Perry Mason Books in Order
Erle Stanley Gardner's long-running series of courtroom mysteries follows defense attorney Perry Mason, his secretary Della Street, and investigator Paul Drake as they clear wrongly accused clients through dogged sleuthing and dramatic trial showdowns. The canon runs from 1933's The Case of the Velvet Claws through two posthumously published novels in the early 1970s.
Publication order
In the order the books were originally released.
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Buy on Amazon1933 · Erle Stanley Gardner
In Perry Mason's debut, a woman calling herself Eva Griffin hires him to keep her name out of a scandal sheet that threatens to expose her connection…
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Buy on Amazon1933 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A young heiress stands to lose her fortune under the suspicious terms of her late father's will, controlled by an uncle she distrusts. When the uncle…
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Buy on Amazon1934 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A swindler running a phony movie-talent contest to find girls with the loveliest legs vanishes after fleecing his victims, and an angry father wants…
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Buy on Amazon1934 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A nervous client complains that his neighbor's constantly howling dog is driving him to distraction, then asks Mason to draft a will. The seemingly…
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Buy on Amazon1934 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A bride seeks Mason's help when her supposedly dead first husband reappears, threatening to make her new marriage bigamous. When that inconvenient…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the counterfeit eye
1935 · Erle Stanley Gardner
Mason is drawn into a bizarre affair involving a wealthy man's missing glass eye, which turns up clutched in the hand of a murder victim. With a…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the sleepwalker's niece
1936 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A worried young woman fears that her sleepwalking uncle may have committed murder during one of his nighttime episodes, the carving knife found…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the stuttering bishop
1936 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A stammering bishop visits Mason with a strange tale of a long-ago hit-and-run and a possible heiress switched at birth, then disappears, leaving…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the dangerous dowager
1937 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A formidable elderly dowager hires Mason in a matter involving forged IOUs and a gambling ship anchored beyond the law offshore. When a murder occurs…
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Buy on Amazon1937 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A woman's concern over her sister's troubled marriage and a caged canary with a clipped leg draws Mason into a case that soon turns to murder. The…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the shoplifter's shoe
1938 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A nervous woman consults Mason after being caught shoplifting, but the real trouble involves substituted diamonds and a missing relative. When murder…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Silent Partner
1940 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A woman seeks Mason's help to protect her sister's interest in a thriving business from a scheming silent partner maneuvering for control. The…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the haunted husband
1941 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A hit-and-run accident and a husband who claims he was too drunk to remember the night draw Mason into a puzzle of mistaken identity. As a murder…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the crooked candle
1944 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A crooked candle becomes a curious clue when a body is discovered aboard a yacht, the angle of the burned candle hinting at how and when the killing…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the Black-Eyed Blonde
1944 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A frazzled blonde bursts into Mason's office, slaps a stranger, and hires the lawyer before he fully understands her trouble, which soon involves a…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the golddigger's purse
1945 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A goldfish, a wealthy invalid, and a contested fortune draw Mason into a complicated household scheme that turns to murder. With a purse and its…
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Buy on Amazon1947 · Erle Stanley Gardner
Mason is hired in a matter of blackmail and a wealthy family's secrets, but the supposedly lazy lover at the center proves anything but harmless.…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the lonely heiress
1948 · Erle Stanley Gardner
Responding to a lonely-hearts advertisement leads to a swindle preying on solitary women of means, and Mason is pulled in when the scheme turns…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the vagabond virgin
1948 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A young woman accused of being a vagabond and a stowaway becomes entangled in a wealthy man's affairs, then in a murder. Mason takes up her defense,…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Dubious Bridegroom
1949 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A complicated case of a dubious bridegroom and a questionable Nevada divorce draws Mason into intertwined marriages and disputed identities. When…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Cautious Coquette
1949 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A hit-and-run accident and a cautious, evasive woman witness draw Mason into a case where finding the coquette who saw the crash becomes key. As the…
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Buy on Amazon1951 · Erle Stanley Gardner
After a man is shot dead near a mountain cabin, a woman becomes the angry, grieving suspect, and Mason takes on her defense. He must contend with…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the grinning gorilla
1952 · Erle Stanley Gardner
Mason buys a dead man's diary at auction and is drawn into research involving a gorilla and experiments on the criminal mind, leading him into a…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the fugitive nurse
1954 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A nurse who fled after her doctor husband supposedly died in a plane crash resurfaces amid questions about whether he is truly dead. When murder…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the glamorous ghost
1955 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A woman found wandering with amnesia, an evening gown, and a stolen-property charge presents Mason with a glamorous mystery that soon turns to…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the sun bather's diary
1955 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A sunbather's diary and a remote nudist-camp setting figure in a case of blackmail and a contested inheritance that leads to murder. Mason takes up…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Nervous Accomplice
1955 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A wife hires Mason to win back her straying husband through a clever stock-buying maneuver involving his business partners. The financial scheme…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the terrified typist
1956 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A temporary typist vanishes from Mason's office under odd circumstances right as he is drawn into a case of embezzlement and fraud. As the matter…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Demure Defendant
1956 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A demure young woman accused of poisoning a wealthy relative becomes Mason's client in a case hinging on subtle clues about who really administered…
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Buy on Amazon1956 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A businessman being blackmailed over a long-buried secret consults Mason, and the situation escalates into murder. Mason takes on the defense,…
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Buy on Amazon1957 · Erle Stanley Gardner
Mason becomes intrigued by a murder trial he is merely observing, sensing that the wrong defendant may be on the hook and that the real story is…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the screaming woman
1957 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A screaming woman and a series of tangled events involving a doctor and his neighbors draw Mason into a baffling murder. He takes up the defense and…
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Buy on Amazon1957 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A case involving corporate stock manipulation and a woman used as a decoy lures Mason into a deadly scheme. When murder strikes, Mason must identify…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the long-legged models
1958 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A model and her involvement with a tangled scheme of stolen money and blackmail draw Mason into a murder case. He takes up the defense, sorting…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the foot-loose doll
1958 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A young woman drifting from job to job becomes entangled in a wealthy household's secrets and a hit-and-run, then a murder. Mason takes on her…
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Buy on Amazon1958 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A calendar pin-up model and a blackmail scheme draw Mason into a case that escalates to murder. He defends a client snared in the plot and works to…
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Buy on Amazon1959 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A small boy, a toy gun, and a troubled family figure in a murder that puts a vulnerable client in jeopardy. Mason takes the case, untangling a…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the mythical monkeys
1959 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A case involving disputed mining interests and a desert setting draws Mason into a tangle of fraud and murder. He takes up the defense, working…
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Buy on Amazon1959 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A nightclub singer is framed in a scheme involving switched guns and a gambling operation, and Mason takes on her defense. He must untangle the…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the shapely shadow
1960 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A case of embezzlement and a woman caught up in a wealthy employer's affairs draws Mason into a murder. He takes the defense, working through the…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case of the Bigamous Spouse
1961 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A wife discovers her husband may already have been married when they wed, raising the specter of bigamy just as a murder complicates everything.…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the daring divorcee
1964 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A divorcee involved in a blackmail scheme and a substituted-money plot draws Mason into a murder case. He takes up the defense, untangling the…
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Buy on AmazonThe case of the beautiful beggar
1965 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A beautiful young beggar turns out to have a claim to a fortune, drawing Mason into a case of contested identity and inheritance that turns to…
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Buy on AmazonThe Case Of The Worried Waitress (A Perry Mason Mystery)
1966 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A waitress's anxious behavior signals she is caught up in something dangerous involving a wealthy customer and hidden secrets. When the situation…
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Buy on Amazon1969 · Erle Stanley Gardner
A young woman with a questionable identity and a possible counterfeit claim to money draws Mason into a tangled case that turns deadly. He takes up…
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Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Perry Mason books in?
Publication order — Widely recommended by readers and reference sites (Wikipedia, FantasticFiction, OrderOfBooks, FictionDB) Start with “The case of the velvet claws.”
How many books are in the Perry Mason series?
We list 45 books by Erle Stanley Gardner , published between 1933–1969.
Where can I buy the Perry Mason books?
Each title above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.