February 2016 Mobile Read Book Club Special Run-Off Vote
Since this month's vote resulted in a tie, we are having a Special Run-Off Vote between the two leading candidates. I will not vote in this poll unless my vote is needed to break a tie. This poll will be open for 3 days, and all MobileRead members are invited to participate. We will start the discussion thread for this book on February 20th. Please select from the following two Choices:
From Goodreads:
California lawyer Perry Mason takes client Eva, hated as "all velvet and claws" by his secretary Della Street. Her husband George Belter is behind tabloid editor Locke, blackmail of Congressman Harrison Burke at bungled robbery with Eva, and takes bullet to the heart after bath. Forged will benefits nephew Carl, engaged to secretive housekeeper Veitch's daughter.
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.
From Amazon:
Brat Farrar has been carefully coached to assume the identity of Patrick Ashby, heir to the Ashby fortune who disappeared when he was 13. Just when it seems that Brat will pull off the deception, he discovers the truth about Patrick's disappearance, a dark secret that threatens to tear apart the family and jeopardize Brat's carefully laid plans. Called "the best of its kind" by the New Yorker, Josephine Tey's classic is a tale of unrelenting suspense and tension.
From New Statesman:
“Josephine Tey enjoys a category to herself, as a virtuoso in the spurious . . . the nature of the deception on this occasion is too good to give away.”
WT Sharpe
01-28-2016 12:54 PM
As a bonus, if the Velvet Claws wins, I'll share my all-time favorite Perry Mason Get-Out-of-Disbarment-Proceedings-Free card with you.
CRussel
01-28-2016 12:55 PM
Oooh, tempting Tom. But the Josephine Tey is just too good to pass up. (Though I expect to read both of these this month, regardless. But not until AFTER I read the new Ava Lee book that just hit the Canadian stores.)
Mims
01-28-2016 06:12 PM
Just for the record - I got Brat Farrar legally from one of my Overdrive libraries (OCLS) and will quickly read and return if it wins.
Dazrin
01-28-2016 08:31 PM
I can't decide and may choose not to vote since I am fairly sure I will be happy with either but I am having fun looking into these.
Erle Stanley Gardner is another author whose bibliography is huge. I knew he wrote a lot of Perry Mason books but I didn't know how many.
For all of us who have enjoyed the Kate Shugak series, Dana Stabenow says we need to thank Josephine Tey for that.
CRussel
01-28-2016 08:44 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dazrin
(Post 3248624)
For all of us who have enjoyed the Kate Shugak series, Dana Stabenow says we need to thank Josephine Tey for that.
Thanks for the link - I didn't know that. (And yes, I love the Shugak books. I even like the Liam Campbell books.)
CRussel
01-29-2016 03:49 PM
Come on, folks. Give Perry Mason some love. Tom can't vote unless there's a tie, so you need to make that happen. :)
(And yes, I already voted for the Josephine Tey, but really, I'm fine with either.)
WT Sharpe
01-30-2016 12:19 AM
Mason's getting swamped! :(
CRussel
01-30-2016 02:28 AM
Hey, I'm trying! Seriously folks, They're both really good books. And the Josephine Tey is actually more expensive than the Perry Mason unless you're in a Life+50 country. (Good news is, they're both short.)
WT Sharpe
01-30-2016 10:37 AM
My, how the mighty have fallen. He was once proclaimed the most popular author in the world. Now he can't even win a book club vote. It just isn't a a fair.
issybird
01-30-2016 10:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
(Post 3249552)
It just isn't a a fair.
Nope, it's not cool.
treadlightly
01-30-2016 01:25 PM
I loved The Daughter of Time and Kate Shugak, and I'm in a Life+50 country, so Brat Farrar was a shoo-in for my vote.
WT Sharpe
01-31-2016 12:28 PM
I think we should extend the voting another three days, since the final was so close, but that's me! :D
Ok, ok! We have a winner: Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.
Happy sleuthing!
CRussel
01-31-2016 01:13 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
(Post 3250146)
I think we should extend the voting another three days, since the final was so close, but that's me! :D
Ok, ok! We have a winner: Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.
Happy sleuthing!
Well, I'm still going to read both, so your nomination was not in vain. :)
GA Russell
01-31-2016 08:23 PM
Tom, I may read the next Perry Mason because I read Velvet Claws many years ago.
Fantastic Fiction says the next one was Sulky Girl.
