Lester Leith was a character created by Erle Stanley Gardner. Apparently he appeared in a number of short stories/novelettes published from 1929 through 1943. Some of these stories are collected in an anthology called, “The Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith” (1980). I’m trying to find out how to find all of the early Lester Leith stories, which are to the best of my knowledge, long out of print. Any ideas?
A google search got me to this page which lists all(?) of these stories.
Ebay? You might find original magazines for auction in which the stories appeared.
Search under “Lester Leith” or “Erle Stanley Gardner.” Also, might better search under "Earl Stanley Gardner, as many people inadvertantly use that spelling of his first name without knowing better or paying attention.
I’ve never heard of that character. There’s a D. A. character whose name I’ve forgotten who is probably his second-most famous character after Perry Mason.
Sir Rhosis
Lester Leith is a super smart “criminal” whose M.O. is to steal from other crooks and do it while the police are watching, but they can never catch him. He has a butler named Scuttle who is actually an undercover cop, and Leith flaunts his plans by having Scuttle procure all the things he needs for each heist, a strange list of seemingly unrelated things, which then are used to pull the perfect crime. Leith, if memory serves, takes enough to support him in the manner he is accustomed and then gives the rest to various charities. I could be off on that last part, it’s been many years. A friend of mine loves these sorts of stories so it would be a perfect gift for him to find at least a few of these.