Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
I really like Tom's recent suggestion of an early Perry Mason, but I'll let him choose which one gets nominated.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Which one? It's got to be the first in the series. There is no other unless the first has been read for the group and then it's the second and so on.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
Some series benefit from being read in order; others, it doesn't really matter. I suspect Perry Mason's in the latter category.
|
Did someone say Perry Mason? First of the series?
Quote:
"You'll find that I'm a lawyer who has specialized in trial work, and in a lot of criminal work...I'm a specialist on getting people out of trouble. They come to me when they're in all sorts of trouble, and I work them out...If you look me up through some family lawyer or some corporation lawyer, he'll probably tell you that I'm a shyster. If you look me up through some chap in the District Attorney's office, he'll tell you that I'm a dangerous antagonist but he doesn't know very much about me."
— Perry Mason, The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933).
|
I nominate
The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner.
Goodreads /
Amazon Au /
Amazon Ca /
Amazon UK /
Amazon US
Spoiler:
From Amazon:
Thanks to a bungled robbery at a fancy hotel, the already-married Eva Griffin has been caught in the company of a prominent congressman. To protect the politico, Eva's ready to pay the editor of a sleazy tabloid his hush money. But Perry Mason has other plans. He tracks down the phantom fat cat who secretly runs the blackmailing tabloid — only to discover a shocking scoop. By the time Mason's comely client finally comes clean, her husband has taken a bullet in the heart. Now Perry Mason has two choices: represent the cunning widow in her wrangle for the dead man's money — or take the rap for murder.
From Wikipedia:
The influence of the television series has given the general public the impression that Mason is highly ethical. In the earliest novels, however, Mason was not above skulduggery to win a case. In
The Case of the Counterfeit Eye (1935) he breaks the law several times, including manufacturing false evidence (glass eyes). Mason manipulates evidence and witnesses, resulting in the acquittal of the murderer in
The Case of the Howling Dog (1934).
The Case of the Curious Bride (1934) is
Quote:
… a good Perry Mason except for one great flaw, which the author would scarcely have been guilty of later on: he tampers with the evidence, by having a friend move into an apartment and testify to the state of the doorbells. … One is left with the uncomfortable idea that maybe the murder did not take place as Mason reconstructs it.
— Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime
|
In the later novels, the only crime which he can be seen to commit might be illegal entry, when he and Paul Drake are searching for evidence. And even then, he would expect to put up a strong and effective defense leading to an acquittal. Hamilton Burger is constantly under the impression that Mason has done something illegal, but is never able to prove it.