Erle Stanley Gardner Books in Order

Frances Celane wants to marry without losing the inheritance controlled by her uncle. Perry Mason tries to resolve their dispute, but the uncle's murder turns a struggle over money and marriage into a criminal defense.

A woman threatened with exposure in a scandal sheet hires Perry Mason to protect her. Her concealed identity and her husband's murder leave Mason fighting to defend his client while suspicion also falls on him.

Rhoda's first husband, believed dead in a plane crash, returns to blackmail her after she remarries. She turns to Perry Mason as the threat endangers her new marriage and draws her into a dangerous legal predicament.

Arthur Cartwright asks Perry Mason to handle an unusual will and a complaint about a neighbor's howling dog. His disappearance and a murder accusation against his beneficiary turn the seemingly eccentric request into a serious criminal case.

A promoter promises small-town beauty contestants film careers, then disappears with their money. Perry Mason investigates the fraud, but the promoter's murder places a disappointed contest winner and the man she loves under suspicion.

An elderly caretaker asks Perry Mason to protect his cat from the heirs of his former employer. A dispute over the will leads to murder, forcing Mason to unravel the family's competing interests and hidden motives.

Peter Brunold fears someone has stolen his distinctive glass eye to frame him for murder. When a corpse is found holding such an eye, Perry Mason must untangle the evidence while protecting himself from suspicion too.

Edna Hammer worries that her sleepwalking uncle might hurt someone with a carving knife. When a relative is murdered and the knife turns up beneath his pillow, Perry Mason investigates both guilt and responsibility for unconscious acts.

A stuttering bishop consults Perry Mason about an old manslaughter case, raising doubts about his identity. Mason's inquiries uncover a dispute over a wealthy man's granddaughter, where a mother's claim threatens an apparent heiress's position.

Jacob Mandra is killed with a dart from a Chinese sleeve gun, drawing suspicion toward recently returned traveler Terry Clane. Questioned by the district attorney, Clane discovers that his collection of curios and his friendships connect him to the crime.

Matilda Benson hires Perry Mason to retrieve her granddaughter's gambling debts before they can be used in a divorce dispute. A body aboard a gambling ship transforms the assignment into a struggle against murder charges and concealed motives.

Rita Swaine brings Perry Mason a canary with an injured claw while seeking help with her sister's troubled marriage. A murder soon follows, turning the bird into a possible clue in a case involving divided loyalties.

New district attorney Doug Selby questions a clergyman's apparently peaceful death in a hotel. His investigation faces hostile newspapers, reluctant witnesses, and a film star's evasions, testing his determination to pursue murder despite local resistance.

Virginia Trent seeks Perry Mason's help after her aunt is caught shoplifting and valuable diamonds disappear. When a gem dealer is murdered and the aunt is seen leaving the scene, Mason must defend a deeply compromised client.

During an ocean voyage, Perry Mason and Della Street observe a romantic triangle among their fellow passengers. A man's disappearance during a storm and a substituted photograph draw Mason into a mystery threatening another passenger's freedom.

Doug Selby follows a young man's gambling debt to a roadhouse linked with an influential family. A corpse carrying a puzzling note deepens the investigation, while local power and political pressure threaten the district attorney's work.

Donald Lam joins Bertha Cool's detective agency as an operative and process server. Their case develops into a legal puzzle involving a confessed killer whom the courts seem unable to convict, testing Lam's ingenuity and Cool's practicality.

A wealthy man's murder sets his son and widow against each other over a missing will. Perry Mason confronts conflicting marriage claims and a talking parrot whose apparent testimony adds another layer of uncertainty to the crime.

Alden Leeds's relatives have him confined to prevent a marriage they believe threatens his fortune. After he escapes and a blackmailer is murdered, Perry Mason must keep his client from exchanging the sanitarium for a prison cell.

A corpse bears two bullets, either of which may have caused death, weakening Doug Selby's case against a suspect. A missing man, suspicious journeys, and attorney A. B. Carr's involvement lead Selby to investigate beyond Madison City.

Hired to investigate a husband's possible infidelity, Donald Lam uncovers activity more dangerous than an affair. The husband's murder shifts the assignment toward protecting a young woman from prosecution, drawing Bertha Cool's agency into trouble with the police.

Donald Lam suspects blackmail when a woman pays out large sums and questions a mining company's claimed gold discovery. His inquiries bring together fraudulent investments, dangerous acquaintances, and a murder that attracts unwelcome attention from the police.

Perry Mason accepts a retainer to protect a masked woman whose identity and predicament remain secret. A murdered man connected with two possible clients forces him to discover whom he represents before he can understand the danger.

A man is murdered aboard someone else's yacht, leaving Perry Mason to examine a widow and several suspicious associates. With Della Street and Paul Drake's help, he sorts conflicting accounts and physical clues surrounding the death.

Florist Mildred Faulkner hires Perry Mason to resist a rival's attempt to take over her family business. Gambling debts and stolen company funds lead to two deaths, with evidence threatening to implicate Mildred herself.

A woman identifies an unknown corpse as her missing husband, but its fingerprints contradict the resemblance. District attorney Doug Selby must explain the impossible identification while another killing makes the tangled investigation more urgent.

A client calling himself Mr. Smith hires Cool and Lam to find a woman missing for twenty years. Donald's inquiries into her vanished marriage attract violence and uncover troubling questions about the man paying for the search.

A doctor hires Donald Lam and Bertha Cool to recover stolen jewels, bringing them into his troubled household. The investigation becomes a fight against a killer, with personal entanglements and financial motives complicating their search for answers.

Recovering from illness, Bertha Cool joins Donald Lam in searching for a missing bride-to-be. Their assignment leads into slot-machine fraud, a dishonest client, and murder, making a straightforward disappearance part of a much larger criminal scheme.

An unexplained empty can appears among Florence Gentrie's preserves after signs of a murder next door. Perry Mason investigates a crime with a missing victim, uncooperative neighbors, and concealed secrets that put him in danger.

A hitchhiker wakes after a car crash to find herself alone behind the wheel, facing manslaughter charges. Perry Mason investigates the vanished driver and witnesses, uncovering connections to a murder victim with a double life.

Two deaths aboard a yacht leave district attorney Frank Duryea unsure whether he faces double murder or murder and suicide. Gramp Wiggins helps investigate the timing, since a fortune depends on which man died first.

A blind man hires Bertha Cool to locate a young woman who has vanished. He can describe her voice and manner rather than her appearance, giving the detective an unusual starting point for her missing-person investigation.

Roberta Fenn's ambitions place her in danger from blackmail, betrayal, and murder. Bertha Cool and Donald Lam try to untangle the threats surrounding her, knowing that a mistaken judgment could leave the woman they seek to protect dead.

Helen Kendal receives a secret call from an uncle missing for ten years, asking her to contact Perry Mason. A murder accusation and the poisoning of her kitten draw Mason and Della Street into the family's buried troubles.

A wealthy man asks Perry Mason to investigate the past of his daughter's prospective husband. An old execution and a new death complicate the inquiry, with a threatened duck providing a strange link to the young man's predicament.

A fatal hit-and-run on a mountain road draws Doug Selby into a politically dangerous investigation. The discovery of the missing car brings evasive witnesses and rival lawyers into a case that threatens his position as district attorney.

Bertha Cool accepts what looks like a routine assignment involving a client's financial trouble. Anonymous letters, a missing wife, and a corpse in his basement quickly turn the job into a murder investigation she struggles to control.

A wounded veteran finds a body in an isolated mountain cabin he has agreed to watch. Perry Mason investigates stolen money, competing suspects, and a buried clock whose unusual timing complicates the evidence surrounding the killing.

A millionaire hires Perry Mason to protect his mining interests, bringing Mason and Della Street into the San Bernardino mountains. Deception, poison, and gunfire lead to murder, with an unusually sluggish mosquito offering a puzzling clue.

A businessman quietly buys property under another name after settling in a small town. When he is found dead in his mountain cabin, amateur detective Gramps Wiggins must sort through the motives of numerous suspects and the secrets behind his purchases.

Donald Lam and Bertha Cool investigate a bistro where discreet encounters lead to profitable blackmail. A murder disrupts the operation, and the weapon left in Donald's car threatens to entangle the detectives in the crimes they are trying to solve.

Diana Regis comes to Perry Mason after her employer's stepson gives her a black eye. What begins as a dispute over his behavior becomes a murder defense when Diana's look-alike roommate is killed and evidence points toward her.

District attorney Doug Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon respond to a car thief's call, only to witness a fatal crash. The dead man's ill-fitting clothes, expensive shoes, and old letter suggest an identity far removed from the one he claimed.

Sally Madison tries to raise money for her ill boyfriend by offering a wealthy man a cure for his exotic fish. When the fish disappear and their owner is murdered, Perry Mason must untangle the scheme and the accusations surrounding Sally.

A nighttime disturbance aboard a fogbound yacht leaves Perry Mason facing a woman in a nightgown holding a gun. Accused of killing her husband, Marion Shelby appears guilty on every count, but Mason believes the evidence conceals a clever killer.

Donald Lam investigates why a generously supported young woman has sold valuable jewelry. A guardian's murder beside his pet crow turns the inquiry dangerous, and tracing the jewelry may offer a better route to the truth than trusting the surviving guardian.

Terry Clane returns to San Francisco to find his former fiancée missing and her new fiancé fleeing a murder conviction. His investigation brings another killing and police suspicion, forcing him to use his memory and concentration to untangle the case.

Eve Martell accepts an unusual job requiring her to live in a furnished apartment under another woman's name. Her aunt asks Perry Mason to investigate the arrangement, but a body in the apartment turns the suspicious employment into a murder case.

Returning a fan dancer's lost accessories brings Perry Mason two women claiming the same identity. A missing horse, an ex-husband, and a jealous admirer complicate the dispute, which becomes a murder investigation when one of the men is killed.

On Army leave, former district attorney Doug Selby accompanies his sheriff friend to investigate a hotel death. Signs of poisoning and a delivered gardenia point toward several possible suspects, but Selby has only five days before his next assignment calls.

Donald Lam and Bertha Cool are hired to stop a suspected poisoning before it happens. Donald devises an anchovy-paste publicity scheme to distract the potential killer, but its failure leaves the detectives juggling bodies, witnesses, and increasingly unwelcome police attention.

Perry Mason receives two unexplained checks from Lola Allred, whose husband says she has fled with their daughter's boyfriend. The missing man is a crucial lawsuit witness, and a forged check soon draws Mason into a case involving murder.

Sheriff Bill Eldon investigates two suspicious deaths in his rural district: a stranger found in a plowed field without surrounding footprints, and an heiress apparently killed by a horse. Local knowledge helps him challenge the obvious explanations.

Marilyn Marlow's inheritance depends on a witness to the disputed will, prompting a lonely-hearts advertisement with ulterior motives. When that witness is murdered, Perry Mason investigates the scheme and searches for the caller whose interest went beyond romance.

Businessman John Racer Addison helps a young runaway, only to face blackmail from a gossip columnist threatening to twist their relationship. Perry Mason plans to stop the extortion, but a murder accusation makes protecting Addison's reputation the least of his worries.

Doris Kane finds apparent blood in her newlywed daughter's deserted home, but the evidence has vanished when Doug Selby arrives. Conflicting accounts and the intervention of attorney A. B. Carr complicate his effort to uncover what happened behind the cleaned-up scene.

A routine assignment shadowing a man courting a wealthy woman leads Donald Lam to a disreputable hotel. Two corpses make him the police's prime suspect, forcing him to outmaneuver investigators while finding the killer who threatens his partnership with Bertha Cool.

Perry Mason seeks compensation for a hit-and-run victim, only to receive confessions and payments from two different parties. The suspicious abundance of admissions leads into murder, with Mason's own fingerprints on a weapon adding urgency to his investigation.

Edward Garvin asks Perry Mason to protect his business from an ex-wife and confirm that their Mexican divorce is valid. When she is murdered, the financial and marital dispute becomes a fight to clear Garvin of a much more serious accusation.

Doug Selby investigates a woman's murder and an unsolved jewelry theft while facing attacks from a county newspaper. Attorney A. B. Carr keeps frustrating his progress, leaving Selby to discover how the overlapping troubles connect without provoking another killing.

Perry Mason rescues a swimmer fleeing a vicious dog, then finds himself linked to a jewelry theft. The woman becomes his client, but another arrest for murder transforms her strange nighttime escape into a case threatening both of them.

A frightened stranger calls Perry Mason during dinner, then vanishes from the conversation. A blackmail clipping and a safe combination draw him toward a tangled group of people whose hidden relationships and conflicting interests soon become bound together by murder.

After playboy Arthur Cushing is murdered, Belle Adrian suspects her daughter Carlotta, while Carlotta suspects Belle. Perry Mason must work through their conflicting fears and concealed actions to discover what happened and protect his client from the accusations closing around her.

A nurse accuses a husband of planning to kill his invalid wife, while he accuses the nurse of theft. Perry Mason's small retainer leads into missing jewels, conflicting claims, and murder, forcing him to risk his reputation in court.

Perry Mason buys a missing woman's photographs and diaries at auction, then questions the official account of her presumed death. Her employer's experiments with hypnotized gorillas lead Mason into another murder case and a dangerous struggle to uncover the truth.

A waitress abruptly vanishes during her shift, leaving behind her wages and a worn mink coat. Perry Mason discovers a pawn ticket in the lining, linking her disappearance to a gun, a murdered police officer, and a growing web of suspicion.

Gardner recounts real investigations into convictions that may have condemned innocent people to prison or execution. Cases involving unreliable witnesses, poor representation, and mishandled evidence show the work of a team determined to challenge failures in the justice system.

A man connected to a gangster's missing girlfriend hires Donald Lam to establish an alibi. His story soon breaks down, sending Donald into a mining scam, an illegal casino, and two murders that threaten any chance of collecting his reward safely.

Donald Lam and Bertha Cool travel toward Hawaii to protect wealthy young widow Mira Woodford from suspected blackmail. Questions about her older husband's sudden death and the people surrounding her soon turn the assignment into a murder investigation.

The Bain family's fortune attracts a blackmailer armed with a recorded confession, bringing Perry Mason into their affairs. When the threats escalate to murder, he must defend one of the sisters while disentangling the evidence from the family's financial past.

A nightclub hostess appears determined to convince a jury that Perry Mason's client committed armed robbery. Mason scrutinizes her account in detail, searching for the weakness that could protect his client against testimony presented with apparent confidence.

A physician's widow hires Perry Mason to recover undeclared money she believes her husband's nurse is hiding. The doctor's fatal plane crash draws tax investigators into the dispute, but a murder charge soon makes the widow's own defense Mason's priority.

Evelyn Bagby insists she has been framed for murder, despite possessing the weapon and the victim's necklace. Perry Mason believes her, and with Della Street and Paul Drake investigates evidence that seems designed to make the redhead's guilt impossible to dispute.

Myrna Davenport asks Perry Mason to find a note accusing her of poisoning her dying husband. The envelope contains blank paper, and the supposedly dead man then disappears, drawing Mason into a murder puzzle that threatens both his client and himself.

Eleanor Corbin is found wandering at night, apparently suffering from amnesia, before a nearby body draws police suspicion. Perry Mason investigates her troubled behavior, mysterious jewels, and the conflicting relationships surrounding a man whose death threatens to expose hidden crimes.

This collection includes a story about a man suspected of marrying women to collect insurance after their deaths. Investigators believe his current wife may be next, but suspicion offers little protection without evidence that can expose his plan.

Sybil Harlan hires Perry Mason to disrupt a business deal linking her husband with another woman. Mason's strategy aims to damage their romance, but a dead man turns the marital maneuvering into a courtroom problem that puts Sybil in danger.

A sunbather tells Perry Mason that someone has stolen her trailer, car, clothes, and diary. Police suspect her connection to money missing from her father's bank robbery case, and a witness's murder turns the search for her belongings into a dangerous defense.

A nervous temporary typist disappears from Perry Mason's office, leaving a connection to a South African diamond business. A related murder charge draws Mason into defending a man accused of killing a smuggler, despite the absence of a recovered body.

A client asks Donald Lam and Bertha Cool to locate a man who supposedly supplied an idea for a story six years earlier. Donald discovers that the client is no writer and the missing man was shot, reviving a dangerous old mystery.

Nadine Farr confesses under a truth drug to poisoning Mosher Higley, but Perry Mason doubts her guilt. A recording of her confession sends him into a case where family ties and competing suspects complicate the apparent evidence.

Stewart Bedford agrees to pay a blackmailer to protect his wife, then wakes to find the man shot with his gun. His missing escort and uncertain memory leave Perry Mason struggling to establish what actually happened.

Donald Lam travels to San Francisco to help a client threatened with exposure of an indiscretion. The woman supposedly behind the threat denies blackmail, leaving him to untangle a situation that differs from the story he was told.

A battle for control of a Texas oil company turns into a murder case against Jerry Conway. Perry Mason must defend his client while also facing accusations that he served as an accessory to the crime.

A mysterious caller asks Perry Mason to attend a courtroom proceeding, drawing him into a wealthy family's scandal. An apparent manslaughter case becomes a murder prosecution, with a carefully constructed frame threatening the client he must defend.

A doctor's murder leads Perry Mason to an appointment book that appears to identify the killer. His investigation uncovers illegal adoptions, stolen drugs and blackmail, forcing him to question evidence that initially seems to settle the case.

Donald Lam and Bertha Cool are hired by a Texas businessman to locate Yvonne Wells. Her husband's refusal to cooperate and a neighbor's account of a body turn a straightforward search into a possible murder investigation.

George Ansley helps an injured woman after a car wreck, then consults Perry Mason about her strange behavior. A nearby murder and her false identity draw both men into a case where their own movements attract police attention.

After her fiancé embezzles money and disappears, Mildred Crest longs for a fresh start. A fatal encounter with a hitchhiker gives her an opportunity to assume another identity, but the borrowed life brings dangers she did not anticipate.

Stephanie Falkner inherits valuable property after her father's fatal conflict with gangsters. Perry Mason helps her negotiate a sale, then must defend her when the prospective buyer is murdered and a gun appears beneath her pillow.

Bertha Cool and Donald Lam are hired to safeguard an adventurer's collection during a dinner party. When treasures disappear despite searches of the guests, the detectives must explain an apparently impossible theft before the case becomes more dangerous.

Daphne Beckley hires Donald Lam to establish what happened to her missing husband. Whether she receives an insurance windfall or seeks divorce and alimony depends on his answer, giving the investigation unusually complicated financial stakes.

Norda Allison ends her engagement after witnessing her fiancé mistreat his son, then faces threats and violence. When a murder leaves her accused, Perry Mason must distinguish a frightened woman's efforts to escape from evidence of guilt.

A storm forces Gladys Doyle to shelter in a mountain cabin, where she wakes to a dead man and a missing host. Her fingerprints on the weapon leave Perry Mason searching for evidence that can clear her.

Performer Ellen Robb loses her jobs after refusing to help cheat a gambling customer. Perry Mason pursues a lawsuit on her behalf, but a subsequent murder and the discovery of his own gun complicate their position.

Hazel Downer hires Donald Lam to find the husband who vanished with her money. An armored car robbery involves the same missing sum, drawing Lam and Bertha Cool into a case already attracting police suspicion.

Muriell Gilman discovers that her father has vanished, leaving cash and a bloodstain in his workshop. Perry Mason investigates the disappearance while conflicting family stories and a blackmailing private investigator make the evidence increasingly difficult to trust.

Dog trainer Rob Trenton meets artist Linda Carroll while traveling through Paris and Switzerland. On his return to America, a false tip brings Customs scrutiny, pulling him into trouble linked to his fellow travelers and suspected contraband.

Blackmail demands draw Morley Theilman's wife, former wife and secretary into Perry Mason's orbit. When Theilman is murdered, Mason must determine why someone killed a source of easy money and challenge the prosecution's interpretation of the evidence.