The case of the buried clock [Hardcover]

Erle Stanley Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1943

After catching his son-in-law embezzling, wealthy banker Vincent Blane is shocked when the younger man is murdered and Blane's daughter is accused, prompting him to call in Perry Mason for her defense. Reissue.

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

I started reading Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason mysteries over thirty years ago, long before I ever imagined that I would be working in New York publishing -- and specifically for the longtime paperback reprinter of Mr. Gardner. Like so many other people my age, I also grew up with the Perry Mason television series starring Raymond Burr. And Raymond Burr has always been (and always will be) in my mind's eye as I read the novels. Considering how popular the legal thriller genre became with Grisham, Turow, et al., I guess we owe Erle Stanley Gardner (also a lawyer-turned-novelist) a debt of gratitude for starting the franchise so many years ago. (THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS was Perry Mason's debut, back in 1933.) Mr. Gardner died in 1970, and Raymond Burr in 1993; but in the novels (now recently reissued in colorful vintage packages by Ballantine), Perry Mason lives!

--Joe Blades, Associate Publisher --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: W. Morrow (1943)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0006APYZK
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,438,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Mystery from the Master, November 14, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: The Case of the Buried Clock (Mass Market Paperback)

This story is set not in Perry Mason's urban California, but in the rural hills where author Gardner loved to live. No dates are mentioned, but the presence of a wounded soldier says WW II. Tire rationing is mentioned, plus the implications of owning two new tires. Doctors made house calls. Vincent Blane, store owner and banker, has two daughters. One is married to Jake Hardisty, the other is seeing Harley Raymond, a Purple Heart winner. We find out that Jack Hardisty has stolen a huge sum of money from his father-in-law's bank. Adele Blane and Harley are at the cabin when Jack arrives; they leave. When Harley returns, he later finds Jack's body in a bedroom. No murder weapon, or money. Other people are brought into this story, neighbors who could be suspects. The police are called and begin their investigation. Perry Mason is hired to defend Millicent, Jack's widow, who had been seen near the cabin and has no alibi. Her .38 revolver was found near the cabin. Was it the murder weapon?

When the trial begins, the autopsy surgeon testifies that scopolamine was found in Jake's body. It is used as a "truth serum". The estimated time of death was between 7:30pm and 10:00pm. Can the age of a person be determined from a "spectacle lens"? Were the other people who were around at the time of the murder just innocently passing by? Finding two revolvers complicates the case, as well as the buried alarm clock. But Perry Mason figures out what really happened. A negative in a camera is not definitive proof, unless you can be sure when it was taken. The trial is adjourned, and Millicent is not convicted. Can an alarm clock do more than tell time?

5.0 out of 5 stars Mason's case was almost hopeless, April 28, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Clinard "Jeffrey" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Buried Clock (Mass Market Paperback)

The buried clock was 25 minutes slow... or was it 35 minutes fast? Mason's explanation of the time difference was that it was keeping sidereal, or star time, which gains 4 minutes a day. He played it up big in the newspapers
to create a juristication battle between two counties, but the clock disappeared, the juristication was settled, and Mason's client went on trial for the murder of her embezzling husband.

The circumstantial evidence was tight, and Mason's only hope was to try and introduce the clock, once again found buried and set on sidereal time. However, there was no legal doctrine he could find to introduce it into evidence... until Mason realized he'd walked into his own baited trap.