The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner

In organizing my book collection, I found that I had an Impress Mysteries version of Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Velvet Claws. I was also delighted to discover that this was the first full-length Perry Mason mystery. What better way to start exploring Gardner and to launch this blog diary, than to read the first Perry Mason story? A novel that started a series book run that lasted over 80 novels.

First off, let me just say that I’ve known about Gardner’s main character, Perry Mason, pretty much all my life and primarily through television. Perry Mason was a show my mother and my grandparents watched during its initial run and through its subsequent syndication. Since it was a television show from an era before my time, and a show that my parents watched, I never really paid attention to it. Raymond Burr was getting up in his years and still portraying the same character. I always just assumed it was courtroom drama. What a silly mistake.

In college, I discovered Raymond Chandler. I soaked in everything I could find on Chandler including interviews and biographies. The one thing that I always noticed was that Chandler cited Gardner has a big influence on his writing style. Even after that glowing endorsement, and that was sometime in the nineties, I still did not actively pursue Gardner until this year. However, over the years, if I found a Gardner, hardback or paperback, in good shape, I would purchase it knowing that one day that I would read it.

Now, to start this new journey with a classic pulp novel, and one, I am happy to say that so successfully hooked me, is Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Velvet Claws. The novel has all the elements of great pulp: the punchy, tough-guy talk, the mysterious double crossing dame, and, most importantly, swift action. I was surprised, maybe even shocked, that this was not the TV courtroom drama that I thought it was going to be. Hell, I didn’t even picture Raymond Burr as I remembered him in the series.

What I like about this novel is that Mason is determined to complete the job he’s hired to do, despite the fact that he’s being fingered for the crime. Stacking the odds against Mason drives the story with precision steering up and down the roller-coaster. Not only does he solve the crime, but he also manages to continue to defend his client even when she claims to have heard Mason in a deadly confrontation with her husband just before his death. It’s fantastic. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t discovered him sooner.

As mentioned earlier, my copy is from ImPress Mysteries. I’m currently seeking out the vintage paperbacks. Don’t snatch them up.