The Case of the Lucky Legs by Erle Stanley Gardner (1951)

Perry Mason enters a beauty-pageant murder

Fair Condition – heavy cover, spine and edge wear visible. Pages tanning. 

Frank Patton travels through small California towns promoting beauty contests, promising winning young women cash and film opportunities before disappearing with the money. When Marjorie Clune becomes his latest “Lucky Legs” winner, her admirer asks Perry Mason to bring the confidence man to justice. But Patton is soon found stabbed to death, and Marjorie’s anger, opportunity and connection to the victim make her a prime suspect. Mason, Della Street and investigator Paul Drake must untangle a web of disappointed contestants, jealous lovers and carefully arranged lies before the police close their case. The third Perry Mason mystery is a brisk, hard-boiled puzzle in which Gardner’s resourceful lawyer takes risks inside and outside the courtroom to expose a killer hidden among a crowd of victims.