Appointment With Agatha discussion

We were supposed to select a Perry Mason mystery from the 1940's to read in October/November/December, but time got away from me, so we're going to do this a bit differently.

Here is a list of the Perry Mason mysteries published between 1940 & 1949:

The Case of the Baited Hook (1940)
The Case of the Silent Partner (1940)
The Case of the Haunted Husband (1941)
The Case of the Empty Tin (1941)
The Case of the Drowning Duck (1942)
The Case of the Careless Kitten (1942)
The Case of the Buried Clock (1943)
The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito (1943)
The Case of the Crooked Candle (1940)
The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde (1944)
The Case of the Gold-Digger's Purse (1942)
The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife (1945)
The Case of the Borrowed Brunette (1946)
The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse (1947)
The Case of the Lazy Lover (1947)
The Case of the Lonely Heiress (1948)
The Case of the Vagabond Virgin (1948)
The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom (1949)
The Case of the Cautious Coquette (1949)

Any of those is fair game for the next three months!

This looks like fun!

I have 4 Perry Mason mysteries heading to my library for pick-up:

The Case of the Careless Kitten
The Case of the Lazy Lover
The Case of the Baited Hook: A Perry Mason Mystery
The Case of the Borrowed Brunette

BooHoo! Only e-books at all 7 library systems covered by my library card -- and even then only one or two titles with many repeats across the libraries.

So instead of reading a couple of them, I will be choosing just one from the group, probably from the war years, and spending a credit on it at Audible. I've decided to choose based on stars earned and cover art (criterion yet to be determined ;-). Unless, of course, Audible offers a deal on them, cheap.

BTW, did y'all notice that in the last 10 books the title cases are all women? Hmmm.

My Perry Masons have arrived. I think I will read them in chronological order, so the Case of the Baited Hook is up first. I have one book to finish before getting to it!

oooh! Enjoy! x

I blew through The Case of the Baited Hook: A Perry Mason Mystery today, learning the following pieces of information:

1. There was at one time, apparently, a ten thousand dollar bill in circulation;
2. Not all Perry Masons are courtroom dramas - nary a bench nor bar to be seen in this one;
3. Della Street was a person, not an address.

This one was published at the very beginning of our date range, in January 1940. Next in line for me is The Case of the Careless Kitten, published in 1942, with the most delightful title of the four.

I've just finished The Case of the Baited Hook too. It was complicated but I liked the fact that it wasn't in a courtroom. Perry certainly has a lot of nerve!

Rosemarie wrote: "I've just finished The Case of the Baited Hook too. It was complicated but I liked the fact that it wasn't in a courtroom. Perry certainly has a lot of nerve!"

It was a very complicated story! I didn't like the murderer from the moment they appeared in the story, so I can't say I was surprised.

I'm also not at all a fan of courtroom dramas. Having spent much of my career as a criminal trial lawyer, I am all too aware of how nonsensical most of what passes for "courtroom action" is.

I have never watched the old Raymond Burr Perry Mason series, so my mental picture of him is from the HBO series starring Matthew Rhys. Do you have a mental picture of him?

I've never watched any of the series, but I get the impression he's not bad looking!

I read The Case of the Baited Hook and then followed it up by watching the episode from the original series. The book is so much more complicated than the TV episode. You are right that Raymond Burr is a good looking actor but the book is still better. I wish my library had more of the Perry Mason books.