The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe: A Perry Mason Mystery (An American Mystery Classic)

Review
"Mason displays his usual brilliant cross-examination skills as the action builds to a highly satisfying climax. Gardner’s cleverness and mastery of trial details are amply on display in this entry in the American Mystery Classics series."
― Publishers Weekly
"No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition."
― Kirkus
"While we wait to watch Mason eviscerate his opponent, we can savor a vanished way of talking. There's something charming about hearing a movie called a "picture show." As a kind of origin story, this one's a treat."
― Booklist
"With Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner introduced to American letters the notion of the lawyer as a hero―and a detective―which were remarkable innovations. He even gave defense lawyers a good name to boot. His Mason books reaming tantalizing on every page and brilliant."
― Scott Turow, author of Presume Innocent and Testimony
After a thieving woman is accused of murder, it’s up to Perry Mason to prove her innocent
Sleuthing attorney Perry Mason can’t resist a good mystery, so when he sees an older woman being accused of shoplifting during a department store outing with his assistant, Della Street, he doesn’t hesitate to intervene. Armed with an assumption of innocence and the legal acumen to silence her accuser, Mason leaps to the woman’s defense―until her niece appears, acknowledging her aunt’s guilt, and pays for the stolen items.
Soon thereafter, Aunt Sarah is accused of stealing a valuable set of diamonds, and her niece, Virginia, enlists Mason’s aid. The man who left the jewels in Sarah’s care insists that she didn’t take them, but when he turns up dead, she’s left with nobody to vouch for her. Nobody, that is, but Perry Mason―expert in the art of defending the innocent.
The thirteenth novel in the bestselling Perry Mason series, The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe is an exemplary episode for the character, featuring the complex plots, snappy dialogue, and break-neck pacing that make the novels perennial favorites of mystery fans everywhere.
Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.