Tag / Erle Stanley Gardner

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Book 27 (of 52) – The Case of the Careless Kitten

The Case of the Careless Kitten – Erle Stanley Gardner

When a mysterious phone call leads Helen Kendal to believe her long-missing uncle is ready to make his return, Perry Mason finds himself caught up in multiple mysteries, including what happened to the missing uncle, who shot Helen’s boyfriend, who poisoned Helen’s aunt and cat, and how does the whole thing tie together.  When Hamilton Burger assumes Mason has stashed the missing uncle out of sight and charges Della with obstruction, it forces Perry to put the puzzle together to prove Della’s innocence.

Originally published in 1942, The Case of the Careless Kitten is 21st entry in Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series.  This case, though heavily modified, was featured as the 24th episode of season eight in the Raymond Burr version of the show in 1965.  Since this is a little further along in the series, the characters align more closely with those we are familiar with from television compared to the earlier entries.  This was the final book I managed to snag during a New Year’s sale in the Kindle store, so it may be some time before I am able to return to Gardner’s oeuvre.

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Book 9 (of 52) – The Case of the Baited Hook

The Case of the Baited Hook – Erle Stanley Gardner

When a mysterious, late-night meeting with a man and a disguised woman, who may eventually become a client, puts Perry Mason in a bind after a trustee is found dead, he tries to figure out which of the many possibilities surrounding the case the disguised woman may be.  Once he is personally charged with aiding and abetting the homicide, but before he is officially arrested, he manages to track down the truth, both of his mystery client and who actually committed the murder, clearing hiw own name.

Originally published in 1940, The Case of the Baited Hook is 16th entry in Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series.  This case, though heavily modified, was featured as the fourteenth episode of season one in the Raymond Burr version of the show.  Since this is a little further along in the series, the characters align more closely with those we are familiar with from television.  Thanks to a sale in the Kindle store to celebrate the new year, I was able to pick up a couple additional stories from Gardner’s oeuvre, which I hope to work through over the coming months,

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Prolific Authors Wrap Up

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. This year, I’ve far surpassed my previous record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into all of those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 109 authors I’ve read more than once.

Largest Increase (since 2023)

Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter – 7
Stephen King – 6
Laura Lippman – 6
Jeffery Deaver – 4
Lee Goldberg – 4
Elin Hilderbrand – 4
Kathy Reichs – 4

Largest Increase (since 2011)

Solitude Creek – Jefferu Deaver

Karin Slaughter – 19
Jeffery Deaver – 18
Erle Stanley Gardner – 14
Richard Castle – 13
Stephen King – 12

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Prolific Authors – Fourteen Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today with the sole author I’ve read fourteen times, although under two names.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, six entries of the series have been released.

Erle Stanley Gardner – The Case of the Lonely Heiress

Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, six of those books have also been republished, all of which I read between 2020 and 2022. In addition to those, I’ve stumbled across a few other editions over the years, including the most recent book of his I’ve read, The Case of the Howling Dog.  Since HBO cancelled the show after two seasons, I may be stuck with the earlier editions of the remaining books.

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Post Mortem – Perry Mason

HBO started developing a new version of Perry Mason, based on the character from the series of novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner, moving the setting from the 1950s of the classic Raymond Burr-led series back to the Great Depression-era of the earliest books.  With Matthew Rhys on board to play the title character, the show premiered in June of 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic.

A much grittier presentation than the classic show, it was quickly renewed for a second season.  Delays, due to behind-the-scenes reshuffling and the ongoing pandemic, pushed the second season to March of 2023.  Despite mostly positive reviews, the delay may have taken away any steam the show had built up in its first season and, in June of 2023, HBO pulled the plug.

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2023: The Year In Books

As 2023 comes to a close, my third full year of remote working, I managed to far surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 59 books, four books more than my previous high from last year and my third consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I completed the challenge in late November and surpassed last year’s total in mid-December.  I read (or listened) to 21,394 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the fourth time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, eleven were non-fiction and, of the remaining 48 novels, only four were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 53 e-books and two audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 44 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

Over 61% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 22 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Selma Blair Stacy Willingham Gillian McAllister Chuck Klosterman
Gabrielle Zevin Ronan Farrow Matthew Perry Amor Towles
Jason Rekulak Emily St. John Mandel Bonnie Garmus Thomas Mullen
Naomi Hirahara Maitland Ward Busy Phillips Elliot Page
Jinwoo Chong Maureen Ryan Minka Kelly Britney Spears
Emily Henry Rebecca Makkai

Jennifer McMahon, Karin Slaughter, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Erle Stanley Gardner, Grady Hendrix, Jeffery Deaver, Laura Lippman, Ruth Ware, and Stacy Willingham were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2023.

18 of the books I read were released this year, while only five of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1934.

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Prolific Authors Wrap Up

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 97 authors I’ve read more than once.

Largest Increase (since 2021)

The Silent Wife – Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter – 6
Erle Stanley Gardner – 5
Jeffrey Deaver – 4
Grady Hendrix – 4
Richard Osman – 3
Alex Finlay – 3
Taylor Jenkins Reid – 3

Largest Increase (since 2011)

The Skin Collector – Jeffery Deaver

Jeffrey Deaver – 14
Erle Stanley Gardner – 14
Richard Castle – 13
Karin Slaughter – 12
Mary Kubica – 8

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Prolific Authors – 14 Books

4Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the author I’ve read 14 times, down one from two years ago.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, six entries of the series have been released.

Fools Die On Friday – Erle Stanley Gardner

Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, six of those books have also been republished, all of which I read between 2020 and 2022.  In addition to those, I’ve stumbled across a few other editions over the years, including the most recent book of his I’ve read, The Case of the Howling Dog.

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Book 36 (of 52) – The Case Of The Howling Dog

The Case of the Howling Dog – Erle Stanley Gardner

When a man visits Perry Mason to help with both a will and a howling dog, it turns in to a murder trial, with a wife accused of murdering her husband, who had run off with the original man’s wife.  Perry skirts the line of legality while trying to determine what actually happened but uses the results to try and get vindication for his client.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Howling Dog, originally published in 1934, is just the fourth entry in his Perry Mason series.  Being that early, the characters of Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake are a little rougher around the edges than they would eventually become.  This case, though heavily modified, was featured as the 23rd episode of season two in the Raymond Burr version of the show.  With the HBO version of the show cancelled, there’s no push to continue to re-publish these old novels, so they will continue to become hard to come across, but when I do, I’ll be sure to add them to my collection.

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Book 9 (of 52) – Fools Die On Friday

Fools Die On Friday – Erle Stanley Gardner

When the firm is hired to stop a woman from poisoning her husband, Lam inadvertently sets in motion the exact thing he was trying to stop.  With multiple corpses and leads that don’t line up, he has to try and put everything together before the police, and Bertha, place the blame on him.

Fools Die On Friday, originally published in 1947, was the eleventh installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the sixth republished by Hard Case Crime.  These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  It’s been nearly three years now between installments, and I don’t know if that was due to the pandemic and associated problems or if the imprint is moving on to other endeavors.  But, if they re-publish more, I’ll be waiting.