At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason and the hardboiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels, and one that's never been published until now. Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED is a glorious return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists.

The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink (1952) – A waitress in a favorite restaurant of Mason's runs out in the middle of the lunch rush, leaving behind her moth-eaten mink, and is hit by a car. Later, a message in lipstick helps Mason disprove the murder case against her framed boss.

The Case of the Duplicate Daughter (1960) – Perry is unsure which woman, wearing only a nightgown, was running away from a garage that has become the scene of a murder, and as a retainer, he asks for title to all the money found in the garage.

Ninety-years ago, before Erle Stanley Gardner began writing the very successful Perry Mason series, he wrote for the pulp magazines. The hundreds of pulp magazines that published his works can be difficult to get these days. The pulps were called that because the magazines used cheap wood pulp for its paper, a process that created pages that were not meant to last a century. One of his most popular characters was Lester Leith, the urbane Robin Hood, who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, after taking his own commission. Written mostly during the Great Depression, these stories showed wit and humor that Gardner often displayed in his personal life, but infrequently in his works. Only a handful of the Lester Leith stories have appeared since their original publication dates. Hold Cash, Cold Clews will double the number of Leith stories anthologized. This is the fourth collection of Gardner s pulp characters in Crippen & Landru s Lost Classics series contents IntroductionHot CashA Tip from ScuttleThe Girl With TheDiamond LegsLester Takes the CakeThieves' KitchenPut It in Writing!Cold Clews

The Case of the Blonde Bonanza (1962) – Mason believes it is crazy that someone is paying a beautiful girl $100 a week to put on weight, but she may be a missing heiress--or a murderess. "A diabolically clever variation on the confidence game of the 'lost heir' is the foundation of this delightful caper, in which Perry Mason once again sees through the machinations of people generally quite as able as himself. ... Again, the court scene is thrilling and brilliant."FLASH... Mason gives Della Street two weeks’ vacation! That is, it was supposed to be a vacation, but Della turned it into a busman’s holiday. Target of interest was a well-stacked blonde—one who incredibly stashed away five enormous meals a day. Her name was Dianne, and when Mason unexpectedly appeared, he and Della discovered she had signed a contract to gain weight quickly in order to model clothes for “stylish stouts.” Perry smelled a rat, and when he read the contract he found a nest of them. One led straight to murder...

The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe (1938) – Mason defends an elderly woman who claims to have no memory of shooting a man, but he needs to know why she would go shoplifting when she has plenty of money in her purse.HELL ON HEELSAfter her well-to-do Aunt Sarah is caught shoplifting, Virginia Trent is convinced she needs to seek psychiatric help for kleptomania. So why does Virginia turn to legal eagle Perry Mason? Because a cache of valuable diamonds--left in Sarah's care--has suddenly vanished into thin air. Virginia thinks Sarah swiped the stones, but gem dealer Austin Cullens begs to differ. In fact, he's prepared to forgive and forget--until he is mysteriously murdered and Sarah is caught running from the crime scene. Now it appears the lady with the sticky fingers may have blood on her hands. . . .THE ORIGINAL COURTROOM NOVELSAbout the AuthorErle Stanley Gardner is the king of American mystery fiction. A criminal lawyer, he filled his mystery masterpieces with intricate, fascinating, ever-twisting plots. Challenging, clever, and full of surprises, these are whodunits that have delighted mystery aficionados for more than sixty years.

The Case of the Cautious Coquette (1949) – At the behest of Mason, who is representing a young man hit by a car, Paul Drake places an ad in the paper asking for witnesses to the hit and run. To Mason's astonishment, two different drivers are identified, one by a mysterious letter enclosing a key.When Perry Mason questioned Lucille Barton, she lied about her past, about her many marriages, about her gun, about her boyfriends. Then the murders began. And the cops turned up evidence that clearly pointed to one killer--Perry Mason! HC: William Morrow. Reissue.

Jacob Mandra had a million-dollar apartment on the fringe of Chinatown ... and a reputation. Early one morning they found him dead. And a few hours later Terry Clane found himself in the District Attorney's office - by request. The District Attorney began asking strange questions that Terry Clane didn't care to answer, and when Terry finally sailed out of the D.A.'s office he realised that he and some of his friends were involved in the Mandra murder ... up to their necks.

The Case of the Vagabond Virgin (1948) – A man picks up an innocent young hitchhiker and gets into even more trouble when his partner is found murdered.After prominent businessman John Racer Addison gives some fatherly help to a mixed-up eighteen-year-old runaway, an unscrupulous gossip columnist threatens to turn their innocent relationship into a tawdry tabloid tale. The scandal will be on everyone's lips -- unless Addison pays through the nose.

"The Cat-Woman" (1927) shows a structure that will recur in some of Gardner's novels, such as The D.A. Draws a Circle and The D.A. Breaks a Seal: a crime in the past with a surprize solution, affecting a more thriller-like situation in the present. The mere fact that there is any sort of crime or mystery in the past, in "The Cat-Woman", is a carefully hidden feature, though. In The D.A. Draws a Circle the crime in the past is a full puzzle plot; the past crime in "The Cat-Woman" comes close to being a puzzle plot, with some hints to the solution scattered in the story. 

The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife (1945) – A shady promoter is blocking the sale of a valuable island when he comes up with an oil lease, but when he is murdered on a pleasure cruise, it is his wife who stands trial for murder.Frank Lawton goes to visit old friend Scott Shelby and ends up being charged with his muder. Fortunately for Lawton, Perry Mason is another old friend of his and he arrives on the scene to try and solve the case.

From Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner - during his life, the best-selling American author of all time — comes a lost classic of detective fiction featuring private eyes Donald Lam (once played by Frank Sinatra!) and Bertha Cool.HBO series Perry Mason, based on characters from Erle Stanley Gardner's novels, airs June 2020 starring Matthew Rhys in the titular role.Has Donald Lam gone to the dark side? From the world-famous creator of "Perry Mason," Erle Stanley Gardner - at his death the best-selling American writer of all time - comes another baffling case for the Cool & Lam detective agency: SHILLS CAN'T CASH CHIPS. Return to the 1960s as a simple insurance investigation into a car accident puts Bertha Cool and Donald Lam on the trail of murder - and Donald hip-deep in danger when he poses as an ex-con to infiltrate a criminal gang. It's Gardner's twistiest caper ever, and a fitting capper to...