The D.A. Calls It Murder - Paperback

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by Erle Stanley Gardner (Author), Otto Penzler (Introduction by)

In this legal mystery from the creator of Perry Mason, a newly elected District Attorney must prove his worth with a puzzling case.

In a small town north of Los Angeles, Doug Selby claims narrow victory in a hotly-contested race for District Attorney. Then his troubles begin: First, when the local paper, supportive of the incumbent, immediately launches an effort to get Selby recalled. And then there's the murdered man that turns up in the very hotel that housed Selby's campaign headquarters. If he can quickly solve the case, Selby will prove that he deserves his new position; if not, he risks providing more fodder to his enemies at The Blade. What follows is a fast-paced and twisty investigation involving a famous actress, a stolen identity, and plenty of red herrings as Selby, the sheriff, and a sympathetic journalist endeavor to determine whodunit.

This clever Golden Age page-turner features the same legal acumen that fans expect from the author of the Perry Mason series and Erle Stanley Gardner's signature snappy dialogue and quick plotting, as well. Originally published in 1937 and reissued for the first time in over thirty years, The D.A. Calls It Murder is a classic legal mystery with a lead who starkly contrasts with Gardner's more famous character. Doug Selby went on to star in eight more celebrated novels.

Author Biography

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) was a prolific American author best known for his works centered on the lawyer-detective Perry Mason. At the time of his death in March of 1970, in Ventura, California, Gardner was "the most widely read of all American writers" and "the most widely translated author in the world," according to social historian Russell Nye. The first Perry Mason novel, The Case of The Velvet Claws, published in 1933, had sold twenty-eight million copies in its first fifteen years. In the mid-1950s, the Perry Mason novels were selling at the rate of twenty thousand copies a day. There have been six motion pictures based on his work and the hugely popular Perry Mason television series starring Raymond Burr, which aired for nine years and 271 episodes.

Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of the Mysterious Press (1975); Mysterious Press.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City's Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from Noircon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 80 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.

Number of Pages: 240

Dimensions: 0.71 x 7.95 x 5.2 IN

Publication Date: June 03, 2025