It’s always sad when a marriage ends in divorce. And it makes me feel no better when the series of marital titles I’ve been covering in the Perry Mason series ends as ignominiously as The Case of the Daring Divorcee.  It’s 1964: Erle Stanley Gardner is 75 years old and has more than seventy Mason mysteries, … Continue reading BAD SPLIT: The Case of the Daring Divorcee

For the past six months, we’ve been looking at Perry Mason mysteries, specifically those with a title that conjures up matrimony – both its pros and cons. One of the highlights for me has been how the seven titles in this mini-series are spread throughout author Erle Stanley Gardner’s career. And now we have hit … Continue reading SHARING IS CARING: The Case of the Bigamous Spouse

The course of true love never did run smooth . . . particularly when the situation burst from the fevered brain of Erle Stanley Gardner. So far, we’ve been on four matrimonial adventures where every bride, groom, husband and wife has had a helluva time. You might start asking yourself if you would be better … Continue reading “OH YOU CAN’T GET A MAN WITH A GUN . . . “: The Case of the Spurious Spinster

Okay, the “mea culpa” is mine. In February, I promised you a series of seven reviews, one a month, of all the Perry Mason titles related to marriage. And here I am, head bared, shamefaced, to tell you that you will not be getting seven reviews. You’re getting eight. Here’s the deal: on the 14th … Continue reading MEA CULPA: The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

If you only associate Perry Mason with the TV series that ran successfully for nine seasons, you could be forgiven for assuming that author Erle Stanley Gardner wrote traditional whodunits with a legal setting – a murder is committed, the wrong person is arrested, and then Mason gathers all the suspects together in court and … Continue reading I DO, I DO – OH NO, YOU DON’T! The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom

“‘The trouble, Mason, is that you find too many bodies.’“Mason said, ‘No. The trouble is that I can’t stay in my office and wait for people to come in and see me the way clients are supposed to. I have to get out on the firing line. When you do that, you circulate around quite … Continue reading ABA-DABA-HONEY-MURDER: The Case of the Haunted Husband

“I’ll never forget the way he kissed me just before he beat it with all of my money.” On a fateful day in 1930, a young woman walked into the San Francisco offices of private detectives Sam Spade and Miles Archer. Miss Wonderley asked them to find her missing sister, who had gotten herself involved … Continue reading WEDDING BELLE BLUES: The Case of the Curious Bride