House of Stratus

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The Adventures of Paul Pry
ISBN 1842320815

Paul Pry, one of Gardner’s least-known and strangest characters is showcased for the first time in The Adventures of Paul Pry.

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Selma Arlington is engaged to a wealthy widower. His heirs don't want him to tie the knot. Perry Mason is asked by Selma to prove she is neither a gold digger nor a murderer of her first husband, but incriminating evidence comes to light.

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Morley Eden finds an unwanted guest on his property. The ex-wife of his dream house's contractor claims that the property is one-half hers. Eden calls upon Perry Mason to resolve a dispute that is linked to murder.

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A mysterious young woman, Dorrie Ambler, wishes to prove her identity to Perry Mason. She wants him to witness her appendectomy scar, claiming she has a double. The double turns out to be Minerva Minden, madcap heiress of Montrose. Mason has his work cut out for him when his investigation leads him to a dead man in an apartment building.

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Rob Trenton, an American dog trainer by profession, makes a tour of Paris and Switzerland with fellow passengers from his ship. Artist Linda Carroll arouses his curiosity. Strange Merton Ostrander joins them for the return. When New York Customs search Rob for contraband after a fake tip-off, Rob's life turns upside down.

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Sybil Harlan is aware of her husband's dalliance with an alluring business associate. Sybil asks Perry Mason to help her sour the real estate deal and win back her errant spouse. Unfortunately a blackmailer gets wind of the scheme and murder takes place.

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The only witness to a millionaire's murder is a parrot that keeps repeating phrases that may identify the killer.

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Horace Warren pays five hundred dollars to have Perry mason attend a buffet dinner to observe his guests. He also wants Mason to investigate a fingerprint and suspects his wife is being blackmailed. Mrs Warren's mystery past may hold the clues.

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Perry Mason is hired to protect Mae Farr from a presumed stalker, wealthy playboy Penn Wentworth. When Mason learns that Wentworth wants Mae for forging his name on a cheque, things get complicated. But fatal gunplay leaves Wentworth dead, Mae a wanted woman and Perry Mason in trouble.

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Evelyn Bagby has ambition, bad luck - and red hair. When she is caught with stolen diamonds is looks like an airtight case. But Perry Mason believes she has been set up. Then comes news of another crime and Mason finds the charge against his client is murder.

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Joan Kirby doesn't believe her husband's story about picking up a stranded woman in the middle of the night and dropping her off at a hotel. She asks Perry Mason to cross-examine him. Mason uncovers a much murkier trail involving murder, illegal adoption, stolen narcotics and blackmail.

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After her wealthy Aunt Sarah is caught shoplifting, Virginia Trent suspects kleptomania. Some valuable diamonds left in Sarah's care go missing and Virginia turns to Perry Mason. When the gem dealer is murdered however and Sarah is seen running from the crime scene, the old lady becomes the chief suspect.

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A crafty businessman arrives incognito in a small town, where he takes up residence at a cabin. Using another name he starts buying up property. When he is found dead in his mountain cabin there is no shortage of suspects. Amateur detective Gramps Wiggins has to piece together the clues.

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Wealthy Amelia Corning, owner of the Corning mine interests, might be an old lady in a wheelchair but she doesn't miss a trick. Secretary Susan Fisher has to call in Perry Mason when she finds her boss's seven-year-old son holding a shoebox stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. Then Miss Corning's life is at risk.

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Harlow Bissenger Bancroft is head of a corporate empire and happily married. None of his lawyers can help him however when a blackmailer threatens his family's future. After he calls upon Perry Mason for help, the blackmailer is found dead.

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Julia Branner claims her millionaire father-in-law forced her to give up her baby girl for adoption years before. When a woman appears claiming to be her long-lost daughter, Julia insists she is a fake after the family fortune. As events take a sinister turn Julia calls in Perry Mason.

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Platinum blonde, Veronica Dale, is arrested on a charge of vagrancy, yet she has a hotel reservation in her name. Addison, head of a department store, booked the room for her and is now being blackmailed. Perry Mason can't decide who is hiding what and then comes murder and one of Mason's toughest trial scenes.

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Major Doug Selby, Madison City's ex-DA is at the Madison Hotel on leave. When a Kansas lawyer called Roff drinks a coffee laced with cyanide Selby becomes involved. A mystery blonde and Carr, the defence counsel, complicate the mystery further.

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The DA series is Gardner at his peak. The plots are fast and tightly constructed. Perry Mason fans can enjoy reading about another detective.

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