Classic Mysteries

"The Case of the Velvet Claws"

I am reminded, unavoidably, of the infamous and surely invented anecdote about young George Washington cutting down the cherry tree - you remember, young George supposedly tells his father, "I cannot tell a lie." It comes to mind, as I write about Erle Stanley Gardner's The Case of the Velvet Claws, the very first Perry Mason mystery, written in 1933 - because Mason finds himself saddled with a client of whom the exact opposite is true: quite simply, she cannot tell the truth. Ever. At all. About anything. As you might expect, this leads to some very interesting complications. The Case of the Velvet Claws is our book today on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the complete review by clicking here.

If your idea of Perry Mason is based only on the excellent long-running television series starring Raymond Burr, you'll find a much rougher, down-to-earth Perry Mason in The Case of the Velvet Claws as well as several other early Mason mysteries. But one thing is clear right from the outset of this first Perry Mason novel: Mason regards himself as a champion of the underdog, and he believes he owes his client his loyalty and his absolute best efforts to resolve that client's problems with the law.

In The Case of the Velvet Claws, a woman comes to Perry Mason's office to hire him. She wants him to prevent a story from being published in a scandal and gossip sheet that is actually the cover for a blackmailing operation. Mason quickly learns that the woman is being anything but straightforward and honest with him. And when the man who is behind that blackmailing operation is murdered, Mason finds himself on the run and suspected of murder – a murder that his client may well have committed herself. Despite the fact that his client appears to be incapable of making a true statement about anything, Mason continues to represent her and fight for her rights to the best of his ability…even as he finds himself staying one step ahead of the police, who appear to be ready to arrest him.

This earliest Perry Mason story has a great many elements which make it fit into a "noir" sub-genre; there are remarkably few people Mason (or the reader) can trust. Happy endings are pretty scarce on the ground here. And it should be noted that there are no courtroom scenes in this book - another difference from the later Perry Mason books and television dramas.

But it is a very good book indeed, and it gives the reader some excellent insight into one of America's most popular lawyer-detectives, and his passionate defense of his clients. ALL of his clients, whether they can tell the truth or not. It's available again now as an ebook and it's very much worth your reading pleasure.

See You There?

We are approaching rapidly the end of 2013. And, as we raise our glasses to toast in the New Year, our glasses will not be the only things being raised. A couple of the major mystery conferences set for 2014 will cost you more to attend, as of January 1.

First (in terms of event dates) will be Left Coast Crime, or Calamari Crime, as they call themselves. Price through December: $209; price as of January 1: $239. Hey, it's in beautiful Monterey, California, March 20-23. I'll be there. Will you join me?

Only a few weeks later, from May 2 through May 4,  Malice Domestic 26 will open for business - as always, in Bethesda, MD. It's the ideal conference for traditional mystery enthusiasts with hundreds of authors hobnobbing with hundreds more fans. These are the kind of mysteries that Agatha Christie readers enjoyed and still enjoy, and it's quite a lineup of panelists and events. This one costs $295 until midnight December 31st - as of January 1st, it will cost you $320. As an added bonus, sign up by the end of this year and you will have the opportunity to suggest 2013 mysteries for consideration for the Agatha Awards. I wouldn't miss it. Will you join me?

There's still plenty of time to register for Bouchercon 2014, which will be held in Long Beach, California, from November 13-16. However, if you want to be in a hotel near the action, you'd better get moving quickly. Registration is currently $175; it goes up again to $195 after July 31, 2014. It's a marvelous way to spend a few days talking about all kinds of mysteries - in print and on screen. It's looking like a great conference. Will you join me?

Three fine conferences for mystery lovers of all genres. Just walking around these gatherings and talking with (up-until-then) strangers is the best part of the conferences; you're bound to come away with new friends and/or renew acquaintances with favorite authors and fans. I hope to see you there!

A Message from the Management

Okay. We're in a holiday period, with Chanukah behind us, Christmas coming up, etc. etc. It's a good time to step back and take a breath.

So - for the first time in roughly 6 1/2 years - I will NOT be publishing a podcast and blog post this coming Monday, December 23. Instead, my wife and I will be out celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.

I'll try to look in from time to time - but the next podcast/post will appear on Monday, December 30, when we'll be discussing Erle Stanley Gardner's first Perry Mason book, The Case of the Velvet Claws.

See you then. Wishing you all wonderful holidays. And play nice while I'm gone.

Looking Back at some Poisoned Chocolates

As I indicated in my review of The Silk Stocking Murders, I think Berkeley was MUCH better in his next book, The Poisoned Chocolates Case. Written in 1929, it avoids some of the pitfalls encountered in the earlier book, and it boasts a much more ingenious solution. In fact, it boasts six ingenious solutions.

I reviewed The Poisoned Chocolates Case a couple of years ago. You'll find my posted review and information about the book at the link.

"The Silk Stocking Murders"

When one young woman apparently committed suicide, using her own silk stocking to hang herself, it appeared to be just a senseless tragedy.

When a second young woman apparently committed suicide the same way, it appeared to be a terrible coincidence, a copycat suicide.

When a third young woman apparently committed suicide the same way, the police began to show some interest. But it was only with the help of amateur detective Roger Sheringham that they were ultimately able to solve what became known as "The Silk Stocking Murders." The book, by Anthony Berkeley, is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

The Silk Stocking Murders was published in 1929, right in the middle of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It contains many of the features that characterized the crime novels of the period, including an amateur detective at least tolerated, and often actively encouraged, by the official police investigators. Roger Sheringham is able to offer the police some new insight into the crimes, including the identity of one of the victims. As a result, he is invited to take part in the investigation - although he often winds up working with other amateurs without the blessing or help of the police detectives on the case.

It's a good story, with a lot of twists and surprises. I do have some reservations, however. In particular, the case is resolved with an unusual and dangerous confrontation set up by Sheringham at the end of the book, and I think many readers will be somewhat taken aback at what happens. And I must say that the killer's identity seemed (to me, at least) to be fairly obvious, although it wasn't at all clear until the end just how that person could have committed the crime - and an intriguing "howdunit" is an integral part of the plot.

So I do recommend The Silk Stocking Murders, by Anthony Berkeley,  as a worthwhile read. It is good to see it brought back into print by the Langtail Press. There's also a less expensive edition for the Amazon Kindle. It's worth your time.

Mayhem at Felony & Mayhem

The good people at the Felony & Mayhem Press have sent me an email announcing that two of my favorite authors will have their vintage series mysteries offered at AT LEAST a 25% discount this month. The authors are Margery Allingham, one of the so-called "Crime Queens" of Britain's Golden Age and creator of the gentlemanly sleuth Albert Campion, and Edmund Crispin, whose books about Gervase Fen are funny, cleverly plotted - and fairly clued (for the most part, anyway).

You can read more about it at the Felony & Mayhem site. In addition to the 25% discount, F&M says it will be discounting individual titles even more deeply, on a rotating basis, all through December. Great gifts, especially for your own bookshelves...

"A Blunt Instrument"

On the surface, it seemed like a fairly ordinary crime - a man murdered in his study by someone using the proverbial "blunt instrument." But there were a number of peculiarities which worried Superintendent Hannasyde and his assistant, Sergeant Hemingway. For example, the fact that the murder weapon - whatever it was - seems to have disappeared...

It happens in a Georgette Heyer mystery titled, appropriately enough, A Blunt Instrument, a Golden Age mystery first published in 1938, and one which stands up quite well despite having been written 75 years ago. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to that entire review by clicking here.

The murder of Ernest Fletcher appeared to police to have been nearly impossible to have happened at all.  The deeper Hannasyde and Hemingway probe into the case, the clearer it becomes that the murder must have taken place in a very limited period of time…and that the murderer was very fortunate not to have been seen and recognized. In fact, the local policeman on the beat, Constable Glass, apparently did see someone leaving the victim's house. Was it the murderer? Difficult to say. And that missing blunt instrument is a major sticking point for the police – the absence of the weapon, as Sergeant Hemingway points out repeatedly, wants a bit of explanation. The man seen leaving the house by the constable did not seem to be carrying anything like a heavy walking stick – or anything else that might have been used as a weapon.

Heyer has a great deal of fun with this situation - it's one of those lovely cases where virtually everyone in the book turns out to have had a good reason to murder the victim. But the very limited time in which the murder could have been committed - and the problem of that missing weapon - make it a very tricky case. Tricky indeed!

Georgette Heyer is best remembered, of course, for her Regency romances, but she was also a fine writer of classic, puzzle-oriented mysteries, filled with interesting and enjoyable characters. A Blunt Instrument is a very good example. It's not my favorite among her mysteries - but it's very good. 

Slight Delay...

Today's podcast and book review will be delayed slightly - probably until Monday afternoon. I'm out of position and can't get to a computer until late in the day. Come on back later and see it - it will be about Georgette Heyer's Blunt Instrument.

The Nero and the BONA

Two prestigious awards were presented Friday evening at the 36th Annual Black Orchid Banquet of the Wolfe Pack in New York.

The Black Orchid Novella Award, BONA for short, went to Susan Thibadeau for "The Discarded Spouse." The award, presented in conjunction with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, is given to the author of a novella, the intermediate-length form employed so effectively so often by Rex Stout for his Nero Wolfe stories. The award includes a $1000 prize, with the award-winning novella to be published next summer in AHMM.

The Nero Wolfe Award for the best American mystery of 2012 goes to Chris Knopf for Dead Anyway. Knopf's next novel will be published in the spring.

The awards were the highlight of a day-long celebration of Rex Stout's life and work, held annually on the first weekend in December. Banquet-goers were also treated to a keynote address by Robert Goldsborough, who has been writing additional Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin novels, with the blessing of the Stout family and estate.

Congratulations to the winners!

Orchids for the Table

The annual Black Orchid Weekend of the Wolfe Pack in New York City is well under way. It began last night with a book discussion of the novella "Murder is Corny" from the collection Three Witnesses, accompanied by a first rate dinner at Playwright's Tavern. We also viewed the A&E production adapted from "Murder is Corny," starring Maury Chaikin as Nero Wolfe and Tim Hutton as Archie Goodwin - a production which, we all pretty much agreed, was superior to the original novella. That excellent TV series is sorely missed today.

Tonight (Saturday night) will be the 36th annual Black Orchid Banquet, preceded this afternoon by "The Assembly," a gathering where Wolfeian scholars and members of Rex Stout's family gather to discuss various Wolfe-related subjects. At tonight's dinner, the featured speaker will be Robert Goldsborough, the author of several "continuations" of Nero Wolfe novels, including the very good prequel to the series, called Archie Meets Nero Wolfe. These events are usually great fun, and a fine excuse to break out the formal evening wear.

At the banquet, the annual Nero Award for the best American mystery fiction will be presented, along with the Black Orchid Novella Award, given in conjunction with Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. I hope to see at least some of you there.

The weekend concludes on Sunday with a brunch - just another chance for the group to sit around and talk with each other. If you didn't make this year's events...start planning for 2014 - the first full weekend of December.