The Case of the Drowning Duck [Mass Market Paperback]

Erle Stanley Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 1993

Wealthy John L. Witherspoon hires Perry Mason to delve into a twenty-year-old murder case in order to prove that the young man Witherspoon's daughter intends to marry has homicidal impulses in his genes. Reprint.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (December 4, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345378687
• ISBN-13: 978-0345378682
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,203,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loaded with Emotional Dynamite, March 5, 2003

By 

APRICOT "ryoko" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Drowning Duck (Mass Market Paperback)

Wealthy Witherspoon's only daughter is engaged to Marvin Adams, a son of a man convicted and executed as a murderer. Witherspoon asks Mason to investigate whether Marvin's father was really a murderer. However, in Witherspoon's mind, Marvin is already a potential killer, and he strongly inclines to pull them apart by any means. The young lovers are sensitive and nervous. And a blackmailer is hanging around...

The strained beginning attracts me, the situation which Mason describes as "loaded with emotional dynamite". Very well-plotted mystery entangled with past and present murders, and the development is unpredictable. It's a pity that the climax is not so dramatic.

One thing that interests me besides the story; Mason says that arrogant Witherspoon should get jolted and adds that the whole Americans also should get jolted because they take it for granted that they are the strongest in the World. It is a little surprising that such a statement was written in 1942 when the America was fighting the World War II. I wonder how American people feel if they read such a statement NOW.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious Froth, December 15, 1999

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Case of the Drowning Duck (Mass Market Paperback)

I love Perry Mason books. Mason is a little bit fast and a little bit dangerous and always on the edge of making a risque and witty joke that the slightly cynical Della Street would be sure to get-- even though the clients he defends wouldn't. The Case of the Drowning Duck has all the elements that make Gardner books great. Even if it's not exceptional, it surely is enjoyable.

5.0 out of 5 stars With three murders to resolve, Mason has a lot of loose ends to sew together, May 28, 2010

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Case of the Drowning Duck (Mass Market Paperback)

Nearly twenty years ago, the father of Marvin Adams was convicted of murder and executed. Now, Marvin is in love with the headstrong Lois Witherspoon and it appears that an engagement is near. However, Lois' father John Witherspoon does not want his daughter to marry the son of a murderer. John contacts Perry Mason and asks him to revisit the murder case to determine if Marvin's father was indeed guilty of the crime. This event is but the first in a series of actions that take Perry and secretary Della Street down many paths of adventure.
The old murder suddenly is thrust into the background as two more people are murdered with John being the prime suspect for one and Marvin the prime suspect for the other. As usual, Mason is in the thick of it all, playing fast and loose with the situation and evidence as he tries to solve three murders. Of course, Mason eventually ties the entire tapestry together into a cohesive unit, unmasking the guilty parties for all three deaths, including a fourth that was part of the overall plot but had been considered an accidental death.
An unusual plot device used by Gardner in this story is that he does not unmask the guilty in the courtroom but in the judge's chamber while discussing the case with the judge and the prosecutor. There is a large number of unknowns that must be explained and Mason goes through them all, making the case against the guilty. I must confess that my prime suspects turned out to be innocent, so I was completely fooled by the distracters planted by Gardner. This is one of the better Perry Mason stories.