Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Welcome to my first post for this week’s celebration of crime fiction published in 1937. The #1937club is hosted jointly by Kaggsy’s bookish ramblings and Simon at Stuck in a book.

1937 is an exceptional year for crime fiction with Agatha Christie’s much beloved and celebrated Death on the Nile taking center stage. Christie also published Dumb Witness that same year. Other 1937 mystery fiction that has already been reviewed on this blog includes The Cheltenham Square Murder by John Bude and possibly my favorite book that I reviewed in 2023 These Names Make Clues by E.C.R. Lorac.

We’ll be taking quite the tour of 1937’s various crime fiction offerings this week. Let’s kick this week off with the first of two Perry Mason books by Erle Stanley Gardner in 1937…

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager

Perry Mason is retained by cigar-smoking, free-thinking, and hard-driving Matilda Benson to get IOUs totaling $7000 is gambling debts that her granddaughter Sylvia owes to two hardballs, crooked proprietors of The Horn of Plenty, who are willing to sell them to the highest bidder- which might end up being Sylvia’s cunning husband, who will stop at nothing prove Sylvia is an unfit mother, and should not be trusted with her daughters trust fund when they divorce.

(For those of you wondering what $7000 is worth in 2024, it’s about $151,828.06, so I am hard-pressed to agree with Sylvia no good husband)

Matilda Benson hires Perry to get these IOUs by any means necessary, and after a successful tete-e-tete with the gambling hall’s two owners, he meets them on their turf but stumbles onto a body instead. He uses every legal trick in the book to keep Matilda, Sylvia, and himself out of trouble with the law, but The Case of the Dangerous Dowager pushes him to the limit!

The Review

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager starts slowly with lots of legal maneuvering. Still, it is pushed forward by the unstoppable force of Matilda Benson, who doesn’t care what dirty trick Perry Mason has to pull out of his back pocket or how much it costs; she wants to ensure her granddaughter’s freedom since Matilda spent too long under the bondage of someone else.

Perry Mason takes Matilda at her word but underestimates how the gambling hall men will devour themselves and anyone who gets in their way to make a profit.

No honor among thieves.

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager showcases how far morally Perry Mason will go for his client. He’s flinty and complex, with more bite than usual. He’s happy to cross swords with any of Matilda Benson’s foes and is crafty enough to use every technicality to keep him on the moral high ground—barely.

However, when he is betrayed by one of Paul Drake’s flat-foot detectives for a big payday, he finds himself in boiling hot water and only one small step ahead of the District Attorney’s Office.

Perry Mason bluffs with forgeries, eats evidence, and hides from a subpoena, all to keep his word to the brassy Matilda Benson, who, halfway through the book, disappears off the gambling ship and tries to fake a suicide to cover her tracks!

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager is kind of bonkers.

Many of Perry Mason’s skirmish victories are based on ticky-tacky legalese, which I didn’t fully understand, but I sure had fun watching the dueling.

I loved Perry on the run, hiding out in an abandoned apartment, trying to cook breakfast, and failing miserably; I loved him hiring cars and surreptitiously meeting up with Paul Drake, who is on a total rampage after one of his underlings sold out Perry.

Perry Mason, however down and out, never loses his cool and uses betrayal after betrayal to his advantage, even the poor work-a-day detective, to finally draw out a final betrayal, which reveals the killer before a grand jury hearing.

There are no real courtroom battles. This book explores Perry Mason’s ethics in every shade of gray, ultimately leading to a victory for his client—which he states is his primary objective because she is innocent.

Perry outright says in the book that he doesn’t defend guilty people. If he ever found out one of his clients actually was guilty, he would drop them like a hot potato and bring the full force of his fury and the law upon them.

I believe it.

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager shows just how down and dirty Perry Mason will get to fight really immoral and terrible criminals. The tightrope he walks is fascinating to watch, and I had a lot of dread that he would tarnish his principles and reputation.

The book is quite tense, and you feel the creeping arm of the law as Perry whizzes around, hiding and keeping secrets close to the chest. It’s a fast read of only 195 pages, and after the setup was done, I felt like a rocket had been strapped to my chest and was going to explode. It never let up.

The only real con is that Matilda Benson isn’t present throughout the book. She’s a spitfire, and I loved her so much that I was sad when she went underground, and we didn’t know what she was doing for a while. As the main protagonist and the subject of the book’s title, I thought she would have a more significant role, but when she was on the page, she stole the show! I believe Matilda Benson was even too hot for Perry Mason to handle.

Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner was an American author and lawyer, best known for creating the fictional lawyer Perry Mason. Born on July 17, 1889, in Malden, Massachusetts, Gardner’s early life was marked by various jobs and experiences, including working as a salesman, a cowboy, an advertising copywriter, and a traveling lawyer. He eventually settled into the practice of law, passing the California bar exam in 1911.

Gardner’s experiences in the legal field heavily influenced his writing. He began his writing career by contributing stories to pulp magazines, but it was the creation of Perry Mason that brought him widespread success. Mason, a brilliant defense attorney with a knack for unraveling mysteries and exposing the real culprits, became the central character in over 80 novels, short stories, and even a radio and television series.

Gardner’s writing style was known for its fast-paced plots, clever legal maneuvers, and surprising twists. He was a prolific writer, often producing several novels a year. In addition to the Perry Mason series, Gardner wrote under several pseudonyms and created other memorable characters, such as the crime-solving duo Bertha Cool and Donald Lam.

Despite his success as a writer, Gardner continued to practice law until the late 1930s. He was known for his dedication to his craft, often conducting extensive research for his novels and ensuring that his legal scenarios were accurate and believable.

Erle Stanley Gardner passed away on March 11, 1970, leaving behind a rich legacy of mystery and legal fiction. His works continue to be celebrated for their intricate plots, memorable characters, and enduring popularity across various media formats.