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Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner was an American author best known for his detective fiction, particularly his creation of the Perry Mason character. Born in 1889, Gardner began his career as a lawyer but found the routine work unfulfilling. He turned to writing in his spare time, and his stories were published in pulp magazines, which also featured the early works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Gardner's innovative and restless nature led him to create many different series characters for the pulps, including Lester Leith and Ken Corning.

Gardner's writing became increasingly successful, and he eventually gave up practicing law to focus on writing full-time. His most famous creation, Perry Mason, was a lawyer-detective who appeared in over eighty novels. The Perry Mason series was highly popular, selling millions of copies and leading to the creation of a successful television series in the 1950s and 1960s. Gardner's writing had a significant impact on popular culture, and he was recognized as one of the best-selling American authors of the 20th century.

Renowned as one of the greatest mystery and detective novel writers of all time, Gardner's works continue to be widely accessible and are taught in schools and universities worldwide. His innovative storytelling and creation of memorable characters, such as Perry Mason, have left a lasting legacy in the world of literature. Gardner's ability to combine fact and fiction in his courtroom dramas set a new standard for the genre and solidified his place as a master of detective fiction.

In addition to his work as a writer, Gardner was also a social historian and travel writer, contributing non-fiction articles on Western history, forensic science, and travel to various publications. He was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and won an Edgar Award, further solidifying his status as a master of the genre. Gardner's contributions to detective fiction have had a lasting impact, and his works continue to be celebrated and studied by readers and writers alike.
Perry Mason Books
# Title Year
1 The Case of the Velvet Claws 1933
2 The Case of the Sulky Girl 1933
3 The Case of the Lucky Legs 1934
4 The Case of the Howling Dog 1934
5 The Case of the Curious Bride 1934
6 The Case of the Counterfeit Eye 1935
7 The Case of the Caretaker's Cat 1935
8 The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece 1936
9 The Case of the Stuttering Bishop 1936
10 The Case of the Dangerous Dowager 1937
11 The Case of the Lame Canary 1937
12 The Case of the Substitute Face 1938
13 The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe 1938
14 The Case of the Perjured Parrot 1939
15 The Case of the Rolling Bones 1939
16 The Case of the Baited Hook 1940
17 The Case of the Silent Partner 1940
18 The Case of the Haunted Husband 1941
19 The Case of the Empty Tin 1941
20 The Case of the Drowning Duck 1942
21 The Case of the Careless Kitten 1942
22 The Case of the Buried Clock 1943
23 The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito 1943
24 The Case of the Crooked Candle 1944
25 The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde 1944
26 The Case of the Golddigger's Purse 1945
27 The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife 1945
28 The Case of the Borrowed Brunette 1946
29 The Case of the Fan-Dancer's Horse 1946
30 The Case of the Lazy Lover 1947
31 The Case of the Lonely Heiress 1948
32 The Case of the Vagabond Virgin 1948
33 The Case of the Cautious Coquette 1949
34 The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom 1949
35 The Case of the Negligent Nymph 1950
36 The Case of the One-Eyed Witness 1950
37 The Case of the Fiery Fingers 1951
38 The Case of the Angry Mourner 1951
39 The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink 1952
40 The Case of the Grinning Gorilla 1952
41 The Case of the Hesitant Hostess 1953
42 The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister 1953
43 The Case of the Fugitive Nurse 1954
44 The Case of the Runaway Corpse 1954
45 The Case of the Restless Redhead 1954
46 The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary 1955
47 The Case of the Glamorous Ghost 1955
48 The Case of the Nervous Accomplice 1955
49 The Case of the Terrified Typist 1955
50 The Case of the Gilded Lily 1956
51 The Case of the Demure Defendant 1956
52 The Case of The Screaming Woman 1957
53 The Case of the Lucky Loser 1957
54 The Case of the Daring Decoy 1957
55 The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll 1958
56 The Case of the Long-Legged Models 1958
57 The Case of the Calendar Girl 1958
58 The Case of the Singing Skirt 1959
59 The Case of the Mythical Monkeys 1959
60 The Case of the Deadly Toy 1959
61 The Case of the Waylaid Wolf 1960
62 The Case of the Duplicate Daughter 1960
63 The Case of the Shapely Shadow 1960
64 The Case of the Spurious Spinster 1961
65 The Case of the Bigamous Spouse 1961
66 The Case of the Reluctant Model 1962
67 The Case of the Blonde Bonanza 1962
68 The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands 1962
69 The Case of the Mischievous Doll 1962
70 The Case of the Stepdaughter's Secret 1963
71 The Case of the Amorous Aunt 1963
72 The Case of the Daring Divorcee 1964
73 The Case of the Phantom Fortune 1964
74 The Case of the Horrified Heirs 1964
75 The Case of the Troubled Trustee 1965
76 The Case of the Beautiful Beggar 1965
77 The Case of the Worried Waitress 1966
78 The Case of the Queenly Contestant 1967
79 The Case of the Careless Cupid 1968
80 The Case of the Fabulous Fake 1969
81 The Case of the Fenced-in Woman 1972
82 The Case of the Postponed Murder 1973
83 The Case of Too Many Murders 1989
84 The Case of the Burning Bequest 1990
Perry Mason Collections
# Title Year
1 The Case of the Murderer's Bride and Other Stories 1955
2 The Case of the Crimson Kiss 1970
3 The Case Of The Crying Swallow 1971
4 The Case of the Irate Witness and Other Stories 1973
5 Four Cases of Murder 1989
Doug Selby Books (by with Mignon G. Eberhart)
# Title Year
1 The D.A. Calls It Murder 1937
2 The D.A. Holds a Candle 1938
3 The D.A. Draws a Circle 1939
4 The D.A. Goes to Trial 1940
5 The D. A. Cooks a Goose 1942
6 The D.A. Calls a Turn 1944
7 The D.A. Breaks a Seal 1946
8 The D.A. Takes a Chance 1948
9 The D.A. Breaks An Egg 1949
Terry Clane Books
# Title Year
1 Murder Up My Sleeve 1937
2 The Case of the Backward Mule 1946
Donald Lam & Bertha Cool Books (as A.A. Fair)
# Title Year
1 The Bigger They Come 1939
2 The Knife Slipped 1939
3 Turn on the Heat 1940
4 Gold Comes in Bricks 1940
5 Spill the Jackpot 1941
6 Double or Quits 1941
7 Owls Don't Blink 1942
8 Bats Fly at Dusk 1942
9 Cats Prowl at Night 1943
10 Give 'em the Ax 1944
11 Crows Can't Count 1946
12 Fools Die on Friday 1947
13 Bedrooms Have Windows 1949
14 Top of the Heap 1952
15 Some Women Won't Wait 1953
16 Beware the Curves 1956
17 You Can Die Laughing 1957
18 Some Slips Don't Show 1957
19 The Count of 9 1958
20 Pass the Gravy 1959
21 Kept Women Can't Quit 1960
22 Bachelors Get Lonely 1961
23 Shills Can't Cash Chips 1961
24 Try Anything Once 1962
25 Fish or Cut Bait 1963
26 Up for Grabs 1964
27 Cut Thin to Win 1965
28 Widows Wear Weeds 1966
29 Traps Need Fresh Bait 1967
30 All Grass Isn't Green 1970
Gramp Wiggens Books
# Title Year
1 The Case of the Turning Tide 1941
2 The Case of the Smoking Chimney 1943
3 The Case Of The Musical Cow 1960
Standalone Novels
# Title Year
1 The Clue of the Forgotten Murder / The Clew of the Forgotten Murder 1942
2 This Is Murder 1948
3 Dead Men's Letters 1990
4 The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid 2010
Short Story Collections
# Title Year
1 Two Clues: The Clue of the Runaway Blonde / Clue's Don't Count & The Clue of the Hungry Horse 1947
2 The Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith 1980
3 The Human Zero 1981
4 Whispering Sands 1981
5 Pay Dirt and Other Whispering Sands Stories of Gold Fever and the Western Desert 1983
6 The Adventures Of Paul Pry, Volume 2 1990
7 The Blonde in Lower Six Plus 3 Short Novels 1990
8 The Adventures Of Paul Pry 1991
9 Honest Money and Other Short Novels 1991
10 The Danger Zone and Other Stories 2004
11 The Casebook of Sidney Zoom 2006
Non-Fiction Books
# Title Year
1 The Court of Last Resort: The True Story of a Team of Crime Experts Who Fought to Save the Wrongfully Convicted 1952
2 The Hidden Heart of Baja 1962
3 The Desert is Yours 1963
4 Hunting the Desert Whale 1963
5 Drifting Down Delta 1969
Erle Stanley Gardner Anthologies
# Title Year
1 Hard-Boiled Detectives 1953
2 Daring Detectives 1969
3 Tantalizing Locked Room Mysteries 1982
4 Murder Plus 1992
5 The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels 1996
6 The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories 1996
7 Law and Order 1997
8 The Oxford Book of Detective Stories 2000
9 A Century of Great Suspense Stories 2001
10 Murder On The Railways 2003
11 Pulp Adventures #37: Nymph in the Keyhole 2020