Authors > Erle Stanley Gardner

( 07/27/1889 - 03/11/1970 ) Erle Stanley Gardner -- U.S. Mystery writer most famous for his character Perry Mason and the 82 novels which featured this hard hitting defense lawyer.

A lawyer by training, Mr. Gardner is one of the most successful authors of all time with over 300,000,000 copies sold and counting. With a huge body of literary work, he also had many other interests including work for radio, television, the establishing and running of the legal entity Court of Last Resort, plus an active lifestyle and many hobbies.

In addition to the Perry Mason novels, Mr. Gardner had written 24 mysteries under the pseudonym of A.A. Fair featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam; 9 mysteries featuring Doug Selby; 7 non-series mysteries; four collections of novellettes and short stories; 13 non-fiction accounts of exploring Baja California, the American desert and the Sacramento delta; 2 non-fiction books on crime; and countless short stories for the pulps and slicks.

During the pulp era, his series characters included Speed Dash, Senor Arnas deLobo, Jax Bowman, Sidney Zoom and his police dog, Ed Jenkins (the phantom crook), Whispering Sand, Major Brand (free lance Secret Service), El Paisano, Bob Larker, Black Barr, Bob Crowder, Dane Skarle, Sheriff Bill Landon, and Lester Leith. His first story published was "Nellies Naughtty Nightie" published in 1921 for the spicy pulp Breezy Stories. At his peak of writing production, it is claimed that he was producing more than one million words per year with stories appearing in the pulps every week.

From his paperback era, his series characters included Doug Selby, Terry Clane, Gramps Wiggins, Bertha Cool, Donald Lam, and Perry Mason.

He has had used a number of pen names including: A.A. Fair, Charles M Green, Kyle Corning, Grant Holliday, Robert Parr, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Arthur Mann Sellers, Less Tillray, Dane Rigley, and Charles M. Stanton.

The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom

Edward Garvin is a very successful businessman with a very unhappy ex-wife--who wants his money. So Garvin calls on lawyer Perry Mason to protect his company from her schemes, and ensure the divorce they'd gotten in Mexico is actually finalized.

Genre: Detective

The Case of the Gilded Lily

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's gun and his blond escort missing, he'll need some help from defense lawyer Perry Mason . . .

Genre: Detective, Whats New

The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister

Beautiful Sylvia Bain Atwood is overseeing her ailing father's estate while her sister serves as his caregiver. But their father's fortune has shadowy roots--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.

Genre: Detective

The Case of the Lazy Lover

Defense lawyer Perry Mason is surprised to receive two checks from a stranger named Lola Allred. And 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's caught up in a complicated case involving not only a missing witness but forgery and murder as well . . .

Genre: Detective

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 it's Rose Keeling, the key witness to its signing, whose mind they will need to sway. When Rose is murdered, sleuthing lawyer Perry Mason must navigate a twisted case.

Genre: Detective

The Count of 9

Hired to protect the treasures of a globe-trotting adventurer, Bertha and Donald confront an impossible crime: how could anything be smuggled out of a dinner party - least of all a 6-foot-long blowgun - when the guests were X-rayed coming and going? But that's nothing compared to the crime they face next: AN IMPOSSIBLE MURDER...

Genre:

The Court of Last Resort

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--it seemed the fate of the "Red-Headed Killer" hinged on the testimony of a colorblind witness.

Genre: True Crime

Turn on the Heat

Hired by a mysterious "Mr. Smith" to find a woman who vanished 21 years earlier, Donald Lam finds himself facing a sadistic cop, a desperate showgirl, a duplicitous client, and one very dogged (and beautiful) newspaper reporter - while Bertha Cool's attempts to cut herself in on this lucrative opportunity land them both hip-deep in murder...

Genre: Hardboiled

 

NON-SERIES Novels

Year TitleGenres & Tags
The Court of Last ResortTrue Crime

 

SERIES: Cool & Lam

Year# TitleGenres & Tags
0The Count of 9
0Turn on the HeatHardboiled

 

SERIES: Perry Mason

Year# TitleGenres & Tags
0The Case of the Dubious BridegroomDetective
0The Case of the Gilded LilyDetective, Whats New
0The Case of the Green-Eyed SisterDetective
0The Case of the Lazy LoverDetective
0The Case of the Lonely HeiressDetective