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Ellery Queen Presents: Erle Stanley Gardner's The Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith
Ellery Queen revives the Robin Hood of detectives, Lester Leith, in five popular adventures by Erle Stanley Gardner
- GenresMystery
189 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1980
About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,382 books840 followersErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories who also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2022
This collection is a true treat!
I first encountered Lester Leith in "The Exact Opposite," a short story included in Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries. He was quite a delightful character, so I was surprised and pleased when I came across this collection of 5 stories starring him at a local library. I scooped it up and basically inhaled it over the course of a day.
Leith is a gentleman thief who is forever five steps ahead of the police. He robs from fellow theives and gives the proceeds of his loot (less a 20% collector's fee) to various charities. He is well aware that his valet, whom he calls Scuttle, is actually an undercover police spy named Beaver who is working with Sgt Ackley in various attempts to catch Leith out. Leith claims he has but an "academic" interest in crimes; he reads newspaper accounts of various capers (fed to him by Beaver/Scuttle), hits upon the solution, and orders up a bunch of weird and seemingly unrelated items in his bid to trap the thief and grab the goods for himself. Scuttle faithfully reports every move to Ackley, who is an egotistical idiot, and Leith always manages to pull off his scheme, grab the goods, and sell them before the police can figure out what's what.
"The Exact Opposite" is a perfect example of this. Leith outsmarts Ackley (and indeed makes him look like an idiot in front of his superior officer) and basically turns to his own detective-in-training and tells him, "Observe what Ackley does, and do the exact opposite, and you will become a successful detective." Ha!
It's wonderful to watch Leith outsmart his valet & co, and to see his zany schemes come to life. He cares only for grabbing up the stolen merchandise for himself - and not getting caught. Gardner shows a playful sense of humor with this series, which is not often seen in his most famous creation, Perry Mason.
Apparently there are 75 Leith stories out there, and I for one wish there was an anthology!
I first encountered Lester Leith in "The Exact Opposite," a short story included in Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries. He was quite a delightful character, so I was surprised and pleased when I came across this collection of 5 stories starring him at a local library. I scooped it up and basically inhaled it over the course of a day.
Leith is a gentleman thief who is forever five steps ahead of the police. He robs from fellow theives and gives the proceeds of his loot (less a 20% collector's fee) to various charities. He is well aware that his valet, whom he calls Scuttle, is actually an undercover police spy named Beaver who is working with Sgt Ackley in various attempts to catch Leith out. Leith claims he has but an "academic" interest in crimes; he reads newspaper accounts of various capers (fed to him by Beaver/Scuttle), hits upon the solution, and orders up a bunch of weird and seemingly unrelated items in his bid to trap the thief and grab the goods for himself. Scuttle faithfully reports every move to Ackley, who is an egotistical idiot, and Leith always manages to pull off his scheme, grab the goods, and sell them before the police can figure out what's what.
"The Exact Opposite" is a perfect example of this. Leith outsmarts Ackley (and indeed makes him look like an idiot in front of his superior officer) and basically turns to his own detective-in-training and tells him, "Observe what Ackley does, and do the exact opposite, and you will become a successful detective." Ha!
It's wonderful to watch Leith outsmart his valet & co, and to see his zany schemes come to life. He cares only for grabbing up the stolen merchandise for himself - and not getting caught. Gardner shows a playful sense of humor with this series, which is not often seen in his most famous creation, Perry Mason.
Apparently there are 75 Leith stories out there, and I for one wish there was an anthology!
May 1, 2025
Excellent, cleverly crafted stories! Thoroughly enjoyable.
How about a publisher coming out with ALL these stories in a series of volumes? Or at least an ebook with the complete adventures included? Before they are lost.
As good as the Perry Mason books, but in a different way.
How about a publisher coming out with ALL these stories in a series of volumes? Or at least an ebook with the complete adventures included? Before they are lost.
As good as the Perry Mason books, but in a different way.
July 20, 2013
This is Ellery Queen Presents Erle Stanley Gardner's The Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith. The Dial Press; 1980. 189 pages. Hardcover with dust-jacket.
Five noveletes. Edited and with an Introduction by Ellery Queen.
Leith steals from crooks. His a butler, Scuttle, is an undercover officer assigned to gather evidence against Leith, who sends Scuttle to acquire the necessaries for each job, unrelated items. Leith keeps a percentage of each take, and gives the rest to charity.
Five noveletes. Edited and with an Introduction by Ellery Queen.
Leith steals from crooks. His a butler, Scuttle, is an undercover officer assigned to gather evidence against Leith, who sends Scuttle to acquire the necessaries for each job, unrelated items. Leith keeps a percentage of each take, and gives the rest to charity.
March 11, 2012
These five novelets feature Lester Leith, one of Erle Stanley Gardner's most popular pulp fiction characters.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews