Perry Mason Mystery - The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner (Case 42)

 

From the Back Cover

Perry Mason was retained to protect the interests of the Bain family, who were being blackmailed with an audio confession of a crime they didn't commit. Mason manages to erase the recording right out from under their nose, but then finds himself defending Hattie Bain on a murder charge.

Mason's courtroom dramatics hit a high note when he produces a theory which changes the time of death, and puts an witness with an seemingly unshakeable alibi on the hot seat. Then the theory is collaborated with evidence overlooked by the police, and all hell is raised with the prosecutions theory of the case.

A Perry Mason Mystery 

The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner (Case 42)

Some books are like old whisky aged in casks. Rare and smooth.

The Perry Mason books fall in that category. This is the 42nd in the series of some 86 books which were written in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Some of the famed luster has been lost because of the generational gap but the potency of the stories have not faded. 

I am a sucker for courtroom dramas and here courtrooms and police work a century back provides a glossy picture of a time when things moved and worked at a different level. 

This is another murder mystery with a fair bit of courtroom activity as is common and what I love in the Perry Mason stories.

Like in most of these novels the story has Perry involved with a complicated case for a client that devolves into a murder and he is in loggerheads with the police especially Sergeant Holcomb who always suspects him and then the DA's office where more often than not a junior counsel usually an ADA in this book Moon who has a chip on his shoulder (the DA's office is never happy with Perry). The only lawmaker who shares mutual respect with Perry is Lt. Arthur Tragg and he is one who tips him off occasionally. 

Perry gets a walk-in case about a blackmailer. The blackmail scam features a voice recording and we see Perry outsmarting the blackmailer's front with some interesting technicalities about the magnetic tape records. It is when the blackmailer is murdered, and Perry’s client and Perry himself comes under suspicion of illegality and murder that the story flowers and becomes interesting. The cunningness of the blackmailer's front (also a sleazy private eye and blackmail expert) including a not so obvious play puts Perry's team on the backfoot. 

As usual the courtroom scenes are terrific and it is here that the reader gets his money's worth. The case is an astute study of forensic processes and revelations back in the day. The pulls and pushes between counsel form the crux of the story and Perry's astute observations and out of box thinking breaks the case open. 

Despite the obvious age of the story and the legal processes which have changed over the years; what comes through as clear as day is the DA's office's push towards convicting the bird in hand rather than pushing to investigate the case from all angles. 

Today in the era of plea bargaining and because of the political nature of the DA's appointment we see more aggressive pushes towards open and shut cases or threats to ensure a guilty plea against a full scale jury backed decision. 

We can see this reflected in current legal thrillers and in the case studies and stories that come into the public sphere. 

The intervening 100 years have not changed the position of the accused. Instead of innocent until proven guilty as it should be for people under the auspices of law; today it seems like a choice between guilty with plea bargain (leading to a lesser sentence) or guilty without (anything if you do not plead guilty) and in the latter case the DA's office and the entire system will throw in everything including the kitchen sink to ensure the accused does not walk. Difficult is a very mild word when it comes to proving innocence with the processes being long drawn and especially in the criminal cases retaining quality lawyers and getting experts to depose on the accused behalf is extremely expensive. This happens across counties and across countries, the legal processes are generally biased towards the rich and the people with influence.  Biased would not be the correct word, it would be leaned.

  

Here in this story we have Perry Mason’s unflappable aura and cool mind on court where he thinks on his feet, puts the ADA's witnesses through the grind with some solid cross-examinations, all riveting stuff. 

The ace in the pack is the glamorous green-eyed sister, after whom the case is named after. A  master manipulator and someone who is more unorthodox than Perry. One who keeps putting him in one hole after another, including a final nifty play. 

I recommend this book to fans and new readers. 4 stars for this book.

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