Customer Reviews

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason: A Cece Caruso Mystery

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The publisher must not have advertised this book AT ALL -- I found it purely by accident -- but it is a wonderful first mystery in the "screwball" mode. In fact, I read a great many of these, and this is one of the best -- entertaining without being too strained. As other reviewers have noted, the plot involves writer Cece Caruso, writing a biography of Erle Stanley Gardner and suffering writer's block. Reading old correspondence leads her to a convicted murderer who asked for Gardner's help decades ago and who is still in jail. Cece decides to solve the crime.

Following this plot obviously involves considerable suspension of disbelief, but the story moves along at a good clip with entertaining episodes and all the right ingredients -- an old mystery, a locked box, wacky best friend, and so forth. I highly recommend it.

This book deserves considerably more attention than it's received. The author needs to get going with some publicity! Her book is a natural for PR hooks.

Cece Caruso, writing about her hero Erle Stanley Gardner, stumbles across a case unsolved by the Court of Last Resort. A man has been accused of murder and it doesn't take look for Cece -- and we the readers -- to realize he's innocent. He's got the oldest alibi in the world and the oldest reason to keep it quiet.

Author Susan Kandel lovingly recreates contemporary as well as old Southern California. The heroine herself is a period piece, dressing in vintage clothing and balancing family obligations, crime-solving and deadlines.

Kandel sometimes slows down the action a little too much as she describes characters and sets scenes. I found myself skipping over some paragraphs. I wanted to say, "Let's get on with it," but I didn't want to put the book down and I genuinely cared how the ending would turn out. Along the way it was fun to read about Erle Stanley Gardner, and I might go back and read a few of his books.

Kandel, through her heroine, encourages us to think of Gardner's themes, such as the role of women in Gardner's books. Perry Mason attracted beautiful female clients. He had a magnificent super-secretary Della Street, who sometimes played a role in crime-solving herself. And I absolutely adored the economy-size Bertha Cool, created in an era when thin was the only way to be. In future volumes, I hope Kandel gives us more of this kind of background.

This book definitely deserves to be higher-ranking on amazon and I hope the publishers take heed! This is an author who could move to best-seller status, given the opportunity.

This book is wonderful! I found in really hard to put down once I started reading it. Really different with a fresh new approach
and extremely well written.

This is a book Erle Stanley Gardner would have liked. If you are a Gardner mystery fan, or a Perry Mason fan, this book is for you! Buy this book!

Terrific work and a great new character in Cece Caruso! One thing for sure that is not a mystery: we will be hearing much more from Susan Kandel and Cece Caruso in the future.

John Anthony Miller
phantom@phantoms.com

Ventura, CA
"Birthplace of Perry Mason"

What a treat!

Quirky, amusing, refreshing, imaginative, I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON mirrors debut author Susan Kandel's lead character, biographer Cece Caruso.

I normally don't care for first person narrative, but Cece is the perfect vehicle for spinning this engaging romp through California's colorful past and present. Under Ms. Kandel's skillful pen, Cece deftly maneuvers readers through a maze of off-beat characters and adventures-or misadventures as is often the case with this character.

While researching a biography of Erle Stanley Gardner, Cece stumbles onto a past murder mystery and into a present day murder. These two murders may or may not be connected. Investigating the murders, Cece uncovers all sorts of unsavory secrets while juggling personal problems on the home front and rekindling a romance with police detective, Peter Gambino.

With a thing for vintage clothes and Perry Mason, Cece is an interesting blend of whimsy and brains. Ms. Kandel did a great job with Cece's character. The heart and soul of this story, even Cece's ramblings, are entertaining.

It's no mystery I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON is the first in a series of Cece Caruso mysteries. I can't wait to read more Cece escapades. I can't wait to learn more of Gambino.

If you like mysteries with a dash of romance, I highly recommend Cece's first adventure.

Debbie Jett, reviewer
romancereaderatheart.com

Whether or not you're an Erle Stanley Gardner or Perry Mason fan, most mystery addicts are bound to enjoy "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason." Fast paced and breezy, and with some rather witty and snappy dialogue, the novel was a pure joy to read.

Cece Caruso has suddenly developed a writer's bloc: with only a few chapters of her new biography of Erle Stanley Gardner written, she suddenly has no idea as to how to go on. And so she hits upon the notion of looking into Gardner's Court of Last Resorts heartbreak cases. For a while, Gardner had undertaken to represent "hopeless" cases, provided the plaintiffs were neither rich nor middle-class. One case in particular catches Cece's interest: that of Joseph Albacco, Jr. Albacco had been tried and convicted of killing his wife, Jean, in 1957; and he had written a very polite yet poignant letter begging for Gardner's help. The letter had been misfiled, and from the looks of things, Gardner had not taken on the case. Curious, Cece goes to the prison that Albacco is serving time in to hear his side of things. According to Albacco, he is innocent of his wife's murder, and the crime had never really been investigated properly because the police had lost all interest in the case once they zeroed in on him as the prime suspect. Albacco also claims to have had an alibi for the time that he wife was killed, an alibi he is still reluctant to use as it would destroy another's reputation. Intrigued and moved, Cece finds herself promising to investigate, and soon finds herself neck deep in a forty-seven year old murder investigation, playing both the roles of Perry Mason and Paul Drake! A game that soon becomes quite dangerous when she realizes that there is someone who would do anything to keep her from discovering the truth...

I was hooked from the very first page! I enjoyed Susan Kandel's breezy style of writing and her snappy dialogue; and I enjoyed all the biographical bits about Erle Stanley Gardner -- the urge to go out and borrow several Perry Mason novels as well as watch the TV series grew with every page. And while it's true that the ending is a bit rushed and sudden, this truly wasn't that bad a detraction. Especially since book flowed smoothly and seamlessly, and at a rather brisk pace. "I Married Perry Mason" was a fantastic first novel and read, and one that I cannot recommend highly enough. Definitely a good book to take on holiday for a nice unwinding session.

This book had all the elements I look for in a light read. The main character has a style all her own (even though most of her vintage clothing is borrowed), the story is implausible but good, and the author has done some fascinating research to bring alive the ghost of Earle Stanley Gardner, author of the original "Perry Mason" series of books.
Ms. Kandel weaves the crazy story of a convicted murderer whose innocence she is forced (by guilt via the prison Priest) to prove around the details of Gardner's life and the well-described surroundings of West Hollywood and Northern California. A true sign of success...the book makes you want to visit the places described within...and also to pick up some old Perry Mason novels to find out just what was up between the famous detective and his loyal secretary, Della Street.
A superb first novel.

I highly recommend this book. The main character CeCe Caruso is a funny orginal character. Loved the way the author incorporated her love of vintage clothes, fashion, Hollywood, and the great California settings into the quintessential California novel. Looking forward to another by the same author.

Biographer Cece Caruso is stuck in her planned biography of Erle Stanley Gardner--the creator of Perry Mason. When she comes across a misfiled letter a prison inmate sent to Gardner, she thinks this might be a key to unlocking a part of his personality. But when she meets the convicted murderer, she wonders if Gardner made a mistake--because she can't believe that Joe Albacco really is guilty of the crime he's spent most of his life in jail for. On the urgings of the pison priest, Cece sets of to discover the truth--and finds herself pursued by a mysterious black SUV and confronting murder far more recent than the one that took place half a century ago.

Cece flitters back and forth between the Los Angeles of today and the southern California of the early twentieth century when oil discoveries made some people billions, when Erle Stanley Gardner was writing his thrillers, and when Hollywood set the stage for fashion. Cece frequently wears vintage costumes, fitting herself more into the world of the past than that of the present. But in this case, the past is striking back with a vengence because someone still holds onto a secret--one that just may be worth one more murder.

Author Susan Kandel creates a sympathetic and motivated heroine in Cece Caruso. While she's not investingating long-ago murders, she's delaying her writing by trying to save her daughter's wedding, trying to decide whether to pursue an interest in the glamorous Burnett or the sexy but practical Detective Gambino, or shopping for first edition Perry Mason or a Coco Channel outfit. Kandel brings in plenty of parallels to the Perry Mason style of investigation (including occasional disregard for the law in the hunt for the truth) and does it all with a sexy female-empowered attitude.

There's a lot to like in this cute short mystery.

This is a cute read. It's not overly dramatic or brain draining. It's just fun. If you hail from the 60's, you'll love the references to clothing styles and Perry's type of detecting. The primary focus is a mystery that possibly surrounds work done by Earle Stanley Gardner in his legal, pre-writer days. While fictional, the author does a nice job of spanning the decades while providing some mystery and fun.

Cece Caruso is hard at work on her biography of Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner when she finds a mis-filed letter. It's a plea from Joseph Albacco who claims to have been falsely sentenced for murdering his wife on their first anniversary. Facing a serious case of writer's block, Cece decides to investigate. Even though it's been almost 50 years, she begins to pick up a few leads. And the more she learns, the more convinced she is that the wrong person has been in jail all these years. Finding another body only spurs her on and ups the stakes.

Even though I'm a huge mystery fan, I'm really not familiar with Perry Mason or his creator. But the title of the book caught my attention, and I just had to read it. As the title promises, it's an enjoyable book. The mystery was very well done. I wasn't sure what was going on until the end. The pacing was a little slow, with the sub-plots taking on too much prominence early on. And Cece's love of vintage clothes was also a bit of a distraction, at least to this male reader. Cece herself is a great character with flaws I recognized right off the bat. I do have a complaint with the dialog. The author has a habit of using quick back and forth with nothing to identify who says what. I found myself getting lost along the way and having to reread a scene to make sure I knew what was being said. A few tags sprinkled into the book would have helped greatly.

Over all, this was an enjoyable book that I'm glad I read. I'm looking forward to Cece's next case.