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A DOUBLE-LOCKED ROOM...
TWO STOLEN JADE IDOLS...
POISONED BLOWGUN DARTS FROM BORNEO...
—CAN EVEN COOL & LAM UNTANGLE THIS MYSTERY?

Erle Stanley Gardner was not just the creator of PERRY MASON—at the time of his death, he was the best-selling American author of all time, with hundreds of millions of books in print, including the 29 cases of the brash, irresistible detective team of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Gardner was also one of the most ingenious plot-spinners in the field, coming up with stunning twists and reveals—and THE COUNT OF 9 is Gardner at his twistiest.

Hired to protect the treasures of a globe-trotting adventurer, Bertha and Donald confront an impossible crime: how could anything be smuggled out of a dinner party when the guests were X-rayed coming and going—least of all a 6-foot-long blowgun? But that’s nothing compared to the crime they face next: an impossible murder...

• First appearance in bookstores in half a century!
• Erle Stanley Gardner remains one of the most popular American authors of all time
• Features a new cover painting by legendary paperback and movie poster illustrator Robert McGinnis

"The best-selling author of the century...a master storyteller."

— New York Times

"Among his many other virtues, Erle Stanley Gardner is surely the finest constructor of hyper-intricate puzzles in evidence..."

— Anthony Boucher, New York Times Book Review

"An ingenious story."

— Kirkus Reviews