Customer Reviews

Perry Mason: Seven Complete Mysteries

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Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) wrote some one hundred novels over the course of his long career. He was at the height of his powers during the late 1950s, and this collection offers seven of his best works featuring Los Angeles attorney Perry Mason. Writing in a dialogue-heavy, almost staccato style that calls to mind the likes of Hammett, Gardner leads the reader through complexities of the law with considerable skill--and if these tales are genre-fiction pure and simple, they are nonetheless enjoyable for that.

THE CASE OF THE GLAMOROUS GHOST (1955) finds Mason entangled with a young woman who claims memory loss, and her dead boyfriend is one of the the things she can't quite recall. In THE CASE OF THE TERRIFIED TYPIST (1956) Mason requires an office temp--who suddenly disappears from the job and may be implicated in both robbery and murder.

In THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LOSER (1957) Mason is asked to observe a trail by a mysterious client and finds himself more involved in the court case than he expected. THE CASE OF THE SCREAMING WOMAN finds Mason called upon to play marriage counselor when a skeptical woman demands that he get to the bottom of her husband's wild story.

THE CASE OF THE LONG-LEGGED MODELS (1957) finds Mason representing a casino heiress who is being strong armed to sell. In THE CASE OF THE FOOT-LOOSE DOLL (1958) a lovelorn woman claims to have committed insurance fraud, and in THE CASE OF THE WAYLAID WOLF (1959) an office worker's refusal of a young man's advances has unexpected consequences to say the least.

The novels include the supporting characters so much beloved--or loathed--by Gardner's fans: the witty and efficient secretary Della Street; the hard nosed detective Paul Drake; and, of course, such 'for the prosecution' figures as Police Lt. Trask and the urbane but none-to-swift attorney Hamilton Burger. Police processes and in some instances laws have changed in the half-century Gardner wrote these tales, but they are still good fun, fast and entertaining reads from the first page to the last. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Perry Mason Seven Famous Novels

These seven novels were originally published between 1955 and 1959 when Gardner was at his prime. They take place in 1950s Los Angeles California, an area where Erle Stanley Gardner lived and worked. Gardner never put dates in his novels to keep them from being dated. But after the devaluation of the dollar from 1971 on many of the dollar figures are long out of date. There were other changes in law and culture as well. Gardner was a trial attorney himself, and his experiences were not unlike that of Perry Mason. His novels economize on characterization, using dialogue to keep the story moving. Few of the people tell the whole truth to Mason. His job is to compare testimony to the facts gathered by his private investigator. Mason's clients are usually "middle class" or better; few clients have messy lives or cases. The stories involve some technical or scientific facts, and show some point of law.

Erle Stanley Gardner was the founder of the "Court of Last Resort" which sought to free many unjustly convicted persons. Gardner, among others, sought to use scientific means to find the guilty, rather than using hunches or guesses alone. Mason's clients are always not guilty, because few would buy a book where a defense lawyer let the guilty go free. An important lesson for the reader is to think about the facts, and not jump to a conclusion based on newspaper reports. These seven novels are often educational, like some novels of Dashiell Hammett, in teaching about the tricks of undercover detectives. You'll learn about a "roper", rough or smooth shadows, etc. and be able to identify the undercover operatives that you may encounter in your life.

Gardner's stories warned of the dangers of invalid eyewitness identification, drawing the wrong conclusions from circumstantial evidence (guilt by inference), or prematurely accusing a suspect before all the evidence was gathered and evaluated. Some stories made the point that while ballistics can identify the gun that fired a bullet it cannot tell when it was fired (before or after the crime). "Perry Mason" advised his clients to never lie to the police, it was better to say nothing except call for a lawyer. There is a famous true crime that has the above elements. Sacco & Vanzetti were convicted of robbery and murder in spite of their alibis and the lack of guilty evidence. Most believe they were innocent and were convicted as part of the political repression of the 1920s

* The Case of the Glamorous Ghost. A young woman was found in a park at night, nearly nude. She seems to be an amnesia victim. When her missing boyfriend is found dead she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Terrified Typist. A skilled typist shows up for work, then disappears. This typist matches a suspect in a burglary. Perry Mason's client is convicted of murder, but this is overturned on a technicality.
* The Case of the Lucky Loser. A young man is on trial for a hit-and-run. The investigation brings out hidden facts. Why did his step-mother and a company official testify against him?
* The Case of the Screaming Woman. A wife calls to have her husband's story checked. He had picked up a hitchhiker and taken her to a motel. After a nearby doctor was killed, the man is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Long-Legged Models. A young lady inherited shares in a Las Vegas casino. A man is pressuring her to sell out. When the man is murdered, the young lady is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll. A woman runs away and assumes a new identity. But an investigator ties the new identity to a past crime. When the investigator is killed, she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Waylaid Wolf. A woman can't start her car, and is given a ride by her employer's son. She resists his advances, then runs off. When this man is found dead she is charged with murder.

If you are a Perry Mason fan, buy this volume now or check it out from your library. This 821 page collection of novels from 1955-59 will keep you entertained with non-stop action. Note: The publisher used a font that is smaller in size than some aging eyes might prefer and the line spacing is a bit tight.

Erle Stanley Gardner was a man of energy with an amazing work ethic who became the most read mystery writer in the world. At age 32, Gardner, a practicing attorney, began writing fiction for the pulps for a very minimal amount per word. His output was in the range of a one million words per year - a stunning level by any measure. By the time he started writing the Perry Mason novels, he had the right systems and support staff to allow an incredible output. Gardner published his first novel at age 44 and he still managed to author 82 novels featuring Perry Mason. Plus other works!

Gardner dictated his prose, and that in part explains his preference for dialogue over description, action over analysis. Gardner's novels emphasize physical movement - running from one place to another, full-throttle car trips, chartered airplane flights.

Gardner's clients in each of these seven stories are innocent, but usually do not reveal the full truth to Perry Mason. The highlight of each novel is in the courtroom, where Perry Mason with flamboyance and audacity not only proves his client innocent, but also reveals the identity of the real murderer. Mason's novels are plot driven, and the plots grab your attention - even though there is seldom an immediate danger to either the client or Mason. In each of the plots, plausibility and consistency are quite good. The crimes and their solutions hold up well to scrutiny.

Buy and read this volume if you enjoy classic American entertainment. Part of Gardner's incredible popularity was that he never added the extensive descriptions that most readers skip in detective novels. Gardner's novels have tight plots, snappy dialog and an abundance of action.

If your only exposure to Perry Mason was from the television show, you are in for much more rapid and exciting entertainment than you could possibly expect. Each of these novels is a quick and fun read. I also recommend that you explore some of the earlier writings of Gardner, where the testosterone and energy are even stronger. You might also enjoy the insightful biography of Gardner, The Case Of The Real Perry Mason, authored by mystery writer and critic Dorothy B. Hughes.

The novels written as A.A. Fair: Under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, he wrote 24 novels featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. These are delightfully light entertainment, and have more repartee between the main characters (undersized detective Donald Lam and his overweight boss, Bertha Cool) and a bit more descriptive text than was Gardner's style in the Mason novels. The irreverent Lam might remind some of Craig Rice's John J. Malone, but Gardner's plots are always better constructed than Rice's. If you have enjoyed the Perry Mason tales, the you might find delight in the adventures of Cool and Lam.

I've enjoyed Perry Mason mysteries since I was a school kid, and I enjoy them even more now at 53 years of age. The reason is that in my experience, Perry Mason mysteries are what I call "fair" mysteries. That is, the reader gets all the clues at the same time the characters in the book do. Although it sometimes happened on the TV show, in the books Mason doesn't pull any last minute rabbits out of his hat. When you hear the explanation of the crime, if you haven't already got it for yourself, you'll slap yourself on the forehead wondering why you didn't'! LOL

This volume has seven mysteries in it. Perry Mason mysteries are very evenly written. I've enjoyed every one I've ever read. Occasionally I think one is a cut above the rest, but for a mystery reader, you have nothing to worry about. Erle Stanley Gardner and other early 20th century writers like Agatha Christie wrote mysteries that made sense. The facts fit, and the events make sense. Some of our recent mystery writers don't often meet that standard, leading to disappointing conclusions.

Of course, the Perry Mason books led to a long running TV series that did a marvelous job of re-creating the atmosphere of the books. If you've seen many episodes of the TV series at all, you'll have a hard time reading the books without visualizing Raymond Burr and the rest of the cast as you read.

The lifestyles depicted in these books hold up well. For the most part, you could envision them happening today. The one exception might be the morals in the books. They reflect the more restrained attitudes of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. A few situations that were scandalous then are commonplace today. Yet this in no way detracts from the book. It is a bit refreshing to find yourself transported back to a time when behaviour was a little more pure, life a bit less complicated, and society a little more polite.

Read and enjoy.

Here's a swag of entertaining detective stories without crudity and in which the detective actually solves the clues instead of stumbling by accident into the murderer, in the modern style ... this is what reading ought to be.

I wish I could more easily locate all of these cerebral thrillers: Best courtroom scenes, intelligent plots, characterizations, and dialogue....and always a credible twist !

Dear Amazon. I ordered this book on the 4th July 2011. It is now the 5 of August and I still have not received the product. Please check and advise. Thanks, J.A.B.