One hundred and twenty canonical mystery novels spanning four decades of courtroom drama and hardboiled detection (1933 - 1973).
A married woman using a false name comes to Perry Mason after being photographed leaving a raided speakeasy. When her blackmailer husband is shot dead, she attempts to frame Mason for the murder.
A sullen heiress seeks Mason's advice to retain her inheritance without complying with her late uncle's restrictive marriage conditions. When her guardian is found beaten to death, Fran is charged with murder.
A crooked promoter runs fraudulent beauty contests across the country promoting girls with beautiful legs, taking their money and vanishing. When he is discovered stabbed with a carving knife, Marjorie is the prime suspect.
An eccentric neighbor complains of a neighbor's continuously howling dog, calling it an omen of death, and asks Mason to draft a will leaving his fortune to his neighbor's wife. Shortly after, a man is found shot dead.
A woman married to a wealthy suitor consults Mason under a fictitious name about the estate of a supposed dead first husband who has suddenly re-emerged as a ruthless blackmailer.
A businessman with a glass eye is accused of murdering an embezzling loan shark. The victim is found clutching a prosthetic eye in his dead hand, but Brunold claims his spare eye was stolen.
An aging caretaker hires Mason to defend the rights of his cat against the heirs of a deceased millionaire. When the caretaker is murdered and the cat poisoned, Mason uncovers an elaborate arson conspiracy.
A wealthy man who suffers from severe somnambulism awakes to find a bloody carving knife under his pillow and his business partner stabbed to death in the adjoining bedroom.
An Australian clergyman who stutters under stress asks Mason to investigate the substitution of a child heiress to a vast fortune. When the patriarch is murdered, the bishop disappears.
An imperious cigar-smoking grandmother hires Mason to recover gambling IOUs signed by her granddaughter on a floating gambling ship. When the casino operator is murdered, the dowager is indicted.
A pet canary with its claws clipped too short provides the crucial clue when a snooping wife seeks an annulment and her husband is found shot in his apartment.
A portrait photograph found inside a lost purse during an ocean voyage from Honolulu has had the face swapped with another print. When a passenger vanishes overboard, Mason is drawn into a high-seas murder.
An elderly aunt caught shoplifting in a department store is suspected of kleptomania, but Mason soon finds her involved in diamonds, blackmail, and the shooting of a gem dealer.
An eccentric millionaire living in a mountain cabin is murdered, and his pet parrot constantly screams the name of the killer. Mason discovers the bird may have been coached by a third party.
A Klondike gold rush veteran is institutionalized by scheming relatives who want his millions, while loaded dice and a murder in a gambling den complicate Mason's battle for his client.
A mysterious client delivers a torn ten-thousand-dollar bill to Mason as a retainer, promising the other half if he defends a girl who will soon be framed for murder.
A young flower shop owner discovers that a loan shark has seized control of her company through silent stock acquisitions, leading directly to a poisoned cup of coffee.
A young hitchhiker gets picked up by a speeding driver who crashes and flees, leaving her trapped behind the steering wheel while a murder victim is found nearby.
A family puzzle involving a Chinese tin can with a false bottom leads Mason into wartime espionage, forgery, and family inheritance disputes.
A chemistry experiment demonstrating water tension reduction using modern synthetic detergents is used to frame a young chemist for cyanide poisoning.
A kitten that walks through poisonous residue reveals the presence of lethal pesticide before an old family friend is shot in his garden.
A clock ticking beneath the dirt in a mountain canyon leads to a buried stash of embezzled bank money and a dead body with a broken spade nearby.
A prospector who found a lost gold mine in the Mojave Desert receives threatening letters signed with a drawing of a mosquito, followed by laced wine at a camp dinner.
A sheep vessel grounded on mudflats at low tide becomes the scene of a shooting, where a candle warped by heat reveals an altered timeline.
A blonde with a black eye walks into Mason's office seeking refuge from an abusive employer, leading to a stolen baby and a dead executive.
A secret remedy made from goldfish bladder extracts and a bullet hole through a woman's handbag create an intricate puzzle for Mason.
A yacht anchored off Catalina Island becomes the stage for marital sabotage and drowning when an oil lease concession ignites murder.
An out-of-work girl is hired by an eccentric agency to impersonate another woman at a swank restaurant, only to find herself accused of homicide when a key player is shot.
An automobile crash on a mountain highway scatters ostrich feather fans, Japanese fans, and horse registrations, ending in a corpse with a blood-stained fan.
An unfaithful husband fakes his own disappearance by having his car pushed off a cliff, but Mason finds his bank accounts looted and a fresh body in the patio.
A contest advertisement in a lonely-hearts magazine uncovers a contest swindle and a wealthy estate disputing a contested codicil.
A young runaway girl caught in department store shoplifting becomes the unwitting pawn in an international department store merger and murder.
A bigamous marriage, Mexican divorce papers, and two rival wives lead to an ambush in an underground garage and murder.
A hit-and-run driver leaves a dying pedestrian, but two rival suitors try to take the blame before one of them is stabbed to death.
A girl swimming in the bay to retrieve an incriminating letter from an island estate is framed for jewel theft and murder.
A mysterious phone call leads Mason to an all-night diner where a woman with an eyepatch delivers an envelope containing murder evidence.
Fluorescent chemical dusting powders trap a suspect handling jewelry, but Mason suspects the police chemical trap was rigged to frame his client.
A lakeside cabin retreat in the mountains becomes the scene of a wealthy playboy's shooting, with tire tracks matching the defendant's sports car.
A waitress runs out of a diner leaving behind a priceless moth-eaten mink coat with a pawn ticket sewn inside the lining, dragging Mason into a cop-killing cold case.
An eccentric researcher studying gorilla hypnosis and behavioral psychology dies in his study, leaving a caged ape as the alleged murderer.
A taxi-dance hostess whose testimony convicted Mason's client vanishes right before the retrial, while a double murder erupts at a motel.
Blackmail recordings made on wire dictating machines threaten a prominent family, culminating in a murder where the tape seems to capture the shot.
A surgeon killed in a private plane crash leaves an unrecorded fortune in safe deposit boxes and a missing surgical nurse accused of poisoning him.
A husband supposedly poisoned with arsenic has his body mysteriously stolen from the fresh grave before the official coroner autopsy can take place.
A young actress acquitted of jewelry theft is ambushed on a dark mountain road and returns fire in self-defense, only to find a murdered man in the headlights.
A woman suffering from apparent amnesia is found wandering in a city park in an evening gown, wrapped in an international jewel-smuggling ring.
A nudist sunbather has her trailer home looted, including her clothes, car, and personal diary recording a major armored-car robbery payout.
An oil wildcatting lease investment dispute erupts in gunfire, with Mason called in to protect a client who claims she only fired warning shots.
A temporary typist hired by Mason flees his office leaving diamonds embedded in the chewing gum under her desk, leading to a trial where Mason faces his toughest jury.
A woman confessing to murder under truth serum (sodium pentothal) during psychiatric therapy sparks a legal battle over medical confidentiality and self-incrimination.
A newlywed executive blackmailed over his wife's past wakes up in a motel room next to a corpse, having been drugged with sleeping pills.
A high-stakes corporate proxy fight turns deadly when a rival shareholder is gunned down in a hotel room with lipstick prints left on the mirror.
A young heir acquitted of manslaughter in a vehicular homicide is suddenly re-indicted for first-degree premeditated murder using a high-powered hunting rifle.
A barn on a suburban estate is the source of terrifying screams, leading to an illegal adoption ring and a doctor found shot at his desk.
Three identical .38 caliber revolvers are shuffled between suspects, with Mason caught in possession of one of the possible murder weapons.
A heartbroken girl assumes the identity of a woman killed in a fiery car crash, only to discover the dead woman was involved in an extortion ring.
A photographer's model whose portrait appears on thousands of advertising calendars is accused of shooting a predatory real-estate mogul.
A young boy playing with an elaborate motorized toy boat on a park lake triggers a deadly chain of custody dispute ending in a fatal shooting.
A novelist's personal secretary is sent to a secluded mountain cabin to pick up a manuscript, but gets stuck in the mud and finds a dead man in the bedroom.
A nightclub singer whose sequined skirt hums when she moves is accused of stealing gambling casino funds and shooting the manager's wife.
A young stenographer escapes from an aggressive playboy's country cabin, leaving her shoes behind, before the man is found stabbed with a hunting knife.
A father suspects his wife is being blackmailed by a private detective, only to walk into his garage workshop and find a duplicate daughter standing over a corpse.
A secretary sent to deliver blackmail money to a roadside diner sees only a distinctive shapely shadow through the window before finding the body.
An eccentric elderly spinster who manages a mining corporation turns out to have an imposter running the office safe while embezzling gold ore certificates.
A traveling door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman discovers that her best friend's husband is leading a double life under another identity in a neighboring town.
An art gallery authenticity dispute over a valuable master canvas leads to a murder aboard an offshore yacht and a model who denies posing.
A glamorous model is hired on a bizarre contract requiring her to eat massive calories and gain weight in public view, disguising an estate substitution fraud.
A young woman attending the horse races is handed winning pari-mutuel tickets by a man whose hands are icy cold, pulling her into a motel homicide.
A young woman claiming she has an identical twin sister wants her appendix operation scar photographed for identification purposes before a shooting occurs.
Blackmail surrounding a wealthy stepdaughter's secret marriage leads to a murder aboard a luxury cabin cruiser in the yacht harbor.
A wealthy widow aunt intends to marry a smooth-talking fortune hunter, until the groom-to-be is poisoned with arsenic at a celebratory dinner.
A purse left behind in an office contains a loaded .38 caliber revolver and two envelopes of cash, leading directly to a hotel suite shooting.
A prominent executive suspects his wife is being blackmailed over an old scandal and hires Mason, only to have a fingerprint expert murdered in his guest room.
A wealthy woman changes her will to reward loyal household staff, but is hospitalized for food poisoning before being killed in an automobile crash.
An investment fund trustee handling trust accounts for an eccentric inventor is accused of embezzling securities and shooting his colleague.
A young heiress returns from Europe to find her wealthy uncle committed to a psychiatric sanitarium by corrupt relatives who looted his estate.
A hatcheck waitress in a financial district restaurant finds blind trusts and corporate stocks hidden in a hat, leading to her uncle's murder.
A former beauty queen from twenty years ago seeks Mason's help to stop an inquisitive reporter digging into an adoption, ending in a late-night shooting.
A wealthy widow is accused of putting arsenic in her husband's sugar bowl when a blackmailer reveals her deceased husband's secret debts.
A woman with plastic surgery alterations asks Mason to arrange an anonymous financial settlement, leading to diamond smuggling and homicide.
A bizarre real estate dispute where a house is divided down the middle with a wire fence leads to murder on the patio.
A woman asks Mason to investigate her sister's yachting trip, only to find the boat anchored off a quiet cove with a man shot dead through the heart.
Donald Lam, a disbarred young attorney weighing under a hundred pounds, applies for a job at the B. Cool Detective Agency. Bertha Cool, an overweight, profane woman whose fee is 5 a day and expenses, sends him to serve a subpoena on a witness in an Arizona murder case.
Bertha Cool is hired by a shadowy client who calls himself Smith to locate the long-lost wife of an aspiring city politician. Donald traces her to a small valley town where a corrupt municipal machine tries to run him out of town.
A wealthy scion is being fleeced by a high-stakes crooked bridge and poker syndicate. Donald is hired to figure out how the cards are marked, but walks into an oil stock fraud and a murder.
A prospective bride disappears from a luxury California resort hours before her wedding, taking an expensive diamond ring. Donald trails her into the neon casino underworld of Reno, Nevada.
An insurance company wants to locate a missing cache of blue-white diamonds before they pay out twenty thousand dollars on a safe robbery claim.
Bertha Cool and Donald Lam head to New Orleans to track down a missing witness who holds the key to an inheritance dispute, crossing paths with Southern river gamblers and corrupt police.
A blind man with a seeing-eye dog is struck by a hit-and-run driver in downtown Los Angeles. A dropped briefcase leads Donald to a suburban mansion where bats swarm an attic window above a corpse.
With Donald Lam away serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Bertha Cool must personally handle a delicate blackmail case involving an eccentric inventor and a midnight intruder in a storm.
A street accident involves a motorist who tries to pay off a damaged fender with crisp hundred-dollar bills. A bloody hand ax found in a sedan trunk pulls Bertha into a double-cross.
Donald Lam returns from the Navy with his health battered. The agency is retained to recover an emerald necklace taken to Colombia, South America, involving emerald smugglers and customs fraud.
A wealthy client receives anonymous letters predicting that his invalid wife will die of poisoning on a specific Friday. Donald is hired to prevent the homicide, but poison strikes exactly as predicted.
Donald Lam visits a cocktail lounge and picks up a beautiful brunette who asks him to pretend to be her escort at a private roadhouse, dragging him into an extortion scheme and murder.
A client wants an alibi for the night an illegal poker casino was held up, but Donald suspects the alibi is camouflage for the murder of an oil speculator.
Bertha and Donald travel to Honolulu, Hawaii, to protect a wealthy widow being blackmailed over letters written to an adventurer who met with a fatal fall from a cliff.
An old murder conviction in an oil-boom town six years ago is questioned when an author writing a true-crime article hires the Cool & Lam agency to find a key missing witness.
A client suspects his wife is consulting spiritualist mediums to locate a hidden fortune left by a deceased mining engineer, ending in a poisoned cocktail.
A businessman wakes up in a luxury hotel with a hangover, finding his wallet missing and a diamond clip in his pocket, terrified his wife will find out.
An explorer who returned from the Amazon jungle has rare poisoned blowgun darts stolen from his trophy room, which are soon used in an impossible murder.
A missing husband whose life insurance policy is about to expire under the seven-year presumption of death statute suddenly appears to be spotted eating in an Idaho diner.
A daring armored car robbery yield of one hundred thousand dollars in unmarked bank notes turns up in a suburban washing machine, involving a client who claims innocence.
A voyeuristic neighbor watching through binoculars suspects a murder has taken place in the opposite apartment, pulling Donald into real-estate blackmail.
An insurance adjuster suspects an auto accident injury claim is an organized fraud ring, but Donald finds the claimant dead in a roadside ravine.
A private client asks Donald to accompany him to a motel cabin rendezvous to witness that no immoral conduct occurs, only for a woman to be found suffocated in the closet.
An attractive executive assistant is targeted with anonymous threatening telephone calls, leading Donald to an offshore gambling ship off the California coast.
A fraudulent medical disability claimant claiming whiplash from a minor bus accident is trailed to a Palm Springs resort, where diamond smuggling turns deadly.
An insurance fraud investigation involves a client whose company is being shaken down over an engineered rear-end collision.
A distraught widow seeks Donald's help when her husband's life insurance is contested under suspicions that he faked his drowning in the Pacific Ocean.
Donald Lam answers an employment classified ad that is an obvious trap to frame a private investigator for burglary, turning the tables on the conspirators.
Donald and Bertha are hired to locate a missing writer who vanished while researching the cross-border smuggling of illegal goods across the Mexican border.
A dead man in a Madison City hotel room looks like a suicide until newly elected D.A. Doug Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon discover a counterfeit passport and traces of rare poison. Sleazy defense lawyer A.B. Carr arrives to represent the prime suspect.
An automobile accident on a lonely country road leaves an unidentified hitchhiker dead. The victim carried thousands of dollars in cash sewn into his coat, leading Doug into county political corruption.
A body riddled with bullet holes is found dumped in an orange grove outside Madison City. A mysterious man with a deformed finger becomes the focal point of a tangled inheritance scheme.
A tramp found dead on the railroad tracks was not killed by the freight train; his skull was fractured hours before being placed on the rails. Doug takes the case to a sensational jury trial against A.B. Carr.
An abandoned newborn baby in a local hospital and an elderly woman killed in a traffic collision draw Selby into a high-stakes estate fraud and fraudulent adoption syndicate.
A car wreck involving an apparently intoxicated driver turns out to conceal a man who was already dead from poison before the car went over the embankment.
Doug Selby, home on brief military leave from the Army during World War II, helps Rex Brandon investigate the death of an eccentric millionaire who died drinking coffee in a local restaurant.
A Hollywood actress, a crooked gambling casino operator, and a body found in an irrigation canal bring big-city vice into peaceful Madison County.
A burglary at a local jewelry store leads to a homicide at a motor court and an apparent suicide. A broken egg found on the kitchen floor holds the secret to an airtight alibi.