The Case of the Angry Mourner

The Case of the Angry Mourner (1951) by Erle Stanley Gardner. This is one of the best Perry Mason stories and it is unusual in that the setting is almost exclusively away from the big city. And Perry is on a short vacation.
While resting up from his normal, over-loaded casework, Perry is found in a friend’s small lakeside cabin in Bear Valley, almost three hours north of LA. It is a ski town with lots of traffic in and out, something that will figure later in the story. Perry’s vacation is abused when a woman from a near-by cabin intrudes on his morning with a plea for help.
Just a few hours earlier a man was found murdered in his cabin, also at the lake. The man, Arthur Cushing, was a known playboy and, lets face it, a date rapist show more to some degree or another. He was the son of a rich man who has bought his way into the lakeside community with the hidden agenda of developing the large property into a resort. This alone alone sets the family at odds with the people of the nearby town. That Arthur uses his status and his father’s influence to quell any uproar about his dating “antics” in the past did not have to be highlighted. But now he is dead after a ruined “date”.
Carlotta Adrian was to be his latest victim, but manages to smack him a good belt and escape. But noises from Arthur;s cabin rouse the neighbor who does a quick investigation, He sees Bella Adrian, Carlotta’s mother, in the cabin doing some things.
It is Bella who runs to Mason’s cabin and tells her tale. In quick time Mason and Paul Drake are on the case, trying to straighten out what really happened overnight at Arthur’s cabin.
This book takes Perry away from LA but there is the local sheriff and DA to contend with, as well as the puzzle as to who actually killed Arthur. In all this is a very fine and seemingly uncomplicated murder mystery that finally reveals itself as quite the puzzler. The tactics Mason and Drake use are unusual but fitting. The tactic is so well planned and executed that you can find it cited in a well-known computer science book, or so I am told.
A small cast of characters does not detract from the impossibility of the case or the dire straights Mason finds himself in when he has to face three lawyers that all seem intent on destroying his career.
This was written in 1951 during the acme of Gardner’s writing abilities (it was more of a long, wide plateau than a single point), which spanned a great many years. He continued to write many, many more great mysteries but this book is a true star for its simple complexity. show less

8 stars: Very Good

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Perry Mason mysteries are completely formulaic, you know what you will get each time. I often read them when not feeling well which is precisely what happened in this instance (my first case of COVID!!).

Having said that, this was a particularly good one, that kept me guessing all the way to the end. I can't rate higher than 8 stars because of the formula, but within that ranking...loved this one! Would definitely read again.

Ratastoolis lebas surnuna grotsekselt kokkuvajunud Arthur B. Cushing. Tema siidsärgil oli näha pahaendeline, tumedast ümmargusest august voolav punane nire. Punaseid pritsmeid oli ka põrandal.
Põrandal peegeldas valgust mingi sädelev ümmargune ese. See oli surnud mehe jalgade ees lebav lahtine puudritoos, mille peegel oli purunenud.
Belle Adrian tundis seda puudritoosi, ilma et tal oleks olnud vaja vaadata graveeringut selle kuldsel pinnal.

Despite the misspellings early on in the book (Arthur was sometimes spelled Authur or Author), this was a really good mystery. The conclusion was logical, and the mystery was good... and I just like it when Perry is an ass and wins.

Gardner's Perry Mason is one of the most beloved characters in fiction and on the television screen. Gardner, who was a well known criminal defense attorney in Ventura, California, wrote dozens and dozens of Perry Mason mysteries. How he found time to actually practice law is the mystery, but perhaps once he started, these books wrote themselves. In many ways, Perry Mason follows in the Sherlock Holmes tradition with deductive reasoning being the key.

This mystery has very little action, very little violence, very little romance. Yet, once you start reading it, it is nearly impossible to put down. Gardner was that great a writer. This one starts with a brief description of the murder and what follows is mainly lawyering and deductive show more reasoning with Mason catching the perpetrator in a small lie. Obviously, the description given by the publisher is for a different Perry Mason mystery. This one takes place when Mason is trying to take a few days off in the mountains and finds himself involved in the small mountain town's greatest mystery as a woman, trying to protect her daughter from scandal, ends up in hot water herself with every piece of evidence pointing toward her guilt.

This is a perfect example of the Perry Mason series. They are great reads. Highly recommended.
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formulaic as usual but perhaps partly for that reason, I always enjoy these Perry Mason books.

Probably not one of the best but after all they are all much of a much ness.

Will continue to read them though

bigship

10/11/2013

"All right," Mason said, "you're talking against time. I understand the point you’re making."
"You may know about it," she said, “but you can never understand unless you've been a mother."
"For the sake of the argument," Mason said, "we'll concede that. You're right, and I can never be a mother. So what happened?"