The Case of the Sulky Girl: A Perry Mason novel

Erle Stanley Gardner

Formats & Editions

Frances Celane has good reason to pout. Thanks to a provision in her late father's will administered by her uncle, she's caught in the middle of a family feud between matrimony and money. If she chooses marriage, she loses a million. But beautiful young Frances has a strong will of her own she's not afraid to use. One way or another, she means to hear wedding bells and cash registers making beautiful music together. Her first move: hire Perry Mason to orchestrate things.

Unfortunately, stubbornness runs in Frances Celane's family, as Mason discovers when he confronts her Uncle Edward. After Perry's powers of persuasion fail to penetrate Norton's hard head, someone decides the only way of cashing in is by bashing in the uncooperative uncle's skull. But when the blood spills, so do the secrets. Then it's Mason's turn to brood, as he tries to figure out if a girl as pretty as his client could have a hand in something so ugly ...

Read More

More books by Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Duplicate Daughter
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Duplicate Daughter
All Grass Isn't Green
Erle Stanley Gardner
All Grass Isn't Green
The Case of the Baited Hook
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Baited Hook
The Case of the Blonde Bonanza
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Blonde Bonanza
The Case of the Gilded Lily
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Gilded Lily
The Case of the Lucky Loser
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Lucky Loser
The Case of the Negligent Nymph
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Negligent Nymph
The Case of the Turning Tide
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Turning Tide
The Count of Nine
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Count of Nine
The D.A. Breaks an Egg
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Breaks an Egg
The D.A. Cooks a Goose
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Cooks a Goose
The D.A. Draws a Circle
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Draws a Circle
The D.A. Goes to Trial
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Goes to Trial
Murder Up My Sleeve
Erle Stanley Gardner
Murder Up My Sleeve
Shills Can't Cash Chips
Erle Stanley Gardner
Shills Can't Cash Chips
Try Anything Once
Erle Stanley Gardner
Try Anything Once
The Bigger They Come
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Bigger They Come
The Case of the Backward Mule
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Backward Mule
The Case of the Lonely Heiress
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Lonely Heiress
The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink
Cut Thin to Win
Erle Stanley Gardner
Cut Thin to Win
The D.A. Calls it Murder
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Calls it Murder
The D.A. Holds a Candle
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Holds a Candle
The D.A. Takes a Chance
Erle Stanley Gardner
The D.A. Takes a Chance
Double or Quits
Erle Stanley Gardner
Double or Quits
Fools Die on Friday
Erle Stanley Gardner
Fools Die on Friday
Gold Comes in Bricks
Erle Stanley Gardner
Gold Comes in Bricks
Kept Women Can't Quit
Erle Stanley Gardner
Kept Women Can't Quit
Up for Grabs
Erle Stanley Gardner
Up for Grabs
Bachelors Get Lonely
Erle Stanley Gardner
Bachelors Get Lonely
Bats Fly at Dusk
Erle Stanley Gardner
Bats Fly at Dusk
Bedrooms Have Windows
Erle Stanley Gardner
Bedrooms Have Windows
The Case of the Deadly Toy
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Deadly Toy
The Case of the Singing Skirt
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case of the Singing Skirt
Cats Prowl at Night
Erle Stanley Gardner
Cats Prowl at Night
Owls Don't Blink
Erle Stanley Gardner
Owls Don't Blink
Some Women Won't Wait
Erle Stanley Gardner
Some Women Won't Wait
Spill the Jackpot
Erle Stanley Gardner
Spill the Jackpot
Traps Need Fresh Bait
Erle Stanley Gardner
Traps Need Fresh Bait
Turn on the Heat
Erle Stanley Gardner
Turn on the Heat
Beware the Curves
Erle Stanley Gardner
Beware the Curves
Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) left school in 1909 and attended Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana for just one month before he was suspended for focusing more on his hobby of boxing than his academic studies. Soon after, he settled in California, where he taught himself the law and passed the state bar exam in 1911. The practise of law never held much interest for him, however, apart from as it pertained to trial strategy, and in his spare time he began to write for the pulp magazines that gave Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler their start. Not long after the publication of his first novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, featuring Perry Mason, he gave up his legal practice to write full time. He had one daughter, Grace, with his first wife, Natalie, from whom he later separated. In 1968 Gardner married his long-term secretary, Agnes Jean Bethell, whom he professed to be the real 'Della Street', Perry Mason's sole (although unacknowledged) love interest. He was one of the most successful authors of all time and at the time of his death, in Temecula, California in 1970, is said to have had 135 million copies of his books in print in America alone.

More about Erle Stanley Gardner

Related books