The Case of the Phantom Fortune

I first heard of Perry Mason from an episode of Boston Legal (I think Denny was saying he always wanted to do a dramatic court scene a la PM) and only knew it as a tv series. So it was a treat to find out it's actually a book series and a double treat to find that it's such a perfect dose of basically-plotted detective-court-thriller with flair.

This was my first Mason / Gardner, and already there is a comfort in its familiarity. Gardner is like a very considerate host who you meet for the first time. He dispenses with the necessary formalities as fast as he can and expertly regales you with lighthearted, entertaining gossips that gets your eyebrows raised and you incredulously going, what, no way, and then what?

The 72nd Perry Mason novel is a bit unusual - the first body does not show up until you are in the second half of the book - in most books we are at the trial stage by that point. Which does not mean that there are no crimes before that.

A man comes to the lawyer's office to hire him to protect his wife from something that sounds suspiciously as blackmail. But as usual, there are a lot of stipulations and weirdness in the whole case - and despite that, Perry Mason takes the case. Before the story is done, the original blackmail starts feeling like the first movement in a 4 hours symphony - except that it turns out that we walked into it in the middle of it so this is nowhere close to the first movement.

As with most books from the show more series, they cannot work today - the forensic science and communications had evolved to a point where almost none of what happened could happen again. But that's why I like the old novels - it is a different pace and allows a different type of storytelling - in a way these can be considered historical novels (although I am pretty sure that historical novels readers may disagree).

At the center of this one is a woman (as usual) who seems to have one too many secrets. Of course, if she had bothered to talk to her husband, she may have realized that not only he knows about her past but he knew before he married her. But this would have been too easy. So instead everyone is drawn into a mess of a case which will leave one man dead, an old crime solved and the past revealed - albeit not to the public. Somewhere in there, Mason almost manages to get both his client and himself in a big trouble (pulling tricks is fine when you know the whole story, when you do not, you tend to make things worse). Hamilton Burger tries to debar Mason again, Lt. Tragg saves the day as usual (or better to say - he messes up, then does his job and it ends up revealing the truth which ends up solving everything - again, as usual) and at the end everything turns out to be a bit different from what anyone thought before - including Mason turning the tables on Burger not just on the murder - if the very end of the novel does not make you laugh, you had not been paying attention.

I am enjoying this series ever since I started reading the novels 4 years ago (that's my 74th) and I am used to the somewhat repetitious style of Gardner when Mason talks to his clients (and during the trials) - his characters will repeat some of the information over and over when needed. But even for that style, the beginning of this novel is unusually repetitious. It smooths out after the first few chapters and I can understand why Gardner had to write it this way but if you are not used to the style, it will be even more grating.

As a whole, a solid entry in the series despite not being the strongest and all my misgivings around that start. show less

This was my first Perry Mason novel, grabbed on a lark as it was cheap, and... I didn't actually know he started as books! I had fond memories of watching the show when Mom had it on, though, so it seemed as good a reason as any to dive in.

It was fun watching as Perry tried to stay on top of everyone and everything going on around him in this case - protecting his clients and himself. I had a key chunk of the mystery pegged somewhere in the middle, but the reveal didn't come to the end, so there was a bit of nail-biting "am I right?" going on.

Enjoyable read - some typos in this edition detracted from the flow. I'd say 3.5 but rounding up because of character love.

The Case of the Phantom Fortune (1964) (P. Mason #73) by Erle Stanley Gardner. Possible blackmail is the main factor in this book. Horace Warren, a rich business man, wants Perry to protect his wife from a suspected villain. The bad guy is fresh out of prison and had been sent there for a crime involving $47,000, His secretary who was also tried but found not guilty, is now Warren;s wife. She told him early on not to inquire about her past, and as he loved her, agreed not to look.
Now she has a suitcase with $47,000 in it and he goes to see Mason because, as a loving husband, he needed to know what was behind the contents of the bag.
Like all the Mason stories, this is fast paced omitting almost everything that does not compel the story show more onward. The great cast is all present on both sides of the case, Paul Drake is still eating greasy hamburgers (you’d think he would order something else off the menu by now) and Della Street gets to strut her stuff when she has Mason escort her to a private dinner at the Warrens.
The courtroom is as lively as ever, it being one of the consistent scenes throughout the series. There is nothing to dislike in this book, and the mystery that surrounds Gideon, the villain, plays out smoothly with Mason solving another crime against his client.
Very satisfying, but the reading goes too quickly. Luckily I have a trove of editions from throughout Mr. Gardner’s career to fall back on.
And as a side note this book, like so many of his, is dedicated to a person who is at the top of the Forensic sciences, this time from Japan named Shigeo Osgata., A very nice thing he did to honor the people who dedicated their lives for the good of justice. show less

As with most Perry Mason books by Gardner, the story opens quickly, moves at an even faster pace and ends almost abruptly. In this novel Perry is hired to find who may be blackmailing a successful businessman's wife, without letting the woman know that anyone else knows she is being blackmailed. This backfires on Perry as he ends up defending the businessman for murder of the blackmailer. Of course Perry comes close to breaking the law with his methods, and in a standard courtroom scene he cleverly outwits the District Attorney and this reader as well. Gardner is consistant throughout his career and this book is no exception. it was very enjoyable but not his best.

Nice comfortable read. Not dated outside my lifetime but the technology of the world fifty years ago might bother a few people who live on their cell phones. Interesting plot and smoothly paced.

Perry Mason gets blackmailed in this one, but the blackmailer is murdered before Perry can deal with him himself. Not the best Perry Mason, but it was enjoyable.