Murder! That’s usually what brings our three books’ heroes into action, be it a lawyer who is looking out for a client, an investigator who seems to always be smarter than the criminals themselves, or even another attorney who uses the law to his own advantage — in other words, three authors I really enjoy, with two series creations that never disappoint.
MURDER IN THE FAMILY WAY by Carter Brown — The fastest reading I ever do has to be Carter Brown books. Even people who don’t like to read could plow through one of these before you can say THE DA VINCI CODE. Our hero for this 1971 tale is young lawyer Randy Roberts, who by chance is at an accident scene where a driver was killed by running their car off a cliff. The driver also happens to be a client of Roberts’ by the name of Birrel — not just any Birrel, but the Birrel matriarch herself who was loaded and had a very strange clause in her will.
See, all three of Mother Birrel’s daughters need to get married and have a child before they can touch her money, making them prisoners of some sort in the home where they still live. So as Roberts arrives at the Birrel home, he is met by indifference and contempt from some. He thinks the cause o the “accident” was probably one of the family who had enough of waiting, but which daughter?
There is Ruth, who seems to be the one in charge, married to a man named Aldo who can’t wait to collect on the money. Now they just have to get started on having a kid. Or is it Hannah, who likes to push the buttons of Aldo and Ruth? Or is it Rhoda, the black sheep who is locked up in the home after looking for a man to satisfy her needs, no matter the age?
Roberts comes off like a playboy Perry Mason, who is mentioned a few times in the story by Roberts himself. Brown knows his audience well enough, peppering the book with plenty of titillating sex — nothing too graphic, but for its time, it might have made a few blush. The story is pure fun — nothing to really tax the reader — and the reveal is clever enough that you won’t be able to figure it out until Brown lets the guard down, which is exactly why I keep coming back to the McDonald’s of paperback writers. So much fun going down, but soon forgotten about as the day progresses.
HALFWAY HOUSE by Ellery Queen — The title has nothing to deal with convicts getting out of jail, but the location of a murder being the halfway point between two women. Those women happen to have both been married to the victim at the same time. For the time this was written — 1936 — that was probably a huge scandal to be involved in a bigamist relationship.
Victim Joe Wilson — killed by knife thrust — was discovered by his brother-in-law: none other than Ellery Queen, who after receiving a frantic call, rushes to the scene to investigate. The only clues provided are a woman wearing a veil while driving a car and six burnt paper matches left on a plate. It’s not until the police turn up that Joe’s double life is exposed. Not only did he have a wife in Philadelphia, but one in New York City — hence the title to this novel, which is also the last to have what is called “the Queen Challenge,” where all the clues are laid out for the reader to figure out.
The book actually tells you by a certain page that you should have figured it out. I figured out the main clue, which gave away the murderer, but not the reason why. This is also the novel where the Queen stories moved away from the intricate puzzles used in the previous nine, relying more on characters than some bizarre gimmick for Queen to figure out.
What really pleased me was that in the courtroom scenes, I felt as though these passages might have been influenced by a certain other mystery writer who had a court motif for the bulk of his writing. Any Ellery Queen book will keep readers guessing throughout, with Queen himself baiting a trap early on, since his suspicions are never wrong. Even though the books might seem a bit dated to new readers, I’ll say this: You really have to be on top of your mystery game to figure them out, which is why I’ll keep going back to them every once in a while, to see if I can match wits with the best of the best.
THE CASE OF THE WAYLAID WOLF by Erle Stanley Gardner — Closing out the column of murder is Perry Mason. Gardner fans know the formula by now of how a Mason book goes. Nothing new here in this 1959 one, where Mason is contacted by Arlene Ferris, who fought off her aggressive boss the night before when he wanted something more for the money he pays her — hence the title.
The wolf of the case is soon to be a dead wolf, with all evidence pointed at Arlene while she is meeting Mason with a case to bring her boss to justice. As soon as Mason gets word that his new client is a prime suspect, he uses all his powers to throw off the scent and delay the police activity until he finds out the truth. One thing that comes in favor for Mason is that his client and her best friend who got her the job could be passed off as sisters, which he uses in the sense of confusing witnesses as to what they really saw at the scene.
Of course, the police are nipping at his heels before it all goes to trial, which is where Mason works that magic oh so well in this series, trying to prove that it could not have been his client, even with all the evidence they have against her. Gardner throws the reader to a few conclusions before it’s all said and done, with some perfect misdirection, just like his creation uses so well.
Perry Mason books are some of the easiest finds for readers to pick up, since there are not only all the paperbacks, but countless collections with at least three to four stories, too. They make perfect reading for those who can’t wait for the next LAW & ORDER episode to come on TV, since like the show, there are plenty of twists along the way.
Next time: more magazine mania! —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF CARTER BROWN:
• AND THE UNDEAD SING by Carter Brown
• BLONDE ON A BROOMSTICK by Carter Brown
• THE CLOWN by Carter Brown
• THE DESIRED by Carter Brown
• THE EVER-LOVING BLUES by Carter Brown
• THE HONG KONG CAPER by Carter Brown
• THE LADY IS TRANSPARENT by Carter Brown
• MURDER IS A PACKAGE DEAL by Carter Brown
• THE NEVER-WAS GIRL by Carter Brown
• THE WANTON by Carter Brown
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ERLE STANLEY GARDNER:
• BATS FLY AT DUSK by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE BIGGER THEY COME by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE CASE OF THE HESITANT HOSTESS by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE CASEBOOK OF SIDNEY ZOOM by Erle Stanley Gardner
• CROWS CAN’T COUNT by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE DANGER ZONE AND OTHER STORIES by Erle Stanley Gardner
• GOLD COMES IN BRICKS by Erle Stanley Gardner
• PERRY MASON SOLVES THE CASE OF THE PHANTOM FORTUNE by Erle Stanley Gardner
• SOME SLIPS DON’T SHOW by Erle Stanley Gardner
• SOME WOMEN WON’T WAIT by Erle Stanley Gardner
• TRY ANYTHING ONCE by Erle Stanley Gardner
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ELLERY QUEEN:
• COP OUT by Ellery Queen
• THE COPPER FRAME by Ellery Queen
• DON’T FEAR THE REAPER by Ellery Queen
• THE DRAGON’S TEETH / CALAMITY TOWN by Ellery Queen
• ELLERY QUEEN’S MURDER — IN SPADES! edited by Ellery Queen
• THE FOUR OF HEARTS by Ellery Queen
• THE ORIGIN OF EVIL by Ellery Queen
• A ROOM TO DIE IN by Ellery Queen
• THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY by Ellery Queen
• WHO KILLED THE GOLDEN GOOSE by Ellery Queen
