'The bestselling author of the century ... a master storyteller' New York Times

'Why would anyone hire a girl with the figure of a stripteaser and pay her $100 a week to put on weight?' Perry Mason asked Della Street.

'In the course of my secretarial career,' Della said demurely, 'I've seen quite a few approaches, but this is a new one.'

'According to the letter of this contract,' Mason mused, 'if Dianne Alder should marry a millionaire and her husband should die, the party of the first part would be entitled to fifty percent.' Suddenly Mason snapped his fingers.

'You've got it?' Della Street asked.

'I have an explanation. I don't know whether it's the explanation, but it's quite an explanation'.

"The bestselling author of the century ... a master storyteller" - NEW YORK TIMES

"Kingpin among the mystery writers" - NEW YORK TIMES

"No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition" - KIRKUS

"The only dull pages in this book are the blank ones just inside the covers" - NEW YORK TIMES

"For fans of classic hard-boiled whodunits, this is a time machine back to an exuberant era of snappy patter, stakeouts, and double-crosses" - LA TIMES

"You know Perry Mason ... and that is what makes the Perry Mason stories worthwhile" - NEW YORK TIMES