The Case of the Phantom Fortune

Rating:
Summary: A quick evening's work
Review: A typical Gardner Perry Mason mystery. The plot is clever, but built just the same way as every other Mason story: A client who doesn't tell all the truth to his attorney; an attractive woman with a secret; an unpleasent fellow who dies; a policeman who merely functions as an example of how not to do police work; a D.A. who is mad at Mason; and a twist that comes out all right for our heroes. It's written with Gardner's typical style, too: He uses words inaccurately ("commenced" for "began" is the one that always annoys me), and has dialogue no one would ever use (Mason always, inevitably, calls his detective "Paul Drake" ~ never "Paul" or "Drake", or even "him" as a real person would). That all being said, i still read Gardner, occasionally. Why? Because he is fun, and an entertaining way to spend an evening. That's all the time he takes (all he took, too, to write each book, i think); all i'm willing to give him. But, for that evening, he's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: A quick evening's work
Review: A typical Gardner Perry Mason mystery. The plot is clever, but built just the same way as every other Mason story: A client who doesn't tell all the truth to his attorney; an attractive woman with a secret; an unpleasent fellow who dies; a policeman who merely functions as an example of how not to do police work; a D.A. who is mad at Mason; and a twist that comes out all right for our heroes. It's written with Gardner's typical style, too: He uses words inaccurately ("commenced" for "began" is the one that always annoys me), and has dialogue no one would ever use (Mason always, inevitably, calls his detective "Paul Drake" ~ never "Paul" or "Drake", or even "him" as a real person would). That all being said, i still read Gardner, occasionally. Why? Because he is fun, and an entertaining way to spend an evening. That's all the time he takes (all he took, too, to write each book, i think); all i'm willing to give him. But, for that evening, he's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Mason hired to Protect a Woman from Herself?
Review: Horace Wallen retained Perry Mason to protect his wife from somebody who was trying to blackmail her. He provided a single clue, a fingerprint. Mason investigates, only to find that Lorna Wallen, the wife of Horace, made the fingerprint in question.

Mason reveals what he knows about the ways to deal with a blackmailer; pay off (never works; the blackmailer always wants more), go to the police (wise in some cases), or kill the SOB. So he gets a police sketch of the blackmailer in question, then pays off to allow him to ditch the shadows of both the feds, and the government.

After the blackmailer ditches his witnesses / alibis, Mason simply has his sketch shown to witnesses of major crimes, and scores a match. When shaken down for a "final payment", Mason just tells him that a police sketch identified him as an attempted killer. The end result- the blackmailer is killed, but Mason's client is picked as the killer.

To win the case, Mason has to find the evidence require to both clear his client... and that of a witness tampering charge. He does both, in his usual manner.

Rating:
Summary: Mason hired to Protect a Woman from Herself?
Review: Horace Wallen retained Perry Mason to protect his wife from somebody who was trying to blackmail her. He provided a single clue, a fingerprint. Mason investigates, only to find that Lorna Wallen, the wife of Horace, made the fingerprint in question.

Mason reveals what he knows about the ways to deal with a blackmailer; pay off (never works; the blackmailer always wants more), go to the police (wise in some cases), or kill the SOB. So he gets a police sketch of the blackmailer in question, then pays off to allow him to ditch the shadows of both the feds, and the government.

After the blackmailer ditches his witnesses / alibis, Mason simply has his sketch shown to witnesses of major crimes, and scores a match. When shaken down for a "final payment", Mason just tells him that a police sketch identified him as an attempted killer. The end result- the blackmailer is killed, but Mason's client is picked as the killer.

To win the case, Mason has to find the evidence require to both clear his client... and that of a witness tampering charge. He does both, in his usual manner.