The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife

The Half-Wakened Wife is one of the better Perry Mason stories I’ve read over the years, and is from that period in the 1950s when Gardner's series was at its zenith. It has some particularly nice moments between Perry and Della that make it memorable. While the caveat of Gardner’s dialog, sometimes......more

This is a fairly typical Perry Mason novel from not quite a third of the way into the series. It's as convoluted as most, but certainly enjoyable. The story begins when a widow named Jane Keller attempts to sell an island that she owns in a river somewhere near Los Angeles. Poor Jane is being taken......more

One of the best mysteries I’ve read in a long while. Gardner is excellent at setting up the story, introducing characters and red herrings while keeping the suspense level high. I doubt anyone writes courtroom drama and depositions as well as he does. The tension he invokes in these scenes is marvel......more

Perry Mason books are fun to read because even after reading around 75 books, you are not sure you can detect a pattern. This book is one such with deceptive red herrings. The defendant literally runs into Perry Mason in a night gown carrying a revolver after midnight on a luxury yacht just after a s......more

I love it when Gardner kicks off his latest case by getting deep down into the legal weeds of whether deferred drilling payments can be cured at the very last minute before the property is sold by the widow title holder or not. I know what he is referring to is very much a California property issue,......more