The D.A. Holds a Candle

In this classic mystery by the author of the Perry Mason series, a California D.A. investigates the case of a murderer who didn't kill.
"The bestselling author of the century . . . a master storyteller." -The New York Times
Young and ambitious, Doug Selby became district attorney hoping to clean up corruption in Madison City and the surrounding county. But even in a farming community like this, evil can have deep roots . . .
Selby knows Ross Blaine isn't the sort to forge a check, but the young man has gambling debts to pay. Rather than throw him in jail, Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon head to the source of Blaine's debt: a roadhouse known as the Palm Thatch.
That's where the investigation leads Selby to the son of a local bigwig who could make or break his career. Then a body is found in a local motel with a strange note attached. Was it an accident, or was it murder? And who exactly was the victim? With the help of the sheriff and ace-reporter Sylvia Martin, Selby just might get some answers before another mystery-or another body-is added to the mix. Originally published in 1937.

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) was an author and lawyer who wrote nearly 150 detective and mystery novels that sold more than one million copies each, making him easily the best-selling American writer of his time. He ranks as one of the most prolific specialists of crime fiction due to his popular alter ego, lawyer-detective Perry Mason. A self-taught lawyer, Gardner was admitted to the California bar in 1911 and began defending poor Chinese and Mexicans as well as other clients. Eventually his writing career, which began with the pulps, pushed his law career aside. As proven in his Edgar Award-winning The Court of Last Resort, Gardner never gave up on the cases of wrongly accused individuals or unjustly convicted defendants.