"Perry Mason's client was guilty--at least of some things. She was living under a false name. She had taken another woman's purse containing $4,000. She had stabbed a man with an ice pick. She had fled from an accident in which another person was killed. But had she committted one murder or two murders? There were certainly two corpses. The police connected her with one on circumstantial evidence. The second person accused her before dying. She had no alibi and her defense was: 'I didn't do it.' But she had retained Perry Mason, for a nickel, and--Perry Mason believed she was innocent!" --

Perry Mason is hired to identify a woman based on an appendix scar, as she fears being a look-alike to an heiress may be a setup for her arrest. A classic mystery!

Mason is hired to identify a woman based on an appendix scar, as she fears being a look-alike to an heiress may be a setup for her arrest. Mason later defends the heiress on murder charges.

A man tells everyone that his wife has run away with his best friend, who seems to have a strange lack of enthusiasm about the affair. The case leads to murder, and a trial that hinges on multiple sets of footprints.

Mason defends Della Street, who is accused of helping a material witness or possible murder suspect vanish from a crime scene. A classic mystery! Includes an introduction by Karl Wurf.

Virginia Baxter is the only witness still living who can vouch for the authenticity of Lauretta Trent’s will. Lauretta Trent, a wealthy widow, is also still living. But for how long? Someone has been peppering the spicy food Lauretta loves with arsenic. Could it be the same someone who tried framing Virginia Baxter for drug smuggling? Lauretta doesn’t trust her greedy heirs. But could a scheming servant be behind a master plan to fleece her estate? It all seems to fit. But when Lauretta is murdered on the highway, all the evidence places Virginia Baxter squarely in the driver’s seat. Confused? Just think how Virginia’s lawyer, Perry Mason, must feel.

This book provides an introduction to 24 iconic figures, real and fictional, that have shaped the detective/mystery genre of popular literature. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes is an insightful look at one of our most popular and diverse fictional genres, providing a guided tour of mystery and crime writing by focusing on two dozen of the field's most enduring creations and creators. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection spans the history of the detective story with series of critical entries on the field's most evocative names, from the originator of the form, Edgar Allan Poe, to its first popular running character, Sherlock Holmes; from the Golden Age of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Charlie Chan—in fiction and films—to small screen heroes, such as Columbo and Jessica Fletcher. Also included are other accomplished practitioners of the craft of mystery/crime storytelling, including Agatha Christie, Tony Hillerman, and Alfred Hitchcock.