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Doug Selby #4
The D.A. Goes to Trial
A homeless man's corpse sends a California D.A. down a twisted path in this classic hard-boiled mystery from the author of the Perry Mason series.
"The bestselling author of the century . . . a master storyteller." —The New York Times
District Attorney Doug Selby's latest trouble begins when the battered corpse of a vagabond is found near the railroad in Madison County. The coroner suspects he was struck by a train. Searching the dead man's wallet, they discover he had a wealthy brother in Phoenix. But who was the dead man? And how did he make it to the train tracks. . . ?
Meanwhile, a neighboring city needs Doug's help. A bookkeeper named John Burke has vanished, potentially with funds stolen from his employer. Burke's neighbors report seeing a drifter in the alley near their house. And when Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon speak to Burke's employer, they discover Burke wired him from Phoenix . . .
Selby thinks he has found two threads that will tie together neatly in a bow, but the more he investigates, the more he is left in knots.
Originally published in 1940.
"The bestselling author of the century . . . a master storyteller." —The New York Times
District Attorney Doug Selby's latest trouble begins when the battered corpse of a vagabond is found near the railroad in Madison County. The coroner suspects he was struck by a train. Searching the dead man's wallet, they discover he had a wealthy brother in Phoenix. But who was the dead man? And how did he make it to the train tracks. . . ?
Meanwhile, a neighboring city needs Doug's help. A bookkeeper named John Burke has vanished, potentially with funds stolen from his employer. Burke's neighbors report seeing a drifter in the alley near their house. And when Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon speak to Burke's employer, they discover Burke wired him from Phoenix . . .
Selby thinks he has found two threads that will tie together neatly in a bow, but the more he investigates, the more he is left in knots.
Originally published in 1940.
- GenresMystery
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1940
About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,431 books837 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 18, 2017
#4 in the Doug Selby series. Author Gardner's D.A. Doug Selby is the flip side of his more famous Perry Mason. Here the D.A. rather than the defense attorney is the protagonist, but Selby is a good guy and will work with the sheriff and the press to discover the bad guy rather than prosecute a possible innocent. An enjoyable read showing life in 1940.
The case started with a corpse. Nobody knew who he was. Next, a man named John Burke disappeared. But D.A. Doug Selby could not find his body. Then Mrs Burke swore that the corpse and her missing husband were one and the same man. This should have solved both mysteries. All it did was run the D.A. up two different trees. Sure, the faces of the dead man and John Burke were exactly the same. The only trouble was that their fingerprints were different!
The case started with a corpse. Nobody knew who he was. Next, a man named John Burke disappeared. But D.A. Doug Selby could not find his body. Then Mrs Burke swore that the corpse and her missing husband were one and the same man. This should have solved both mysteries. All it did was run the D.A. up two different trees. Sure, the faces of the dead man and John Burke were exactly the same. The only trouble was that their fingerprints were different!
August 12, 2016
This is crazily complicated story, and so its not easy to weave all the threads in place, I'll give you that. However there is a chance to do that towards the end. I personally managed it two pages before Selby does purely based on the narrative structure, but then even Selby gets a brainwave when he solves it, which is unfair for the readers (they should get the clues), so we're even. :)
I will not give the story here, I don't think a review is a place for that, you can read it in the book's brief above. I have read the entire Perry Mason series, loved its courtroom drama, so when I learnt about the Doug Selby series, I thought it would be interesting to see the story from the point of view of the other side lawyer. See, basically all these stories are whodunits, so looking it from the prosecution's side, the murderer has to be determined before the start of the trial. So I wondered how Gardner would manage that. I even thought that the Selby stories will be in two parts, first half whodunit (finding out the perpetrator and catching them) and the other howdunit (the trail). So from that perspective the first three books disappointed me a bit on that fact as they did not have much courtroom drama, first two books had not courtroom scenes at all! And so when the title said The D.A. Goes to Trial, I was excited. But boy how wrong I was!
I liked the way he built the story, instead of two part narrative, it was whodunit all the way! How Selby is forced to go to trial, how the question of the victim's identity is kept hung, how he is continuously kept on back-foot no matter what he do. It was very interesting. But alas, this book too did not have much courtroom drama!
I also think Inez is going the wrong way to earn Selby's respect. The way she's going, it might loose whatever respect he has for her!
Now I'll come to the part that I did not like about this book at all.
I always found all of the ESG's stories emotionally satisfying. No matter how conflicting the interest of various characters appear in the story, if we emotionally feel that they deserve something, the end will be managed in such a way that no matter how impossible it may seem, they will get whatever we feel they deserve. People will reconcile, money will go to the one who deserve it, people fall in love, their names not only get clear of any mud, but it gets shining. And above all, the protagonist will get all the glory! Now here's where the problem comes in this series, at least so far. In all the first four books, Selby get extremely critisized, thrashed by the Blade and the other opponents. Gardner would spend couple of pages, often more on which opponent does what, and how it affects the public sentiment and how Selby and his friends feel about it and what they have to go through because of it. But in the end, this is not balanced. In the end, we just get a paragraph or two on what Clarion published, thats all! Look how you feel about this paragraph itself, I could write so manywords sentences on the critisism part and then about only ten words on the praise part. In fact, the first book does worse, it says that public was left perplexed because of the conflicting stories by Blade & Clarion, they dont feel better about Selby or think Blade are idiots, but perplexed!
Now look at this book, this page has one chapter on the critisism part. Not one or two pages, but an entire chapter where Selby and Brandon are bullied by Sam Roper and his stooge Worthington and the grand jury, and they (Selby & Brandon) dont even come out victories too! But in the end does he get his revenge? No! All we get is one line on how Sylvia was making a political history. No description on how. Does Roper and Worthington come out as not-worth-a-ton? Do we find out whether public realise what a bunch of fool they and and the grand jury are because of the wrongful indictment? Do they get disgraced for interfering with D.A. and Sheriff's work and not listening to them? Does Blade's subscription decrease? Does Clarion become the NO.1 newspaper? Does Selby's reputation increase, does he shines in the light of glory? NO!!!
At least Perry Mason get a fat paycheck, if nothing else, but not Doug Selby!
So, all in all its a good murder mystery, even if its not emotionally satisfying. Its definitely most recommended to all the Gardner fans.
I will not give the story here, I don't think a review is a place for that, you can read it in the book's brief above. I have read the entire Perry Mason series, loved its courtroom drama, so when I learnt about the Doug Selby series, I thought it would be interesting to see the story from the point of view of the other side lawyer. See, basically all these stories are whodunits, so looking it from the prosecution's side, the murderer has to be determined before the start of the trial. So I wondered how Gardner would manage that. I even thought that the Selby stories will be in two parts, first half whodunit (finding out the perpetrator and catching them) and the other howdunit (the trail). So from that perspective the first three books disappointed me a bit on that fact as they did not have much courtroom drama, first two books had not courtroom scenes at all! And so when the title said The D.A. Goes to Trial, I was excited. But boy how wrong I was!
I liked the way he built the story, instead of two part narrative, it was whodunit all the way! How Selby is forced to go to trial, how the question of the victim's identity is kept hung, how he is continuously kept on back-foot no matter what he do. It was very interesting. But alas, this book too did not have much courtroom drama!
I also think Inez is going the wrong way to earn Selby's respect. The way she's going, it might loose whatever respect he has for her!
Now I'll come to the part that I did not like about this book at all.
I always found all of the ESG's stories emotionally satisfying. No matter how conflicting the interest of various characters appear in the story, if we emotionally feel that they deserve something, the end will be managed in such a way that no matter how impossible it may seem, they will get whatever we feel they deserve. People will reconcile, money will go to the one who deserve it, people fall in love, their names not only get clear of any mud, but it gets shining. And above all, the protagonist will get all the glory! Now here's where the problem comes in this series, at least so far. In all the first four books, Selby get extremely critisized, thrashed by the Blade and the other opponents. Gardner would spend couple of pages, often more on which opponent does what, and how it affects the public sentiment and how Selby and his friends feel about it and what they have to go through because of it. But in the end, this is not balanced. In the end, we just get a paragraph or two on what Clarion published, thats all! Look how you feel about this paragraph itself, I could write so many
Now look at this book, this page has one chapter on the critisism part. Not one or two pages, but an entire chapter where Selby and Brandon are bullied by Sam Roper and his stooge Worthington and the grand jury, and they (Selby & Brandon) dont even come out victories too! But in the end does he get his revenge? No! All we get is one line on how Sylvia was making a political history. No description on how. Does Roper and Worthington come out as not-worth-a-ton? Do we find out whether public realise what a bunch of fool they and and the grand jury are because of the wrongful indictment? Do they get disgraced for interfering with D.A. and Sheriff's work and not listening to them? Does Blade's subscription decrease? Does Clarion become the NO.1 newspaper? Does Selby's reputation increase, does he shines in the light of glory? NO!!!
At least Perry Mason get a fat paycheck, if nothing else, but not Doug Selby!
So, all in all its a good murder mystery, even if its not emotionally satisfying. Its definitely most recommended to all the Gardner fans.
October 13, 2020
A hobo's corpse is found and his billfold contains an "in case of accident notify" card which asks to notify his brother. The brother requests that the body be cremated. However, the "brother" is not real and discordant clues continue.
January 5, 2016
I love the Doug Selby novels. This didn't disappoint. ESG writes him full of unflinching integrity but not without his doubts. I totally didn't see that climax coming and I really enjoyed the end.
March 2, 2020
One night, outside Madison City, a hobo is struck by a train and killed. It appears accidental. However, a number of odd aspects soon come to light. The hobo isn't really a hobo, and his wife is found with her first husband.
Major characters:
Mark Crandall, bank director who witnessed an odd event
John Burke, a.k.a. Allison Brown, an accountant
Thelma Burke, his wife
George Lawler, head of Los Alidas Lumber Company
James Lacey, Arizona rancher
Oliver Bennell, a greasy bank president
Doug Selby, D.A.
Sheriff Rex Baldwin Chief of Police
Jed "Buck" Reilly, deputy sheriff in Tucson, Arizona
Sylvia Martin, crime reporter for The Clarion
Inez Stapleton, Selby's old girlfriend, now an attorney
Locale: Madison City, California and Tucson, Arizona
Synopsis: One night, outside Madison City, a hobo is struck by a train and killed. It appears accidental. However, a number of odd aspects soon come to light.
Bank director Mark Crandall approaches D.A. Doug Selby with a concern. He had recommended John Burke for employment as accountant at the Los Alidas Lumber Company. Then he saw him meeting with a broker, but going by the name of Allison Brown. Suspicious of financial wrongdoings, he asks Selby to investigate. The problem is there has been no crime - so nothing to investigate.
Meanwhile, it comes to light the dead hobo was seen earlier at the home of John Burke, getting cozy with Burke's wife, Thelma. Selby finds auditors at work at the lumber company, but bank president George Lawler brushes that off as routine and claims nothing is wrong.
The coroner fingerprints the hobo's body as part of routine identification. He contacts the hobo's brother, Horatio Perne, who requests an immediate cremation. This is done, the ashes sent to the brother, but they are returned as undeliverable. It appears the cremation may have been ordered to delay identification, but Selby has the fingerprints.
Selby and reporter Sylvia Martin fly to Tucson to find Thelma Burke has run off with Arizona rancher James Lacey, who was her first husband. Some have identified the dead hobo as her curren husband, John, but some are absolutely certain it is not him.
There are lots of suspicious circumstances, but still Selby finds no crime. Then George Lawler is found shot in his bank vault, the vault looted. Now there is a crime.
With a tentative identification of the dead hobo as John Burke, Lacey and Thelma are arrested on a murder charge. They retain attorney Inez Stapleton, Selby's rebuffed former girlfriend, so now they are legal adversaries as well.
Review: I have always enjoyed Gardner's writings about the desert - both in fiction and nonfiction. This story has a lot of action taking place at an Arizona ranch in the desert, and the descriptions of the ranch house and the desert itself are a treat. It is obvious ESG is quite familiar with a desert environment.
The chain of events leading to the two murders turns out to be quite complex, and after a certain point I cease trying to follow it all in my head and just take the writer's word for it. There are a lot of events, but really no red herrings. Everything, no matter how trivial, is all tied together at the end.
Not only does this story present a lot of loose threads, there is also the tension between Selby, Inez Stapleton (the former girlfriend, now defense attorney), and current flame Sylvia Martin. There are a lot of dagger-stares between the two women.
The usual ESG court scene is surprisingly brief.
Major characters:
Mark Crandall, bank director who witnessed an odd event
John Burke, a.k.a. Allison Brown, an accountant
Thelma Burke, his wife
George Lawler, head of Los Alidas Lumber Company
James Lacey, Arizona rancher
Oliver Bennell, a greasy bank president
Doug Selby, D.A.
Sheriff Rex Baldwin Chief of Police
Jed "Buck" Reilly, deputy sheriff in Tucson, Arizona
Sylvia Martin, crime reporter for The Clarion
Inez Stapleton, Selby's old girlfriend, now an attorney
Locale: Madison City, California and Tucson, Arizona
Synopsis: One night, outside Madison City, a hobo is struck by a train and killed. It appears accidental. However, a number of odd aspects soon come to light.
Bank director Mark Crandall approaches D.A. Doug Selby with a concern. He had recommended John Burke for employment as accountant at the Los Alidas Lumber Company. Then he saw him meeting with a broker, but going by the name of Allison Brown. Suspicious of financial wrongdoings, he asks Selby to investigate. The problem is there has been no crime - so nothing to investigate.
Meanwhile, it comes to light the dead hobo was seen earlier at the home of John Burke, getting cozy with Burke's wife, Thelma. Selby finds auditors at work at the lumber company, but bank president George Lawler brushes that off as routine and claims nothing is wrong.
The coroner fingerprints the hobo's body as part of routine identification. He contacts the hobo's brother, Horatio Perne, who requests an immediate cremation. This is done, the ashes sent to the brother, but they are returned as undeliverable. It appears the cremation may have been ordered to delay identification, but Selby has the fingerprints.
Selby and reporter Sylvia Martin fly to Tucson to find Thelma Burke has run off with Arizona rancher James Lacey, who was her first husband. Some have identified the dead hobo as her curren husband, John, but some are absolutely certain it is not him.
There are lots of suspicious circumstances, but still Selby finds no crime. Then George Lawler is found shot in his bank vault, the vault looted. Now there is a crime.
With a tentative identification of the dead hobo as John Burke, Lacey and Thelma are arrested on a murder charge. They retain attorney Inez Stapleton, Selby's rebuffed former girlfriend, so now they are legal adversaries as well.
Review: I have always enjoyed Gardner's writings about the desert - both in fiction and nonfiction. This story has a lot of action taking place at an Arizona ranch in the desert, and the descriptions of the ranch house and the desert itself are a treat. It is obvious ESG is quite familiar with a desert environment.
The chain of events leading to the two murders turns out to be quite complex, and after a certain point I cease trying to follow it all in my head and just take the writer's word for it. There are a lot of events, but really no red herrings. Everything, no matter how trivial, is all tied together at the end.
Not only does this story present a lot of loose threads, there is also the tension between Selby, Inez Stapleton (the former girlfriend, now defense attorney), and current flame Sylvia Martin. There are a lot of dagger-stares between the two women.
The usual ESG court scene is surprisingly brief.
July 31, 2024
Madison City'ye bağlı Las Alidas'ta yaşayan iş adamı Crandall, Selby'ye gelir ve ondan bir talepte bulunur. Zamanında işe alınmasına yardım ettiği John Burke adında bir adamı başka bir şehirde Allison olarak tanıtıldığını görmüştür. Evini aradığı zaman da eşi hasta olduğunu söylemiştir. Bu konuyu araştırmasını ister. Evine Rex Brandon ile gidince komşu, kadının evden ayrıldığını söyler. Bu arada tren yolunda bir ceset bulunmuş, üzerinde bir kimlik çıkmış, abisi cesedin yakılmasını istemiştir. Bob Terry parmak izlerini alıp, Perkins otopsi yaptıktan sonra ceset yakılır ama abi sahte çıkar. Inez Stapleton da hukuk eğitimini bitirip avukat olmuştur. Sam Roper savcılıktan alınmasını hala hazmedemez. Slyvia Martin ve Brandon ile James Lacey yanına giden Selby, Burke'ün karısının o evde olduğunu öğrenir. Bu ikisi ortadan kaybolur ve Inez avukatları olur. Parmak izleri Burke evindeki izler ile uyuşmaz. Davalık olacaktır. Ölenin Burke olup olmadığı belli değildir. Bazısı Burke Der bazısı da değildi Der. Mahkemede şahitler konuşur. Inez fena olmayan bir savunma yapar. Bu arada Allison iken takıldığı bir kızın ve bir gece görevlisinin ifadelerini alan Selby'nin içine bu durum sinmez. Bayan Burke ve James evlenmiştir. Ortada kayıp binlerce dolar para vardır. Parmak izleri uyuşmaz. Crandall da gelip ekstra bilgiler verir olayla ilgili ve sigara içerler beraber. Selby bu olayı çözebilecek midir? Katil kimdir? James'in suçsuz olma ihtimali var mıdır? Bir sigara paketi neleri değiştirecektir? Inez Selby ile ne konuşacaktır? Roper ve bir jüri üyesinin olayı çözemezsen istifa edeceğini düşman Blade gazetesinde yazdırması nasıl etki oluşturacaktır? Keyifle okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 18, 2026In “The D.A. Goes to Trial,” Gardner reminds us that real life is messy and things often don’t necessarily make sense. Yet, when presented with a set of odd facts concerning a “hobo” found dead in a ditch, Madison City District Attorney keeps plodding on, assured that he will eventually get to the bottom of it. Here, his legal nemesis is not Old ABC, but the seductive Inez Stapleton, now a member of the Bar, determined to show Selby that he could no longer ignore her.
Fingerprints are a major issue in the case, particularly when the hobo’s body is claimed by his fictional rich brother and cremated. This leaves Selby with a puzzle as to how the dead man’s prints got in certain places. Thus, Gardner both demonstrates the magic of latent print identification and its limitations.
A bookkeeper is found to have embezzled but now has disappeared. He appears to have a secret identity in Los Angeles and his wife and child have fled. The bank itself is robbed. All these facts continue to circle around Selby who isn’t really sure who was killed and keeps trying to get a handle on he identification before bringing anything to the grand jury.
This is one of the more confusing and complex novels in Gardner’s Doug Selby series.
Fingerprints are a major issue in the case, particularly when the hobo’s body is claimed by his fictional rich brother and cremated. This leaves Selby with a puzzle as to how the dead man’s prints got in certain places. Thus, Gardner both demonstrates the magic of latent print identification and its limitations.
A bookkeeper is found to have embezzled but now has disappeared. He appears to have a secret identity in Los Angeles and his wife and child have fled. The bank itself is robbed. All these facts continue to circle around Selby who isn’t really sure who was killed and keeps trying to get a handle on he identification before bringing anything to the grand jury.
This is one of the more confusing and complex novels in Gardner’s Doug Selby series.
August 24, 2025
These stories are entertaining. This story was entertaining from beginning to end. Mr. Gardner allows us to see the US through the eyes of 1941. In this story, modern finger printing is introduced. Those eighty one readers who want to read this story go now and get the book.
January 22, 2023
Fun, but too convluaated.
June 21, 2026
One of the best by E. S. Gardner
The complications and characterizations in this text are amazing. I had no idea of the real criminal until the very last chapter.
The complications and characterizations in this text are amazing. I had no idea of the real criminal until the very last chapter.
June 3, 2014
Erle Stanley Gardner's stories are addicting - the type of classic early 20th century detective fiction which your mind's eye naturally envisions as a black and white movie. Can't wait for more!
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