A tale of two sisters, family fortune, and murder: “Millions of Americans never seem to tire of Gardner’s thrillers” (The New York Times). Beautiful Sylvia Bain Atwood is overseeing her ailing father’s estate while her sister serves as his caregiver. But their father’s fortune has shadowy roots—and now one of his creditors is blackmailing the family. When the situation escalates to murder, … situation escalates to murder, defense lawyer Perry Mason will have his hands full in this mystery in Edgar Award–winning author Erle Stanley Gardner’s classic, long-running series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany.
DON’T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER’S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS
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With Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner introduced to American letters the notion of the lawyer as a hero—and detective—which were remarkable innovations. He even gave defense lawyers a good name to boot. His Mason books remain tantalizing on every page and brilliant.
Enjoy Perry Mason’s author (Earl Stanley Gardner) and characters are interesting and plot twisted usually. Cannot always figure out the “criminal”.
Perry Mason mysteries are pretty formulaic, but that’s what makes them fun to read. You know the characters, the settings, the supporting cast of arch-types, etc. What makes them intriguing is the fine mesh of clues which ultimately reveal the murderer and the legal minutiae that Perry uses to his advantage to protect his client. Perry bends the law just to the breaking point, but not beyond it. This is all to say that there’s nothing unusual about this novel from all the others, but it’s very enjoyable.
I enjoy Perry Mason stories.
If you’ve watched Perry Mason on TV, you will find the clever thinking of the famed counselor. A wonderful throwback read.
A good book fir a rainy afternoon.
I am. Perry Mason fan from way back and I also like the film noir aspect of novels located in LA in the 40s-50s. A great escape for me and this novel does not disappoint. Perry is called in to help a family being blackmailed by purported illegal activity by the family patriarch- but is that a valid conversation on that tape? Of the several grown children in this family who stands to benefit if old dad dies before his name can be cleared? All the Mason family is here- Paul Drake, Della Street, and Inspector Tragg. If you are a PM fan, this novel is for you!
Perry Mason has become an iconic character who symbolizes the sharpest of legal minds. Erle Stanley Gardner wrote scintillating dialogues that were knife’s edge sharp, splitting a word’s meaning down to its most basic. In a courtroom battle, Perry Mason dominated as lawyers with less sharp minds tried to hold their ground. In this novel, Gardner added in Mrs. Sylvia Atwood, a manipulator of the first order. Other characters were clearly honest or duplicitous, but it was hard to tell whether Sylvia was spinning another tale. I’d never read a Perry Mason novel before, and I was delighted by the craftsmanship of this book.
It’s Perry Mason. What could be better?
This is a fun and nostalgia book. Takes me back to my teenage days when I would faithfully watch Perry Mason on TV. I could visualize each character from TV to each character in the story. I really enjoyed the very easy reading.
Love Perry Mason books.
I Very much enjoyed the book. The plot moves along quickly with continuous dialogue between the characters. I will definitely read another Perry Mason book.
enjoyed
Loved the book! Just like Perry Mason on TV. I had not read Perry Mason books before but will look for them in the future.
Erle Stanley Gardner keeps the reader enrapt with his weaving of a tale.
I liked it. I didn’t guess who did it. That’s a good mystery.