Case of the Sulky Girl [Hardcover]

Erle Stanley Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1972

Forced by her uncle's will to choose between matrimony and money, Frances Celane hires Perry Mason to help her marry and inherit, but when the uncle's body turns up, Frances becomes a murder suspect. (Mystery).

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Imprint unknown; New edition edition (November 30, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0854682422
• ISBN-13: 978-0854682423
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best, February 16, 2011

By 

Michele - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perry Mason and the Case of the Sulky Girl: A Radio Dramatization (Perry Mason Series) (Audio CD)

Love this! This is a very exciting CD set. Colonial Radio Theater does a great job with this story. I have read Perry Mason stories for years and Perry is just like the book...Sorry Paymond Burr! CRT never disappoints. All the dramatizations from Colonial Radio Theater are the best-you can listen to them many, many times If I could I would rate this 10 stars!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Searching for Truth Among the Facts, October 27, 2005

By 

Acute Observer (N. Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

A young woman visits Perry Mason to inquire about a will; this will probably result in a court trial. Fran Celane's father's will would disinherit her if she married before age 27. Her uncle was the trustee; but if he died Fran would inherit everything. The secret is that Fran got married, and could lose a fortune when this was revealed. Mason rides with Fran to their country home, and talks with her uncle, Edward Norton. Uncle Edward is obstinate in preventing Fran from getting her inheritance. "Great riches, with the wrong temperament, frequently lead to great suffering."

In Chapter V Perry gets a call from Fran late at night; her Uncle Edward has just been murdered! Norton's business partner had just left the house when Don Graves looked back and saw someone hit Norton; just a glance out of the rear window of a car. They turned back and found the body. As in other stories, people reveal their character through their statements. Chapter X provides an example of how a criminal lawyer could sell out his client for the right price. Paul Drake explains how private detectives use a "rough shadow" (Chapter XII). Chapter XIV tells how the police can lock up a material witness to prevent testimony to a defense attorney! Chapter XVI explains how news photographs are made. Chapter XVII tells how statements made right after the murder "disappeared". "The way to get to the bottom of a murder is to ... find the real explanation of that fact." Chapter XVIII tells how a prisoner can be manipulated into telling a false and incriminating confession! The trial of Fran and Rob starts in Chapter XIX. Chapter XXIII tells how newspapers reports are made for publicity. Chapter XXV explains the significance of having the spectators watching the defendants. Once again, Perry Mason vindicates his clients. Chapter XXVI tells of his successful attempt to raise a doubt in the mind of a key witness. Fran's unpleasant experience was educational and moral; it helped cure her temper. Mason was able to theoretically reconstruct the murder and solve the crime. [I suspected this conclusion in Chapter V, because of an eyewitness who had no corroboration for what was a self-serving statement.]

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 1st Perry Mason case, February 28, 2003

By 

Michael Dea (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Sulky Girl (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first Perry Mason story written by Erle Stanley Gardner, published in 1933. This is the first and only Perry Mason story I have read. I've heard that the tone of these earlier works are a little 'tougher' than the stories written in the following decades. The first half of the book certainly follows the hard-boiled tradition, as Mason acts a more like a private dick than a lawyer. But a lawyer he is, and the second half settles into a court-room drama. What does Perry Mason have up his sleeve that will rescue a young lady and her new husband from charges of murdering her uncle to ensure her inheritance?

An enjoyable, light read, although Gardner's writing is a little pedestrian and the build-up to the court case is a little long, with the trial itself resolved a little perfunctorily.