<div>Edgar Award Winner: True stories of miscarriages of justice, legal battles, and landmark reversals, by the creator of Perry Mason. In 1945, Erle Stanley Gardner, noted attorney and author of the popular Perry Mason mysteries, was contacted by an overwhelmed California public defender who believed his doomed client was innocent. William Marvin Lindley had been convicted of the rape and murder of a young girl along the banks of the Yuba River, and was awaiting execution at San Quentin. After reviewing the case, Gardner agreed to help&mdash;it seemed the fate of the &ldquo;Red-Headed Killer&rdquo; hinged on the testimony of a colorblind witness. Gardner&rsquo;s intervention sparked the Court of Last Resort. The Innocence Project of its day, this ambitious and ultimately successful undertaking was devoted to investigating, reviewing, and reversing wrongful convictions owing to poor legal representation, prosecutorial abuses, biased police activity, bench corruption, unreliable witnesses, and careless forensic-evidence testimony. The crimes: rape, murder, kidnapping, and manslaughter. The prisoners: underprivileged and vulnerable men wrongly convicted and condemned to life sentences or death row with only one hope&mdash;the devotion of Erle Stanley Gardner and the Court of Last Resort. Featuring Gardner&rsquo;s most damning cases of injustice from across the country, The Court of Last Resort won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Originating as a monthly column in Argosy magazine, it was produced as a dramatized court TV show for NBC. </div>

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The Court of Last Resort

<div>A crime thriller starring the sleuthing lawyer portrayed in the HBO limited series&mdash;from the Edgar Award&ndash;winning &ldquo;kingpin among the mystery writers&rdquo; (The New York Times). Stewart Bedford is willing to cooperate with a blackmailer to protect his beloved wife. But when he wakes up in a daze to find the man shot dead with Bedford&rsquo;s gun and his blond escort missing, he&rsquo;ll need some help from defense lawyer Perry Mason . . . This mystery is part of Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS</div>

The Case of the Gilded Lily

<div>A runaway witness leads a lawyer into a whodunit: &ldquo;The only dull pages in this book are the blank ones&rdquo; (The New York Times). Defense lawyer Perry Mason is surprised to receive two checks from a stranger named Lola Allred. And when he speaks with Lola&rsquo;s husband, he discovers the woman has run off with her daughter&rsquo;s boyfriend&mdash;who happens to be an important witness in a lawsuit. Soon Mason&rsquo;s caught up in a complicated case involving not only a missing witness but forgery and murder as well . . . This mystery is part of Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS.</div>

The Case of the Lazy Lover

<div>A fight over a rich man&rsquo;s will turns deadly in this murder mystery by the &ldquo;kingpin among the mystery writers&rdquo; from the series that inspired the HBO show (The New York Times). Marilyn Marlow has inherited a good deal of money from her mother. But the money originated with another will&mdash;that of her mother&rsquo;s wealthy employer. Now his relatives are contesting the will, and it&rsquo;s Rose Keeling, the key witness to its signing, whose mind they&#39;ll need to sway. When Rose is murdered, sleuthing lawyer Perry Mason must navigate a twisted case involving a personal ad that casts a cloud of suspicion over his client, Miss Marlow, in this mystery in Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS</div>

The Case of the Lonely Heiress

<div>A lawyer is sucked into a couple&rsquo;s hostile divorce in this mystery with &ldquo;a stellar ending&rdquo; from the original detective series that inspired the HBO show (Kirkus Reviews). Edward Garvin is a very successful businessman with a very unhappy ex-wife&mdash;who wants his money. So Garvin calls on lawyer Perry Mason to protect his company from her schemes, and ensure the divorce they&rsquo;d gotten in Mexico is actually finalized. But when Garvin&rsquo;s former spouse is struck down by a killer, Mason&rsquo;s client becomes the chief suspect. Fortunately, the attorney &ldquo;comes up with dazzling answers&rdquo; to the mystery . . . (The New York Times). This whodunit is part of Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS</div>

The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom

<div>A tale of two sisters, family fortune, and murder: &ldquo;Millions of Americans never seem to tire of Gardner&rsquo;s thrillers&rdquo; (The New York Times). Beautiful Sylvia Bain Atwood is overseeing her ailing father&rsquo;s estate while her sister serves as his caregiver. But their father&rsquo;s fortune has shadowy roots&mdash;and now one of his creditors is blackmailing the family. When the situation escalates to murder, defense lawyer Perry Mason will have his hands full in this mystery in Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS</div>

The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister

<div>The Edgar Award&ndash;winning author&rsquo;s tale of a missing woman and a crime ring, featuring the lawyer and detective who inspired the HBO limited series. Defense lawyer Perry Mason needs a temporary typist, but the one he hires turns out to be more temporary than expected. When she disappears, leaving a couple of diamonds behind in her haste, Mason winds up taking on a new client: a gem importer in his office building who&rsquo;s been charged with smuggling and murder. But if Mason&rsquo;s going to untangle this case, finding the typist is key . . . This mystery is part of Edgar Award&ndash;winning author Erle Stanley Gardner&rsquo;s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. &ldquo;Millions of Americans never seem to tire of Gardner&rsquo;s thrillers.&rdquo; &mdash;The New York Times DON&rsquo;T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER&rsquo;S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS</div>

The Case of the Terrified Typist

<div>A hot-headed PI&rsquo;s missing person case leads to murder in this mystery by the creator of Perry Mason and author of Owls Don&rsquo;t Blink. Bertha Cool and Donald Lam make for an unlikely pair of private detectives. She&rsquo;s a fifty-something-year-old widow built like a longshoreman with a mouth to match. Donald is a wiry ex-lawyer in his thirties with a face that&rsquo;s a magnet for fists. Fortunately, he&rsquo;s whip-smart. His brains have gotten him and his partner through the toughest of cases. However, with World War II on, he&rsquo;s recently enlisted in the navy, leaving Bertha flying solo with her next client . . . A blind beggar is searching for a young lady who disappeared after being hit by a car. Bertha&rsquo;s certain she can handle a missing person case on her own, especially after her client asks her to break a hundred-dollar bill. But when her search yields murder, Bertha is suddenly flying blind. Now she must quickly locate a killer before everything comes crashing down. &ldquo;No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews &ldquo;The best American writer, of course, is Erle Stanley Gardner.&rdquo; &mdash;Evelyn Waugh</div>

Bats Fly at Dusk

<div>The search for stolen jewels and a missing woman yields deadly trouble for an LA detective duo in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason. Side by side, Bertha Cool and Donald Lam make quite the odd couple of private investigators. She&rsquo;s a fifty-something-year-old widow, built like a bulldog, with the personality to match. He&rsquo;s a wiry, ex-lawyer in his thirties with a lightning-quick wit that always helps him out of a jam, including the one he finds himself in with their latest case . . . After Dr. Milton Devarest discovered his wife&rsquo;s jewelry stolen from their safe, they noticed his wife&rsquo;s secretary was also missing. Certain of what happened, Devarest asks Bertha and Donald to locate the secretary and persuade her to return the jewelry, no questions asked. But when Donald heads to Devarest&rsquo;s home to get some answers, all he finds are more questions&mdash;and a body . . . &ldquo;The best American writer, of course, is Erle Stanley Gardner.&rdquo; &mdash;Evelyn Waugh &ldquo;Gardner has a way of moving the story forward that is almost a lost art: great stretches of dialogue alternate with lively chunks of exposition, and the two work together perfectly, without sacrificing momentum.&rdquo; &mdash;Booklist</div>

Double or Quits

<div>An odd couple of detectives descends on New Orleans to search for a missing heiress in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason. Bertha Cool is a bulldog of a woman with an attitude to match. Donald Lam is a handsome ex-lawyer who makes up for in brains what he lacks in brawn. Together, they&rsquo;re an unlikely pair of private detectives on a mission to find Roberta Fenn, a missing model and heiress in New Orleans. It&rsquo;s a seemingly simple case of lost and found . . . Except, Donald can&rsquo;t help but wonder why someone would hire a firm out of Los Angeles instead of one based in the Big Easy. Also, locating Roberta proves surprisingly effortless. Keeping track of her is not. She disappears, leaving a body behind in her apartment. Now Cool and Lam must find Roberta and a killer, before someone makes them disappear as well . . . &ldquo;Cool and Lam are an amusing and endearing pair&mdash;perfect foils for one another.&rdquo; &mdash;Monica Muller, 1001 Nights: The Aficionado&rsquo;s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction &ldquo;No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews</div>

Owls Don't Blink

<div>Dealing with debtors turns deadly for a prickly PI in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason and author of Bats Fly at Dusk. A hot-headed widow and a glass-jawed ex-lawyer, Bertha Cool and Donald Lam seem like an unlikely duo of private detectives. Even so, they&rsquo;ve managed to solve the most difficult of mysteries&mdash;when they&rsquo;re together. With Donald now on a European vacation, Bertha is hesitant to accept any new business&mdash;but money is money, and this new case seems routine enough . . . Bertha is hired to get sales engineer Everett Belder out of a $20,000 problem. Unfortunately, his troubles soon multiply. His wife is receiving poisoned-pen letters accusing him of infidelity. Then she disappears. And there&rsquo;s also the matter of the body in his cellar. With everything spiraling out of control, Bertha must determine who is behind this deadly game of cat and mouse before another murder comes into play. &ldquo;No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews &ldquo;The best American writer, of course, is Erle Stanley Gardner.&rdquo; &mdash;Evelyn Waugh</div>

Cats Prowl at Night

<div>Following a money trail leads a PI into danger in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason and author of Turn on the Heat. Brainy private detective Donald Lam is always one step ahead of the bad guys&mdash;but he&rsquo;s also smaller than them and typically gets beat up. That&rsquo;s why his boss, the ever-irascible Bertha Cool, has hired a martial arts master to teach him self-defense. The first class isn&rsquo;t easy for Donald, but he is rewarded with a new client . . . Henry Ashbury is concerned about his daughter&rsquo;s recent spending habits. He wants Donald to find out where her money is going, without letting on that he&rsquo;s a detective. So, going undercover as Ashbury&rsquo;s trainer, Donald soon learns the story behind the daughter&rsquo;s finances. But when his investigation also turns up a dead body, the diminutive detective must teach the killer a lesson in justice . . . &ldquo;Lively wit and machinegun dialogue.&rdquo; &mdash;Ralph E. Vaughan, author of Murder in the Goblins&rsquo; Playground &ldquo;Gardner has a way of moving the story forward that is almost a lost art: great stretches of dialogue alternate with lively chunks of exposition, and the two work together perfectly, without sacrificing momentum.&rdquo; &mdash;Booklist</div>

Gold Comes in Bricks

<div>The diminutive detective and his bulldog of a boss head to Las Vegas to find a runaway bride in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason. Donald Lam and Bertha Cool make for a couple of unlikely detectives. Donald is a charming ex-lawyer in his thirties who may lack brawn but makes up for it in brains. Bertha, meanwhile, is a fifty-something-year-old widow who won&rsquo;t take lip from anyone. She certainly won&rsquo;t let a bout of illness keep her down. After a stay at the sanitarium, she and Donald are off to Las Vegas for their latest case. Who needs rest? Mr. Whitewell needs Donald and Bertha to find his son&rsquo;s fianc&eacute;e and learn why she abruptly left town. Donald quickly gets to work with just a mysterious letter as his only lead. Soon he uncovers a scheme to swindle casinos, along with a brutal murder. Now he must determine what&rsquo;s going on before someone ensures he&rsquo;s the next member of the agency to have a long hospital stay&mdash;or worse. &ldquo;The best American writer, of course, is Erle Stanley Gardner.&rdquo; &mdash;Evelyn Waugh &ldquo;Gardner has a way of moving the story forward that is almost a lost art: great stretches of dialogue alternate with lively chunks of exposition, and the two work together perfectly, without sacrificing momentum.&rdquo; &mdash;Booklist</div>

Spill the Jackpot

<div>Three crime classics in one volume starring the defense lawyer who inspired the HBO series. From the Edgar Award–winning author, these novels from the long-running, multimillion-selling mystery series that inspired the HBO hit starring Matthew Rhys include: The Case of the Lazy Lover Perry Mason is surprised to receive two checks from a stranger named Lola Allred. When he speaks with Lola’s husband, he discovers the woman has run off with her daughter’s boyfriend—who happens to be an important witness in a lawsuit. Soon Mason is caught up in a case involving forgery and murder . . . “The only dull pages in this book are the blank ones.” —The New York Times   The Case of the Lonely Heiress Marilyn Marlow has inherited a good deal of money from her mother. But the money originated with another will—that of her mother’s wealthy employer. Now his relatives are contesting the will and the key witness to its signing has just been murdered. It’s up to the sleuthing lawyer to clear the cloud of suspicion over Miss Marlow’s head . . . “No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition.” —Kirkus Reviews The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom Edward Garvin is a very successful businessman with a very unhappy ex-wife—who wants his money. Garvin calls on Perry Mason to protect his company from her schemes, and ensure the divorce they’d gotten in Mexico is actually finalized. But when Garvin’s former spouse is struck down by a killer, Mason’s client becomes the chief suspect . . . “A stellar ending.” —Kirkus Reviews</div>

The Perry Mason Mysteries Volume One

<div>Perry Mason risks his freedom to prove the innocence of an unidentified client: &ldquo;Fast-paced . . . the question of whodunit, as always, gets an unexpected answer.&rdquo; &mdash;Publishers Weekly The bait is half of a $10,000 bill, delivered to Perry Mason by a man who promises the second half of the note should his companion, a silent masked woman, ever require the lawyer&rsquo;s services. When a dead body is discovered soon after, Mason feels the hook&#8213;but how can one prove the innocence of a person whose identity is unknown? Suspecting he&rsquo;s been set up, but curious nonetheless, Perry sets out to solve the mystery from the ground up, beginning with the face behind the veil. The more he learns, the more complex his investigation becomes. Uncovering a convoluted case of stock fraud, divorce, and inheritance, Mason&rsquo;s nearly left reeling&#8213;that is until, with the help of Della Street and Paul Drake, he pulls off one of his most daring gambits ever to finally cast light on the killer. Filled with memorable characters, a multitude of motives, and just a few red herrings, The Case of the Baited Hook is classic Perry Mason, showcasing the character&rsquo;s brilliance and pizazz with a plot that pushes his powers into overdrive. As puzzling as it is entertaining, the book exemplifies the style that made Edgar Award winner Erle Stanley Gardner one of the most popular authors of the twentieth century and inspired the hit HBO series. &ldquo;A good Perry Mason yarn . . . Perry moves fast to outmaneuver his opponents.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews (starred review) &ldquo;[The] Mason books remain tantalizing on every page and brilliant.&rdquo; &mdash;Scott Turow, #1 New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of The Last Trial &quot;A good starting point for those new to Gardner&rsquo;s celebrated attorney.&rdquo;&#8213; Publishers Weekly</div>

The Case of the Baited Hook

<div>The lawyer who inspired the HBO series unravels a mystery surrounding a back-from-the-dead banker in &ldquo;one of the best of the Perry Mason tales&rdquo; (The New York Times). Helen Kendal&rsquo;s woes begin when she receives a phone call from her vanished uncle Franklin, long presumed dead, who urges her to contact criminal defense attorney Perry Mason; soon after, she finds herself the main suspect in the murder of an unfamiliar man. Her kitten has just survived a poisoning attempt, as has her aunt Matilda, the woman who always maintained that Franklin was alive. Lucky that Helen took her uncle&rsquo;s advice&#8213;Mason immediately takes her as a client. But while it&rsquo;s clear that the occurrences are connected, and that their connection will prove her innocence, the links are too obscure to be recognized even by the attorney&rsquo;s brilliantly deductive mind. Risking disbarment for his unorthodox methods, he endeavors to outwit the police and solve the puzzle himself, enlisting the help of his secretary Della Street, his private eye Paul Drake, and the unlikely but invaluable aid of a careless but very clever kitten in the process. The Case of the Careless Kitten is one of the most acclaimed cases in the iconic Perry Mason series, which need not be read in any particular order, from Edgar Award winner Erle Stanley Gardner. &ldquo;This vintage case shows America&rsquo;s lawyer taking on a delightfully unexpected role. There&rsquo;s strong supporting work by the eponymous kitten, to boot.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews &ldquo;Races along at breakneck speed . . . eccentric characters, complex motives, and&mdash;as always&mdash;a delicately nuanced presentation of the special relationship between Perry and his faithful secretary.&rdquo; &mdash;Publishers Weekly</div>

Erle Stanley Gardner
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Books By Erle Stanley Gardner (16 Books)