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Perry Mason #29
The Case of the Fan-Dancer's Horse
It all begins with the fan-dancer's "costume" what there is of it. When Perry Mason stumbles upon the barely there accessories of an exotic performer, he sets out to do a good turn by returning the lost glad rags. But the attorney's discreet good deed brings more than one delectable dancer and more than a little trouble waltzing into his office.
Two dazzling dead ringers each claim to be the same famed fan-dancer. And hot on their heels are a zealous ex-husband and a jealous would-be boyfriend. But the missing property all four are after isn't feathered finery it's a full-grown horse! And when one of the men gets brutally murdered, Mason finds he may be dancing dangerously close to a killer....
245 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1947
6 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,350 books815 followersErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories who also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 24, 2016
A series of unlikely stories and coincidences involving a car accident, ostrich fans, a missing horse, lookalikes and murder result in a mystery that appears to have been inspired by a Shakespearean comedy. And all is well that ends well with Perry Mason's client absolved of murder.
October 15, 2018
This case wasn't as vague as some of the others. The end pretty made sense and was obvious too. Two fan dancers really confused the issue, add two boy friends and things did cause a tiny headache! But all in all, not bad.
July 22, 2023
Perry’s sucker joke is much better in the book and that’s all that matters.
Recommended 12+ for fan-dancers (nothing totally inappropriate mentioned), time period thoughts/actions, murder, language, and other things not appropriate for the younger readers.
Recommended 12+ for fan-dancers (nothing totally inappropriate mentioned), time period thoughts/actions, murder, language, and other things not appropriate for the younger readers.
March 1, 2013
#29 in the Perry Mason series. Perry and secretery Della go to see a fan dancer perform in one of the light and lively touches that mark this 1947 entry. Perry puts an anonymous, cryptic ad in the paper to try returning a pair of ostrich plume fans. The ad obviously doesn't remain anonymous because people start beating on his door; but it must have been sufficiently cryptic, because it turns out they are all looking for a missing horse. A fun read with Perry's usual courtroom feats and an ending that surprised me (although it probably shouldn't have).
Perry Mason series - It all begins with the fan-dancer's "costume". When Perry Mason stumbles upon the barely there accessories, he sets out to do a good turn by returning them. But the attorney's good deed brings more than one delectable dancer -- and more than a little trouble -- waltzing into his office. Two dazzling dead ringers each claim to be the same famed fan-dancer. And hot on their heels are a zealous ex-husband and a jealous would-be boyfriend. But the missing property all four are after isn't feathered finery -- it's a full-grown horse! And when one of the men gets brutally murdered, Mason finds he may be dancing dangerously close to a killer.
Perry Mason series - It all begins with the fan-dancer's "costume". When Perry Mason stumbles upon the barely there accessories, he sets out to do a good turn by returning them. But the attorney's good deed brings more than one delectable dancer -- and more than a little trouble -- waltzing into his office. Two dazzling dead ringers each claim to be the same famed fan-dancer. And hot on their heels are a zealous ex-husband and a jealous would-be boyfriend. But the missing property all four are after isn't feathered finery -- it's a full-grown horse! And when one of the men gets brutally murdered, Mason finds he may be dancing dangerously close to a killer.
April 2, 2013
As is becoming a pattern, a great build-up and enough information to figure out who dunnit. Then, in the last 3 pages, a new fact that we had no way of knowing and the killer is identified. Maybe it's just me, but a great mystery is one where all,of the clues are there, but their exposition makes the solution complicated but when it is explained you can say "I should have thought of that." I'm hoping as I work my way through the series in order that they'll get better, but this is almost thirtieth in the series.
March 9, 2010
I really liked this one.
June 16, 2022
I've been reading Gardner's Perry Mason books off and on for many years. A long time ago, I was an intense fan of the series, and read them all. Now, after a lot of water over the dam, I'm looking at them again.
This one dates from the late 1940s, which was a good era in the long history of the Perry Mason stories. By that time, the books no longer had the film-noir feel of the earliest, as that was going out of style, but they were more carefully crafted and better written than those of a decade or so later when they became dry and formulaic. Some of the best ones were written in the immediate post-war period, as was this one.
But this one disappointed me. It's rather complicated, which ordinarily is fine, but parts of the complicated plot don't really make sense. There are too many ranchers. The saga of the horse just wasn't very interesting. There were two fan dancers, who looked a lot alike. That was a key point in the plot, creating the possibility of misidentification.
The novel begins unusually as Perry and Della are driving through the very hot Imperial Valley (in a car with no AC by the way). A big car comes up from behind and rockets past at 80 mph. Not far ahead they see it sideswipe another car, which leaves the road and crashes. They stop to help an older Spanish woman struggle out of the old beat-up wrecked car. She has a broken arm. Another passerby stops to help, who knows her family and takes her away.
After they all leave, Mason looks over the old car and finds two very fine ostrich-plume fans initialed L.F. and a pair of white dancing slippers - evidently the props for a fan dancer. "What would such things be doing in an old car like this?" asks Della. Perry decides to put an ad in the local paper's personal column, saying that if the fan dancer who lost an item at a car crash can describe it, he will return it to the owner.
Soon he gets two responses to the add: Arthur Sheldon, boy friend of fan-dancer Lois Fenton, and John Callendar, estranged husband of Lois Fenton. But they think he has found a horse!
He quickly learns where the fan dancer will be performing and he and Della go to the rough western town of Brawley to watch. Later that night he and Della go to a hotel where they know Sheldon has a room. Perry hires Paul Drake to watch the rooms, and two operatives show up. Around 2:00 AM there is a murder and "the plot thickens".
Characters that we meet:
Maria Gonzales, driver of old car that is forced off the road and crashes.
Jose Campo Colima, passerby who knows Maria and takes her away.
John Callender, wealthy wheeler-dealer married to
Lois Fenton, fan dancer extraordinaire.
Arthur Sheldon, is in love with Lois Fenton.
Irene Kilby, second fan dancer, takes over the bookings of Lois.
Harry, waiter friend of Irene.
Jasper Fenton, brother of Lois.
Sidney Jackson Barlow, agent of Lois.
Frank Loring Nolan, rancher who gets a horse.
Sam Meeker, hotel house detective.
Some operatives of Paul Drake.
Sgt. Dorset. Sgt Holcomb. Lt. Tragg. Very unusual to have all three in a story - but none of them has any speaking lines at all!
Good points: Well written. Good details of ranching and horses. Good description of night club in rough western town. Good cross-examination scenes, good use of Hamilton Burger (but not exceptional). Somewhat exotic location.
Bad points: details don't mesh. For example, early on it is stated that the wrecked car had been stolen. This is contradicted much later on. Who was driving the big sedan that caused the crash at the start? This is never explained. Parts of the story don't hang together to make sense. It is never completely explained why the fans were in the old car in the first place. (There is a bit of an explanation but it doesn't really make sense.) Not much use of Della.
Perry and Della seem to drive around the area rather casually. But even today it is a 3.5 hour drive from downtown LA to Brawley!
Recurring theme: ne'er do well young man.
This is one of the stories where a number of people go in and out of a hotel room where there's a murder, like The Rolling Bones.
I didn't like it that a key part of the plot involves a recurring character in the Perry Mason stories acting unethically, if not illegally.
Not recommended. 2.5 stars out of 5.
This one dates from the late 1940s, which was a good era in the long history of the Perry Mason stories. By that time, the books no longer had the film-noir feel of the earliest, as that was going out of style, but they were more carefully crafted and better written than those of a decade or so later when they became dry and formulaic. Some of the best ones were written in the immediate post-war period, as was this one.
But this one disappointed me. It's rather complicated, which ordinarily is fine, but parts of the complicated plot don't really make sense. There are too many ranchers. The saga of the horse just wasn't very interesting. There were two fan dancers, who looked a lot alike. That was a key point in the plot, creating the possibility of misidentification.
The novel begins unusually as Perry and Della are driving through the very hot Imperial Valley (in a car with no AC by the way). A big car comes up from behind and rockets past at 80 mph. Not far ahead they see it sideswipe another car, which leaves the road and crashes. They stop to help an older Spanish woman struggle out of the old beat-up wrecked car. She has a broken arm. Another passerby stops to help, who knows her family and takes her away.
After they all leave, Mason looks over the old car and finds two very fine ostrich-plume fans initialed L.F. and a pair of white dancing slippers - evidently the props for a fan dancer. "What would such things be doing in an old car like this?" asks Della. Perry decides to put an ad in the local paper's personal column, saying that if the fan dancer who lost an item at a car crash can describe it, he will return it to the owner.
Soon he gets two responses to the add: Arthur Sheldon, boy friend of fan-dancer Lois Fenton, and John Callendar, estranged husband of Lois Fenton. But they think he has found a horse!
He quickly learns where the fan dancer will be performing and he and Della go to the rough western town of Brawley to watch. Later that night he and Della go to a hotel where they know Sheldon has a room. Perry hires Paul Drake to watch the rooms, and two operatives show up. Around 2:00 AM there is a murder and "the plot thickens".
Characters that we meet:
Maria Gonzales, driver of old car that is forced off the road and crashes.
Jose Campo Colima, passerby who knows Maria and takes her away.
John Callender, wealthy wheeler-dealer married to
Lois Fenton, fan dancer extraordinaire.
Arthur Sheldon, is in love with Lois Fenton.
Irene Kilby, second fan dancer, takes over the bookings of Lois.
Harry, waiter friend of Irene.
Jasper Fenton, brother of Lois.
Sidney Jackson Barlow, agent of Lois.
Frank Loring Nolan, rancher who gets a horse.
Sam Meeker, hotel house detective.
Some operatives of Paul Drake.
Sgt. Dorset. Sgt Holcomb. Lt. Tragg. Very unusual to have all three in a story - but none of them has any speaking lines at all!
Good points: Well written. Good details of ranching and horses. Good description of night club in rough western town. Good cross-examination scenes, good use of Hamilton Burger (but not exceptional). Somewhat exotic location.
Bad points: details don't mesh. For example, early on it is stated that the wrecked car had been stolen. This is contradicted much later on. Who was driving the big sedan that caused the crash at the start? This is never explained. Parts of the story don't hang together to make sense. It is never completely explained why the fans were in the old car in the first place. (There is a bit of an explanation but it doesn't really make sense.) Not much use of Della.
Perry and Della seem to drive around the area rather casually. But even today it is a 3.5 hour drive from downtown LA to Brawley!
Recurring theme: ne'er do well young man.
This is one of the stories where a number of people go in and out of a hotel room where there's a murder, like The Rolling Bones.
I didn't like it that a key part of the plot involves a recurring character in the Perry Mason stories acting unethically, if not illegally.
Not recommended. 2.5 stars out of 5.
April 19, 2025
Oh it’s been a hot minute since I did a Perry Mason. Here’s #29, dated 1947. Diligently reading in order here, at least 50 more to go. And this was a fun one!
OK, a little background here, a fan dancer (Sally Rand being the most famous) could often be considered a classy dancer. Ostrich plume fans always moving, and you might catch a peek here and there, but no more than that. They were a burlesque act, but some made it to the big time, much like Gypsy Rose (ya gotta have a gimmick!) Lee in strip tease. But many fan dancers never hit those heights, and played the circuit in men-centric communities such as in this case, mining towns. But even they were considered legit performers.
So Perry and Della are tootling along the open road in Imperial Valley, California, for whatever reason. If you are not familiar with California geography, that is one of the two southernmost counties, bordering Mexico. It’s the one on the right (the left-hand one is San Diego) and consists mostly of dry barren mountains, farm and ranch land, and some desert. A car passes them far too fast, careens off another, which rolls into the sand. An elderly Spanish-speaking woman was the driver, and is obviously injured. A third car stops and offers to help. He speaks to the injured woman in Spanish and offers to take her home. There is a certain amount of hand-waving from all parties, but as Perry and Della get ready to continue on, he thinks to check to see if there is anything in the car that the elderly driver might wish to have. And yes, in the trunk, there is a set of fan-dancer’s plumes, and dancing shoes.
Curious, Perry places an ad in the El Centro paper once he returns to Los Angeles, stating that if the owner of the vehicle who lost certain items in the crash would communicate with him, and describe them, he would be glad to return them. He gets responses alright, but they all seem to want to describe a certain horse. And off we go. There is a murder along the way, of course, and a pair of fan dancers, who are described as dead ringers for each other. As Della points out, facially, they are nothing alike, but then who looks at faces?
OK, a little background here, a fan dancer (Sally Rand being the most famous) could often be considered a classy dancer. Ostrich plume fans always moving, and you might catch a peek here and there, but no more than that. They were a burlesque act, but some made it to the big time, much like Gypsy Rose (ya gotta have a gimmick!) Lee in strip tease. But many fan dancers never hit those heights, and played the circuit in men-centric communities such as in this case, mining towns. But even they were considered legit performers.
So Perry and Della are tootling along the open road in Imperial Valley, California, for whatever reason. If you are not familiar with California geography, that is one of the two southernmost counties, bordering Mexico. It’s the one on the right (the left-hand one is San Diego) and consists mostly of dry barren mountains, farm and ranch land, and some desert. A car passes them far too fast, careens off another, which rolls into the sand. An elderly Spanish-speaking woman was the driver, and is obviously injured. A third car stops and offers to help. He speaks to the injured woman in Spanish and offers to take her home. There is a certain amount of hand-waving from all parties, but as Perry and Della get ready to continue on, he thinks to check to see if there is anything in the car that the elderly driver might wish to have. And yes, in the trunk, there is a set of fan-dancer’s plumes, and dancing shoes.
Curious, Perry places an ad in the El Centro paper once he returns to Los Angeles, stating that if the owner of the vehicle who lost certain items in the crash would communicate with him, and describe them, he would be glad to return them. He gets responses alright, but they all seem to want to describe a certain horse. And off we go. There is a murder along the way, of course, and a pair of fan dancers, who are described as dead ringers for each other. As Della points out, facially, they are nothing alike, but then who looks at faces?
July 20, 2023
Bir gün Mason ile Della araba ile gezerken bir kazaya denk gelirler. Bu kazaya yardımcı olurlar ve olayı unuturlar. Ama kazanın olduğu arabada bazı yelpazeler bulurlar. Bunun için bir ilana çıkarlar ve ilana 2 kişi birden yanıt verir. John Calendar, kayıp olan atı istediğini söyler. Halbuki Mason at bulamamıştır. Sonrasında Arthur Sheldon gelir ve arkadaşı Lois Felton için bu atın önemli olduğunu, atı vermelerini söyler. Mason atın kendisinde olup olmadığını söylemez ve ikisini de yollar. Ama Paul Drake ile görüşüp otele adam yerleştirir. Otelde biri 511 diğeri 510 nolu odada kalmaktadır. Otele Sheldon çıktıktan sonra yerleşen dedektifleri kontrol için gidince Callander'in öldürüldüğünü öğrenir. Bu arada kayıp atı bulmuştur. Atın semerinde bir kurşun izi vardır. Lois Felton maktulun karısıdır ama işler iyice karışır. Çünkü Lois Felton da Irene Kilby de Cherie Ci Ci takma adıyla yelpaze dansı yapan insanlardır. Lois evlenince bu işi bırakmış adını kullanma hakkını Irene'e vermiştir. Ama bu yazılı belge John'dadır. Ayrıca John, Lois'in kardeşi Jasper Felton'un kendi yanında çalışırken zimmet para geçirdiğini öğrenmiş ve bunu karısının aleyhine şantaj malzemesi olarak kullanmaya karar vermiştir. Dedektifleri işe o gece John'a gelenlere bakınca ölüm saati de düşünülünce katil Lois gibi durmaktadır. Ama daha önce Sheldon'a söz verdiği için onu savunacaktır. Lois ise Mason'ın arabasını çalar ve kaçar. Bu da basına yansıyınca onu savunmak zaruret olur. Savcı ve polis Irene'i saklamıştır. O gece Irene'i arkadaşı Harry, Jasper, Arthur, Lois görmeye gitmiştir. Hamilton Burger'ın tüm çabalarına rağmen görgü tanıklarını karşı sorguda perişan eden Mason, Irene'i teşhis için Lois'den önce Çavuş Holcomb tarafından alındığını ispatlar. Bu hakim Donahue'yi çok kızdırır. Peki katil Lois midir? Yoksa ölüm saati ile ilgili bir yanlışlık mı vardır? John'un ölmesini en çok kim istemektedir? Mason bu olayı çözebilecek midir? Keyifle soluksuz okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2022
One of the better Perry Mason episodes. The plot is complicated but holds together well, and Gardner helps with providing a to-the-minute time line for the critical period.
The sexism of the 1940's is evident in the fact that all the men cannot see as distinct from each other two women with similar bodies but very different faces. Most of the rest of the book is the usual for Gardner: clunky writing, a pessimistic Paul Drake, Mason a bully as usual, and Hamilton Burger still an incompetent trial lawyer repeatedly rebuked by the judge. As usual, aside from Perry, all the characters are pretty much cardboard. Sgt. Holcomb makes an off-camera cameo appearance, up to his usual tricks.
So, nothing spectacular here, but an offbeat plot (who knows anything about fan-dancers these days?) and a bit of a trip into America's social past. I can't say there is anything remarkable about this series except they are fun and I enjoy the settings.
The sexism of the 1940's is evident in the fact that all the men cannot see as distinct from each other two women with similar bodies but very different faces. Most of the rest of the book is the usual for Gardner: clunky writing, a pessimistic Paul Drake, Mason a bully as usual, and Hamilton Burger still an incompetent trial lawyer repeatedly rebuked by the judge. As usual, aside from Perry, all the characters are pretty much cardboard. Sgt. Holcomb makes an off-camera cameo appearance, up to his usual tricks.
So, nothing spectacular here, but an offbeat plot (who knows anything about fan-dancers these days?) and a bit of a trip into America's social past. I can't say there is anything remarkable about this series except they are fun and I enjoy the settings.
September 19, 2025
Perry witnesses a car accident and discovers some fans all in the first chapter. When the fan dancer's agent shows up looking for a horse rather than fans, Perry talks in his enigmatic way and the agent goes away thinking that Perry has the horse but won't give it to him. Of course, this is too much of a mystery for Perry to ignore so he goes to visit the fan dancer.
I can't say I've ever seen a fan dancer in real life but the author's description is very good and I felt like I was there.
The final chapters offer up long court scenes which I happen to like. If you are a fan of the long court scenes in the Perry Mason series then don't miss this book. It was hard for me to find and the copy I found is old and taped together with an old library stamp card in the back that looked like it went back to at least 1948. (It was copyrighted in 1947.) I felt privileged to have the temporary care of a book so old and loved by so many before me.
I can't say I've ever seen a fan dancer in real life but the author's description is very good and I felt like I was there.
The final chapters offer up long court scenes which I happen to like. If you are a fan of the long court scenes in the Perry Mason series then don't miss this book. It was hard for me to find and the copy I found is old and taped together with an old library stamp card in the back that looked like it went back to at least 1948. (It was copyrighted in 1947.) I felt privileged to have the temporary care of a book so old and loved by so many before me.
March 2, 2023
An interesting case like usual. This time Mason and Street witness an accident on the road and see if they could help. In the confusion afterwards, Mason decides to check the car and see if the lady that was injured had left anything in the car. He finds a pair of ostrich feather fans. The next day when he contacts the local police to find out the name of the victim, he finds no report was made so now he stuck with a pair of fans. Next he puts a notice in the paper saying he had some missing object he wished to return. That inquiry turned into people trying to get a horse from him and into a murder case.
Recommended, kind of an odd case that depends on the fact that two women look very much alike since one is actually trying to pass as the other for professional reasons.
Recommended, kind of an odd case that depends on the fact that two women look very much alike since one is actually trying to pass as the other for professional reasons.
September 21, 2025
"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma".
This is my second Perry Mason case. The author has a style of his own and and it keeps the reader interested and wondering up to the last page. In this case a mystery of lost property turns to one of murder. It goes from which property is actually lost to which suspect is actually guilty?
I think any more information than that ruins the reader experience. I did give it four stars.
Gardner's books (I've only read two) seem all to be quick, easy reads that move along at a good pace with no unnecessary side trips, sex or violence that seem to be required in today's literature. They are well written and entertaining throughout.
I am gathering more and looking forward to more Perry Mason cases.
This is my second Perry Mason case. The author has a style of his own and and it keeps the reader interested and wondering up to the last page. In this case a mystery of lost property turns to one of murder. It goes from which property is actually lost to which suspect is actually guilty?
I think any more information than that ruins the reader experience. I did give it four stars.
Gardner's books (I've only read two) seem all to be quick, easy reads that move along at a good pace with no unnecessary side trips, sex or violence that seem to be required in today's literature. They are well written and entertaining throughout.
I am gathering more and looking forward to more Perry Mason cases.
February 2, 2023
Story confirms to the classic pattern one expects from Perry Mason. A beautiful client, complicated timeline, mistaken identity, unusual evidence, police trickery, a spirited courtroom clash with Hamilton Burger, all straightened out in the end by our hero.
No blatant romance between Perry and Della but the story opens with them driving back to LA from Calexico for reasons left unexplained.
Perry also tampers with evidence, which I assume is illegal.
One negative is that it contains some stereotyping of Mexican people in a patronizing way.
No blatant romance between Perry and Della but the story opens with them driving back to LA from Calexico for reasons left unexplained.
Perry also tampers with evidence, which I assume is illegal.
One negative is that it contains some stereotyping of Mexican people in a patronizing way.
April 26, 2020
You will learn quite a bit about fan-dancers and horses from this one. It’s a convoluted plot - no surprise - but the denouement is uncharacteristically telegraphed by ESG. Incidentally, did Perry ever have a female client who wasn’t a knockout, 36 x 24 x 36? Rhetorical question, I know he had a few. The lady shoplifter comes to mind. Not one of my favorites, but the courtroom scenes are well done, as usual.
September 18, 2023
One of the silliest opening set-ups for a Perry Mason story, yet still a great read. One thing that stands out in this one is that the character of D.A. Hamilton Burger is now fully developed in his honest, yet frustrated—thereby often angry—persona. The courtroom battle between Mason and Burger in Fan Dancer is classic, definitely paving the way for the Raymond Burr TV series which is still 10 years in the future.
February 13, 2021
A bit fiddly this time out. Saw the TV version recently, don’t know if that makes a difference. One just doesn’t think of a fan dancer as having a horse, which I guess is the joke of the title. Not all bad, though, and the hotel where the murder occurs is nicely rendered. Like “The Burrowed Brunette,” this one makes use of female doubling.
April 30, 2021
Look-alike characters provide the ultimate confusion to the story. Perry gets his car stolen by his own client! Not much of Della in this book except her laughs at Perry. The courtroom scenes are quite something -- I've never heard of this technique before -- and Burger gets his evidence contradicted at every turn. Not the greatest mystery, one important clue is left to the very end, but an extra star for the courtroom.
September 26, 2017
Some people compare Gardner to writers like Agatha Christie, but personally I don't see it. If they weren't mysteries, they might as well be a whole other type of novel. They are both excellent writers, just very different. Gardner does with the court room what Christie does with writing a complex, mind-blowing mystery. If you are interested in the whole court room scene, especially with a brilliant lawyer involved, then the Perry Mason series is a great choice.
August 1, 2018
Has courtroom drama but still a simple one.
August 6, 2020
#29 in the Perry Mason series. I suspect the author was an animal lover considering how often they figure in the Perry Mason books - cats, parrots, and in this case a horse.
Want to read
December 19, 20222 copies
October 4, 2023
The television episode really missed an opportunity here- the car stealing scene would have been excellent! :)
November 16, 2023
As always a cracking read and awesome logic. I almost felt sorry for Hamilton Burger having a Sergeant like Holcomb on the force, but then again they are made girls each other!! 🤣🤣🤣
March 31, 2024
Such a great story with the exciting twists you would expect. Keeps you wondering until the last pages.
August 12, 2024
"Smell it," Della Said.
Mason sniffed at the heavy scent and grinned. "Woof! Woof! I'm a wolf, Della!"
Mason sniffed at the heavy scent and grinned. "Woof! Woof! I'm a wolf, Della!"
October 31, 2025
Одна из тех книг, что душат в самом начале и отлично раскрываются под конец )
December 31, 2022
The twenty-ninth Perry Mason novel features not only a missing horse with a bullet in his saddle, but TWO fan-dancers who are almost identical in appearance and who have been dancing under the same stage name. (You can already see where this is going!) There's also a vindictive husband, a weaselly brother, an embezzler, a blackmailer, unethical cops, humble farmers, curious ranchers, a tolerant landlady, a shady showbusiness agent, a large Japanese ornamental sword, and, naturally, a corpse. But, of course, this sort of thing is all in a day's work for Perry, and it's a fun read.
As the case ends, Perry remonstrates with himself, insisting that he would have been a lot better off if he only would have had more faith in his client and believed the story she told him, no matter how terribly implausible it might have sounded. It feels like about half of the Perry Mason novels end with Perry telling himself the same thing but the guy hasn't learned the lesson yet and he will still be chiding himself about this matter by the time we get to the eighty-fifth book in the series.
In previous reviews, I've marveled at the fact that Mason's detective, Paul Drake, always seems to have a team of operatives available to jump into action at any hour of the day or night, no matter when Mason might need them. But Drake's detectives really shine here. At the heart of the story is a horse who has gone missing somewhere in California's Imperial Valley. It's imperative that Mason find the animal and so Drake dispatches three detectives to the valley to find it. The Imperial Valley is 4,482 square miles in size and yet Drake's men manage to find the horse in only a couple of hours!
If I ever find myself in need of a detective agency, these are the guys I'm calling...
As the case ends, Perry remonstrates with himself, insisting that he would have been a lot better off if he only would have had more faith in his client and believed the story she told him, no matter how terribly implausible it might have sounded. It feels like about half of the Perry Mason novels end with Perry telling himself the same thing but the guy hasn't learned the lesson yet and he will still be chiding himself about this matter by the time we get to the eighty-fifth book in the series.
In previous reviews, I've marveled at the fact that Mason's detective, Paul Drake, always seems to have a team of operatives available to jump into action at any hour of the day or night, no matter when Mason might need them. But Drake's detectives really shine here. At the heart of the story is a horse who has gone missing somewhere in California's Imperial Valley. It's imperative that Mason find the animal and so Drake dispatches three detectives to the valley to find it. The Imperial Valley is 4,482 square miles in size and yet Drake's men manage to find the horse in only a couple of hours!
If I ever find myself in need of a detective agency, these are the guys I'm calling...
April 7, 2021
This book is #29 in the Perry Mason series, and yet doesn't feel repetitive in terms of the story, characters or the murder sequence. And for once, the actions of different suspects leading upto the murder are made clear quite early in a linear fashion, allowing the readers to build their own theories with different murder suspects much more easily.
The book starts off with Mason and Della driving along a highway on a very hot and dry day in Southern California without any AC in the car, which I can assume would feel like an oven without a cooling system. There, they encounter an accident and Mason comes across a fan-dancer's fans which then serves as Mason's connect to the murder case. The narration goes along for quite some duration before finally a body drops and then the story catches speed. Mason is stumped as usual in the beginning and, quite frankly, isn't able to resolve the mystery until very late into the book.
Overall, the plot was decent without being brilliant, but the eventual solution was quite satisfying without being extravagant. I would rate it the usual 4 stars.
The book starts off with Mason and Della driving along a highway on a very hot and dry day in Southern California without any AC in the car, which I can assume would feel like an oven without a cooling system. There, they encounter an accident and Mason comes across a fan-dancer's fans which then serves as Mason's connect to the murder case. The narration goes along for quite some duration before finally a body drops and then the story catches speed. Mason is stumped as usual in the beginning and, quite frankly, isn't able to resolve the mystery until very late into the book.
Overall, the plot was decent without being brilliant, but the eventual solution was quite satisfying without being extravagant. I would rate it the usual 4 stars.
April 28, 2008
Why I Read This Book: I was looking at my shelves (to see if I own a dead-tree copy of American Gods--the upcoming SFDG book for June) and was struck by the coincidence; "Fan-Dancer's Horse" is the next episode for me to watch from Netflix.
It's (mostly) well-written, though there are some clumsy bits early on, where Mason seemingly acts out of character. In these degenerate times, I had to look up certain terms--"fan dancer" and "nautch dancer"--and was surprised to find out there were so many different kinds of burlesque.
I think this was a re-read; while there were a lot of things I didn't remember, I did remember the critical clue well enough to spoil the story. (Or perhaps I remembered the critical clue from the TV series; I'll be watching the episode next.)
(Finished 16:31 EDT.)
It's (mostly) well-written, though there are some clumsy bits early on, where Mason seemingly acts out of character. In these degenerate times, I had to look up certain terms--"fan dancer" and "nautch dancer"--and was surprised to find out there were so many different kinds of burlesque.
I think this was a re-read; while there were a lot of things I didn't remember, I did remember the critical clue well enough to spoil the story. (Or perhaps I remembered the critical clue from the TV series; I'll be watching the episode next.)
(Finished 16:31 EDT.)
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