I read this book for the Mount TBR
Reading Challenge hosted over at My Reader’s Block from January 1 – December 31, 2015. The challenge is to read books
that you already own.
The Case of the
Empty Tin – Erle Stanley Gardner
I highly recommend this 1941 Perry Mason mystery. Usually
Mason novels start in the lawyer’s office or some public place where a client
can button-hole him for legal advice. But this one starts in the cozy Gentrie
household. The family owns a small hardware store so they have to watch every
cent. They take in a roomer for extra income, they can preserves to save money
on food. They depend on both a spinster sister and hired woman to keep the
housekeeping and cooking in order for the three busy kids. It has its share of
strains but what family doesn’t?
I suppose a certain kind of Mason fan will find the
beginning slow, but as a hardcore fan who’s read a couple dozen of them, I’m
relieved when it starts out in a different way. Also, in a way that brings to mind Alfred
Hitchcock’s making the mundane suspenseful, Gardner puts the typical
middle-class family in the center of the mystery.
Other elements make this mystery outstanding in the canon.
Mason blithely breaks the law with lying to police officers, house-breaking,
and breaking traffic laws with reckless driving and speeding. Della plays a much
bigger role, helping Perry break into houses and elude the law. She also helps Perry
think by asking germane questions and introducing points that women know but
men have no clue.
Remember that this novel was probably serialized in the Saturday Evening Post before it was
published between two covers. Therefore, there is a certain amount of
recapitulation in the dialogue to get new readers up to speed. We post-modern
readers can skim these sections.
Finally, there is no courtroom sequence in this one. This
may disappoint some fans and elate others. My bottom line is that this should be
the next Mason to read in the coming year.
No comments:
Post a Comment