Erle Stanley Gardner

Renowned as one of the best-selling American authors of the 20th century, Erle Stanley Gardner is globally recognised within the world of literature as one of the best mystery and detective novel writers of all time. His long list of novels, which includes the Perry Mason collection, are still widely accessible, even today, and are taught throughout schools and universities worldwide. But how did this once former lawyer become to be one of the greatest writers the world has seen?

The best place to start is the Perry Mason series, the earliest of Erle Stanley Gardner's multi-book series: it opens with The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933) and runs to 85 books across 1933–2022, ending with The Case of the Baited Hook (2022). Erle Stanley Gardner's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Erle Stanley Gardner has 164 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1933 and 2022. 134 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Perry Mason series with 85 books — and 30 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Erle Stanley Gardner's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Perry Mason (1933–2022, 85 books), Doug Selby (1937–1949, 9 books) and Terry Clane (1937–1946, 2 books), plus 3 more.

This guide splits Erle Stanley Gardner's 164 books into 6 named series and 30 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Perry Mason (85 books, 1933–2022); Donald Lam & Bertha Cool (30 books, 1939–1970); Doug Selby (9 books, 1937–1949); Perry Mason Collections (5 books, 1955–1989); Gramp Wiggens (3 books, 1941–1960), plus 1 further series.