The Case of the Velvet Claws

I didn't grow up watching Perry Mason, so this is my first introduction to the character. At first glance, I'm surprised that the main character is a lawyer since he comes across more like a classically noir private detective. He also plays very fast and loose with the truth to get his evidence. The edition I read came with a disclaimer about outdated but authentic to the times views on race and gender, and that is certainly the case. Enjoyable for what it is, and I will read a few more to see if my opinion of Mason improves with more exposure.

I have read very many of Gardner's Perry Mason series of novels (apparently there are some 87 in total), but having stumbled over this title, I was very interested to read it as it is the very first in the series.

Velvet Claws does not present a fully formed Perry Mason, but he is very much recognisable to those familiar with the series. Compared to later books, he is perhaps a little more willing to become physical and to take sharp legal points in providing solutions for his client. Whether that is deliberate on Gardner's part in showing how an 'early' Mason matured over time is unclear. I know some critics would say that subtlety would be beyond Gardner's skill set but perhaps Gardner/Mason realised that Mason would be runout of show more business as a lawyer if he continued in that vein, and thus reined him in in future adventures.

In this adventure, Mason takes on a client who has found herself in a situation where she wishes Mason to pay off a scandal sheet, to avoid trouble with here domineering husband as well as preventing trouble for a politician soon running for office.

The husband later dies, having taken a bullet in circumstances where not only his client but the politician, the client's step son (the husband's adult son) and Mason himself are also suspects.

We meet for the first time Della Street, Mason's efficient and world wise private secretary and private investigator Paul Drake. Both are clearly recognisable, though Della seems a little younger than expected and Paul's character is the less developed of the two.

A fine debut in my view.

There are many who regard the Perry Mason as low brow, indeed pulp fiction. My father was one who despite saying he was a reader in his early days, told me I was wasting my time when I told him I had taken up reading the series.

I accept that these are not exemplars of high literature but as a palate cleanser and a fun read they attract, even nearly 100 years after the first in the series being first published, a large and devoted readership of which I have no qualms being one.

Big Ship

5 May 2026 show less

Usually first novels take some time to build the characters and the relationships; to introduce the dynamics. Gardner somehow manages to pull off his first Mason novel without needing it. The story just starts, backgrounds get revealed when needed and the story just happen.

Meet Eva. A married woman that ends up in a bad place at a bad time - with a married man (whom she is not married to) in a semi-public place when a crime happens. Her companion is a politician and finding him there, especially with Eva would have been a disaster (it is the 30s after all - reading from the 21st century, it shows just how much society had moved on). So his (and her name) are suppressed but as at least one person knows, it will never stay a secret. Add show more a yellow newspaper and things start getting ugly. Especially when the husband of Eva shows up and then dies - and one of his companies ends up being one of the main problems - an ownership noone knew about.

Perry Mason tries to help our damsel in distress - and gets himself accused of the murder. Then things turn to the worse.

And just when you do not see how things may get resolved, a few surprises and a few explanations are provided and Mason wins the case. You know he will - I am not sure if there is any of those books that do not have him winning - but for a while there, I really could not see how exactly.

It is a nicely constructed novel - despite some of the oddities. And especially for a first novel, it is well worth a read, even 8 decades later. show less

With the renewed interest in Perry Mason due to the reimagined current TV series and my childhood interest in the Raymond Burr TV show which aired from 1957 through 1966, which I gather is very different than its current counterpart, I decided I needed to go back to its origin, the first Perry Mason book by Erle Stanley Gardner, published in 1933. I've been hesitant to watch the new series because of my steadfast love of the old. However, both seem to have their roots in the books. The new series takes place in 1933 similar to the book while the old TV show has Burr as a lawyer, not a private investigator. Hopefully the new and the old can live side by side.

Anyway, onto the book. An expensively dressed woman walks into Perry Mason's show more office and Della Street, his secretary and not so secret admirer, warns him she's trouble. It seems that married Eva Griffith was out on the town with up for election politician Harrison Burke and a murder occurred at the nightclub they were at. It would be political suicide if this liaison was made public and Eva is afraid that the scandal rag Spicy Bits is going to find out and publish the information. Eva wants Mason to convince them it is not in their best interest to do so.

Always up for a challenge and a big fee, Mason takes the case, against the advice of Della. But as you suspect, Eva is not who she says she is and furthermore it turns out that her husband is the hidden owner of Spicy Bits. When he turns up dead, Eva is a prime suspect.

We all know that Perry will come up with the truth, using whatever devious means he can. The Case of the Velvet Claws is classic Perry Mason and classic 1930s noir. It is not as dark as Hammett or Chandler or some of the other great Black Mask pulp fiction mystery writers (it's almost like a cozy mystery compared with them) put the action and the language put it in the same genre. It was a treat to see Perry, Della and private investigator Paul Drake in action. I haven't read a Perry Mason in a while.

I highly recommend it. show less

I have been gathering up Perry Mason books for years ever since i stumbled across a dozen of them for a dime apiece at a local yard sale.....and i am now actually approaching a complete set with only a few left to find.....but i have never read one!!! So, i figured i'd start at the beginning (which i always do if i can) and see if i even would like these after all of this acquisition effort. And i loved it!! I flew through it. I loved the character of Perry Mason, i loved that he was a lawyer, not a private detective like all of the other gumshoe series-type books. But the book was clever, Perry was clever, Della Street, his assistant, was charming, and the story kept my interest. I did not really have time to read this, but i did in show more record time considering. Thank God! Cuz i've got a ton more to enjoy. Whew..... show less

Perry really manipulates the truth in this one -- a little manufactured evidence here, a little suborning perjury there -- whoa! This book was atypical because rather than skirting legalities as in other books, he actually breaks the law in this one. His client was a devious, manipulative bitch, but it still seemed out of character for Perry to go this far.

Perry Mason & the Treacherous Client
Review of the Della Street Press Kindle eBook (September 17, 2011) of the William Morrow & Company hardcover original (1933)

“People that come to me don’t come to me because they like the looks of my eyes, or the way my office is furnished, or because they’ve known me at a club. They come to me because they need me. They come to me because they want to hire me for what I can do.”
She looked up at him then. “Just what is it that you do, Mr. Mason?” she asked.
He snapped out two words at her. “I fight!”
She nodded vigorously. “That’s exactly what I want you to do for me.”

I recently enjoyed The Case of the Baited Hook (Perry Mason #16, 1940) from a Kindle Deal of the Day and realized show more that I had never previously read the classic lawyer-detective series. I now went back to the very first book to see how the origin story was told. It turned out that The Case of the Velvet Claws wasn't an origin story at all as Perry Mason is already running a law practice with Della Street as his secretary and the Paul Drake Detective Agency as his go-to investigators.

Mason takes on the case of Eva Griffin which begins as an effort to avoid blackmail from a scandal sheet. Della Street takes an immediate dislike to the client and warns Mason off, but Mason perseveres regardless. Street's instinct proves correct as when a murder occurs further into the story, Griffin threatens to report that Mason himself may have been the killer. Despite the treachery of the client, Mason still works to solve the case and save her from a murder accusation and conviction.

On the Berengaria Ease of Solving Scale® this was a fairly easy solve, a 2 out of 10, as the most likely culprit proves to be the villain in the end. That was after all the confusion of the client's apparent involvement had been explained away by Mason.

I'll probably still pick up a few further Perry Masons when I'm looking for a read in a light hard-boiled vein. Gardner is definitely reliable for that. None of the writing approaches the poetic metaphors of Raymond Chandler though, so it isn't quite top drawer.

See dust cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/The_Case_of_the_Velvet_Claws.jpg
The spine and front cover of the original 1933 William Morrow & Company hardcover. Image sourced from Wikipedia by Facsimile Dustjackets LLC — William Morrow & Co. first edition, Fair use, Link.

Soundtrack
The Opening and Closing Themes for the original Perry Mason TV series were composed by Fred Steiner and you can hear them at this YouTube clip. The composition was actually called Park Avenue Beat and you can read about it further at Wikipedia.

Trivia and Links
Make a note about the website of Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC in case you ever have an older plain volume in your home library which you'd like to display on your shelves with the equivalent of its original dust jacket. I've used them in the past so can definitely recommend the high quality of their work. The price is relatively high considering it is only the dust cover and not the book itself, but in the case of a well-loved older volume you likely won't begrudge the price.

The Case of the Velvet Claws was adapted as a movie in 1936 which starred Warren William in his 4th and final appearance as the lawyer/detective. The major change from the novel is that Perry Mason is married to his secretary Della Street. You can see a trailer for the film on YouTube here.

The Case of the Velvet Claws was adapted for television in the original Perry Mason TV series (1957-1966) which starred Raymond Burr as the lawyer/detective. The adaptation was broadcast as Season 6 Episode 22 in 1963. show less