The Case Of The Crooked Candle (1944) (P. Mason #24) by Erle Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason is the brilliant, determined star of the most popular book series of the 20th century. This time Perry is looking out for the interests of an auto accident victim that has some smelly elements to it. On a hunch he goes after a far greater settlement than is called for, and when he gets it knows something stinks. Investigating further he discovers a scam being run on property owners with oil rights the object of the small syndicate behind it.
So much for the set-up, but when one of the syndicate is killed on a boat, Perry has to figure out why the obvious culprit is innocent. Once again he goes against Lt. Trask and the D.A.’s office to find the real killer. The case, set on a yacht in a shallow lagoon, involves the tides, the position of the body, what is quite possibly the killer’s bloody footprint, and the mystery of the crooked candle.
Reading this novel almost 80 years after its debut I still found it compelling. Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake and the entire cast act with a sense of style that is very often lacking in a modern novel. Having seen so many of the television dramas (including this case) I am perhaps reading with Raymond Burr et.al. in mind, which isn’t a bad thing. The puzzle herein needs close examination to follow the logic, but Perry is an adept guide and takes us through what is a bewildering series of events to the truth.
And Perry Mason appears more of a bad-ass in print than in the T.V. series, which is also a good thing. ( )

"All this is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. It has no bearing whatever on the case," Linton objected.
"Overruled." ( )

Best-Selling American Author Of The Twentieth Century

In 1970, the New York Times called Erle Stanley Gardner "the best selling American author of the century," apparently based on the sales of 170 million copies of his books at that time. That alone makes his opus worth investigating, but I was particularly drawn to this novel by my recent interest in re-watching Perry Mason TV shows. I'm a retired trial lawyer who never really liked watching trial dramas on film or TV, but I've come to enjoy Perry Mason offerings as clever, witty and fairly accurate depictions of the life of a trial lawyer (albeit exaggerated a bit for dramatic purposes).

The Case Of The Crooked Candle did not disappoint me. The text is nearly all dialog, and the descriptions are spare, but the dialog is well-crafted. Mason of the book is exactly the way Raymond Burr depicted him: everyone's ideal of their lawyer. He appears to work twenty-four hours a day on his most recent client's case, apparently needing no sleep and aided by a a similarly tireless secretary (Della Street) and investigator (Paul Drake). He wins his cases predominantly at the preliminary hearing stage, wringing confessions from the guilty and thereby avoiding lengthy incarceration and the agony of trial for his client. He is more than willing to play fast and loose with the district attorney, investigating detective and courtroom evidence if that's what his client needs. We might deplore some of these tendencies, except that they would be a welcome relief if deployed on our own behalf!

Of course, these novels fit within the broad genre of pulp fiction, and I can't say that I'm interested in reading a dozen more, but I heartily recommend a dose of Erle Stanley Gardner to anyone who thinks they want to understand American fiction. This is the stuff people actually read. ( )

I have always really liked this Perry Mason novel. One of the best. ( )

Nothing Freudian about the cover of this book. Sometimes a candle is just a candle. ( )