an appendix scar, as she fears being a look-alike to an heiress might be a setup for her arrest. Mason later defends the heiress on murder charges.
The Case of the Phantom Fortune - 1964
Synopsis
Perry Mason is hired to protect a man's wife from an unknown blackmailer. However, while Mason's ingenious plan to ruin the blackmailer works, he ends up having to defend the man after he is prosecuted for murder.
The Case of the Horrified Heirs - 1964
Synopsis
Mason defends a woman twice; once on drug smuggling charges, and once on murder charges.
The Case of the Daring Divorcee - 1964
Synopsis
A purse containing thousands of dollars and a twice-fired gun is left in Mason's office, but his potential client has disappeared.
The Case of the Troubled Trustee - 1965
Synopsis
Why would a talented investment advisor embezzle a quarter of a million dollars from his client 'for her own good?' Perry Mason first advises him, then defends him as the case becomes murder.
The Case of the Beautiful Beggar - 1965
Synopsis
When her wealthy uncle disappears, his niece hasn't got a cent, except his cheque for $150,000. Did she poison his Chinese food after she kidnapped him from the asylum?
The Case of the Worried Waitress - 1966
Synopsis
A pretty waitress is accused of stealing $100 from her wealthy aunt's hatbox, and a blind pencil-seller earns enough to come to work in a taxicab.
The Case of the Queenly Contestant - 1967
Synopsis
Pery Mason is hired to stop a news story about an old beauty pageant. Later, he ends up defending the former contestant on murder charges.
The Case of the Careless Cupid - 1968
The Case of the Fabulous Fake - 1969
Synopsis
Trying to protect her brother, a woman tries to handle the person blackmailing him - only to be implicated in his murder.
The Case of the Crimson Kiss and Other Stories - 1970
Synopsis
Posthumous collection of the title Perry Mason story and four stories with other characters
The Case of the Crying Swallow and Other Stories - 1971
Synopsis
Posthumous collection of the title Perry Mason story and three stories with other characters
The Case of the Irate Witness and Other Stories - 1972
Synopsis
Posthumous collection of the title Perry Mason story and three stories with other characters
The Case of the Fenced-In Woman - 1972
Synopsis
Mason becomes involved in the bizarre case of a house split right through the living room with a barbed-wire fence and a body in the pool. (published posthumously)
The Case of the Postponed Murder - 1973
Synopsis
A young woman asks Mason to find her sister--but what does she really want? And did the corpse sail the yacht away after he was shot? (published posthumously)
The following two titles were written under license by Thomas Chastain, with permission from Erle Stanley Gardeners Estate - "based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner"
The Case of Too Many Murders - 1989
Synopsis
A businessman seems to have been in two places at once -- once as a murderer, once as a victim.
The Case of the Burning Bequest - 1990
Synopsis
Mason's client has apparently killed his mother-in-law-to-be in the same room where his fiancée's real mother was killed by the client's father. The case is complicated further by the client's refusal to exonerate himself.
The D.A. Doug Selby Series
Erle Stanley Gardner first brought us the Doug Selby D.A. series in 1936 as a serial in the Country Gentleman, several more serialisations were published up until 1948, with the latter few appearing in The Saturday Evening Post.
The D.A. Calls It Murder
The D.A. Holds a Candle
The D.A. Draws A Circle
The D.A. Goes to Trial
The D.A. Cooks a Goose
The D.A. Calls a Turn
The D.A. Breaks a Seal
Synopsis
Major Doug Selby, Madison City's ex-DA is at the Madison Hotel on leave. When a Kansas lawyer called Roff drinks a coffee laced with cyanide Selby becomes involved. A mystery blonde and Carr, the defence counsel, complicate the mystery further.
The D.A. Takes a Chance
The D.A. Breaks an Egg
The Lester Leith Series
Erle Stanley Gardner first brought us the Lester Leith series in 1929 as a serial in Detective Fiction Weekly, several more serialisations were published up until 1943, with the latter ones appearing in Detective Story and Flynn's Detective Fiction. These novellettes were never published as actual novels until 1980 when a compilation of 5 were collected in what is now a very sought after book.
The Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith
Synopsis
In Round Figures, The Bird in the Hand, A Thousand to One, The Exact Opposite, & Lester Leith, Magician in one collected publication
The Lam & Cool Series
Erle Stanley Gardner first brought us the Donald Lam & Bertha Cool novels in 1939, publishing under the name A.A. Fair. These were not as popular as the Perry Mason Novels though Gardner continued publishing these books until 1970.
The Bigger They Come
Turn On the Heat
TEMPLATE
Synopsis
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