When Norda Allison saw her husband-to-be slap his young son, she immediately called off the wedding. Now she is terrified. Her ex-fiancé has beaten up her new boyfriend, and anonymous newspaper clippings are flooding her mailbox – articles graphically depicting what jilted men do to the women who leave them.
Then Norda’s life takes an even darker turn. It begins with a barking dog, a child’s scream, a gun shot, and the discovery of a dead body – and takes a further twist when Norda is arrested and charged with brutal murder. Now only the brilliant courtroom strategist Perry Mason stands between Norda and a sentence of certain death …
Then Norda’s life takes an even darker turn. It begins with a barking dog, a child’s scream, a gun shot, and the discovery of a dead body – and takes a further twist when Norda is arrested and charged with brutal murder. Now only the brilliant courtroom strategist Perry Mason stands between Norda and a sentence of certain death …
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Reviews
The bestselling author of the century ... a master storyteller
Kingpin among the mystery writers
With Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner introduced to American letters the notion of the lawyer as a hero - and a detective - which were remarkable innovations. He even gave defence lawyers a good name to boot. His Mason books remain tantalising on every page and brilliant
Beautiful babes, worthy opponents and fancy legal cross-stitching . . . a stellar ending
Amazing originality
Gardner has a way of moving the story forward that is almost a lost art: great stretches of dialogue alternate with lively chunks of exposition, and the two work together perfectly, without sacrificing momentum
For fans of classic hard-boiled whodunits, this is a time machine back to an exuberant era of snappy patter, stakeouts, and double-crosses
