The Case of the Silent Partner by Erle Stanley Gardner

This is the second of 2 Perry Mason novels that I found during my family's annual 301 Endless Yard Sale Scavenger Hunt. That first book was so unlike what you would expect from an episode of the classic 60s TV show starring Raymond Burr. There was no courtroom scenes! Not so with this book. But The Case of the Silent Partner also wasn't my favorite compared to The Case of the Dangerous Dowager!

A woman who owns a trio of successful flower shops gets visited by her competitor; a somewhat nice fellow who owns a conglomerate of floral businesses. The flower tycoon shows the small business owner that he now owns 5 shares of her company. This triggers the woman to check with the husband of her invalid sister if their 50% shares of stock are still in their possession. The hubby is a bit of a gambler and the florist has never really trusted the bum. 

Brother-in-law promises that he still has the stock. But he refuses to produce it. He has a meeting with the guy he accidentally sideswiped in an automobile accident. This leads the lady to make some phone calls and she learns that a grifter and a mysterious woman were in the car with her in-law at the time of the wreck.

The woman somehow figures out that those 2 have possession of her sister's stock certificate. She goes to the nightclub that they frequent and learns that they gave the stock to one of the owners of the nightclub. She also manages to get the mystery woman to help her get the stock back. To do such, she must have representation. Enter Mr. Perry Mason.

Mason agrees to meet with both women at 1am at his office. But at around 12:30, the mystery woman calls his office, claiming to have been poisoned. On top of that, it's revealed that the club owner with the stock certificate has been murdered! The woman claims that her sister committed the crime. The invalid sibling... who has been at death's door for the first 4 chapters of this book! To save her sister from a life and early death in jail, the woman admits to the crime while hiring Mason to now defend the handicapped sister. 

Balancing both sisters as clients, the woman about the hostile takeover of her floral shops and the sickly sister for murder, Perry Mason and his legal team must save a third woman's life, untangle California business law and solve a murder! 

I'm struck by how different the world was in 1940. Newspapers and radio were your only sources of information. If a person wasn't listed in the phone book directory, you had to scour voter records, question landlords and grease a few palms in order to find them. It makes for thrilling reading, like the chapter where Perry must find his poisoned witness before its too late. For me, growing up in the 70s and 80s before the coming of the internet, it's almost nostalgic. I can imagine for someone born in the 2000s, such a scene might be a living nightmare. Or maybe such privacy would be considered a dream come true...

However, it is due to the lack of information that I didn't like this novel as well. I already mentioned that I have no idea how the main character figured out who had her sister's stock certificate. But she did. Then, the woman goes to the very nightclub where these 2 ne'er-do-wells frequent and just happened to find the mystery woman on the very first try, sight unseen! Remember, there's no Facebook or Instagram. So unless you were a famous person, the odds of knowing what somebody else looks like without much description had got to be an astronomical number! It just felt implausible in a pre-World War II America .

The dialogue was rapid paced and exciting. This is the first novel where I encountered Detective Tragg, the guy who always investigated the crimes of which Perry Mason's clients are accused of. He's supposed to be Mason's 'antagonist', as Tragg is the one trying to arrest the bad guys Perry Mason defends. But I thought he was a great character. Way smarter than Lestrade in so many Sherlock Holmes novels. Tragg is kinda prickly, but in a likable Tommy Lee Jones sort of way.

There's still no Hamilton Burger, the district attorney that never seems able to beat Perry Mason. Technically, we still haven't visited a criminal defense court of law. The courtroom we visit in this story is a civil court, where Mason does his darnedest to make sure that his client doesn't lose her business to her wealthy, and rather intimating rival.

This book was a first edition from 1940. At 278 pages and almost 2 inches thick, I don't understand how those tiny paperbacks my mom read were unabridged and yet, all research that I find states that those are the complete manuscripts. My favorite used book store has got a bunch of those novels and I expect to pick up a few more in the very near future. I might rank this book lower than my first Erle Stanley Gardner read. But I enjoyed it enough to keep on reading more.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Keeping in mind that I've only read about half of the Philip Marlowe novels written by Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely is currently my least favorite of the bunch. First published in 1940, this is only Chandler's 2nd Marlowe novel. So it's early Chandler. Unpolished Chandler. 

I'm learning that Raymond Chandler is a fantastic writer. He paints pictures with words that are so vibrant, I feel like I am there. But when it comes to plotting, the writer isn't the most thorough or revealing. You know that conspiracy theory board where the paranoid guy has red strings going all over the place? Well I feel like Chandler uses two bulletin boards placed on opposite sides of the room, because some of the connections he makes with the clues behind the mystery are a bit of a stretch.

There's a trio of Russian cigarettes that contain a secret in them. How Chandler connects the murder of a client all the way to the organized crime racket of a seaside California town still has my scratching my head. If it didn't have anything to do with the plot, I would consider it a red herring. But Chandler does find a way to glue the puzzle pieces together. I just think he forgot to tell us how he did it. 

There's a famous anecdote about where Howard Hawks is trying to adapt The Big Sleep to a screenplay and he can't figure out how one of the characters died to which Raymond Chandler telegraphed back 'Damned of I Know.' The Big Sleep was Chandler's first Marlowe novel. So you can imagine how excited I am to read it in light of this Hollywood legend. 

Some of the Philip Marlowe novels were originally published in the pulps, only without Chandler's iconic hero in the starring role, and being around 50 pages or less, having slightly changed plots. And yes, some of the plots were altered quite a bit. The scene where Marlowe goes to a hotel and shares a pint of whiskey with the manager is a moment taken directly from 'Pickup on Noon Street'.

So what's the plot to Farewell, My Lovely? In a nutshell, Marlowe runs into a massive ex-con who needs help finding his sweetheart: a girl by the name of Velma. After Moose Malloy accidentally kills the man that owns the new establishment at the locale that used to be where Velma worked, the big guy flees. Several cops warn Marlowe away from the case. But you never can tell the detective to stay away from a mystery. That's practically invitation for the shamus to keep on looking for clues.

Marlowe's search for Velma will hopefully lead the cops to arrest Malloy. In the meantime, he takes a rather small assignment, helping a pretty boy playboy conduct a money drop for some stolen jewelry. Smelling a set up, Marlowe goes around to case the scene. But that's a bad idea, because it results in his client's death. With the help of a loaded cigarette case of reefers and a spunky news reporter, the P.I. will stumble in the path of a con man playing celebrity psychic, his odorific henchman and a disgraced doctor who holds the narrator captive with truth serum and dope before finds his way to freedom and the off shore gambling houses of one of the state's leading 'legitimate businessmen!'

Argue as much as you like that a lot of Marlowe's exploits seem to repeat throughout the books he stars in. But the 2 chapters where the dick languishes in a drugged fueled haze is completely new territory. Plus, I do not recall marijuana playing a role in any of the other novels written by Chandler.

Chandler takes Marlowe all over L.A. County it seems. If it was a travel guide, this would be one of the most amazing works of mental pictures about the underbelly of Southern Coastal California. But this is a crime noir. One that is written so well but needs a road map to get from Point A all the way to Point B. I think this would have worked better as 2 short stories. One about Marlowe's encounters with Moose Malloy and a second about the murdered client. I think if Chandler had done that I would be a fan of 2 amazing novellas instead of on the fence about a very confusing mystery novel. Though, some of the confusion could be based on my copy being a UK edition. 

Perhaps some of the late 1930s slang used by the characters in this book were changed for British audiences. It's possible. I just don't know how likely that could be.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

All-American Comics #16 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The 16th issue of All-American Comics marked the debut of the Alan Scott Green Lantern. Created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, Alan Scott was an engineer who was overseeing the inaugural voyage of a new train route he designed. The owner of a rival engineering firm bombs the train, killing all aboard except for Scott. Searching for survivors through the wreckage, Scott stumbles across an unusual green hued lantern. 

Scott learns from the lantern that it was forged centuries ago from a meteorite that fell in China. Over the years, the lantern changed hands, blessing its owners with an array of miracles. The lantern promises Alan Scott unimaginable powers should he make a ring from the lantern. If Scott touches the ring daily, he'll be given protection and ability to master the elements of the universe. Except for wood, which Scott learns is the Ring's only weakness, the only other limitation for the ring is the wearer's imagination. 

As the story progresses, Alan finds the man behind the railroad tragedy. The fiend confesses. But in his panic, has a heart attack which prompts Alan Scott to not use his powers for revenge or selfish gains. Donning a wild costume made of a red tunic, green pants, a yellow cape and a domino mask in order to strike fear in the hearts of villains, Alan Scott becomes the Green Lantern!

Along with the first appearance of the Green Lantern, this issue marks the debut of the title's new logo. The first logo that looked more like a highway route marker shield. It's replacement was a banner that used stylized art deco lettering. If the font looks familiar, that's because it's just like the lettering used for National Publication's (later DC Comics) flagship title, Action Comics. There's only one problem with this; All-American Comics was owned by rival publisher All-American Publications. Green Lantern and friends such as the Flash, Wonder Woman and Hawkman would join the ranks of Superman and Batman when National bought out All-American in 1946.

All-American Comics was an anthology series that utilized reprinted newspaper strips with all- features. Ripley's Believe It Or Not and Bud Fisher's Mutt and Jeff were some popular strips that appeared in All-American Comics. 

New material that appears in the pages of All-American Comics included the child cartoonist Scribbly. Created by Sheldon Mayer, Scribbly would later introduce the character of the Red Tornado who wasn't an android but a hefty stay at home mom who wore red Long Johns and a stew pot on her head when she fought the bad guys. Don Shelby's futuristic Gary Concord: The Ultra-Man fought off mad scientists, alien menaces and fawning good girls in distress. The Navy's secret weapons of soldiers Red, White and Blue are tasked with a mission to find spies operating under the cover of international maritime law. 

In the very middle of this issue was a segment sponsored by frozen confectioner Popsicle. The company unveiled a redemption program for it's customers where fun prizes could be redeemed for the paper bags that acted as wrappers for the frozen treats. Stamps from around the world were highlighted in the campaign. An advertising feature starring the character of Popsicle Pete extends into the world of the philatelist. The center story sees Popsicle Pete and his buddies going into the stamp collecting supply business after they buy a rare stamp for a very good price.

The 2023 facsimile edition of All-American Comics #16 was a time capsule of cartoons, swashbuckling heroes, retro advertisements and the cultural norms of the day. Originally published in 1940, the war in Europe looms in some of these adventures that are peppered with spies and European monarchs looking to destroy America from within. This issue's Scribbly feature wears evidence of racism with a black horse trainer looking more like a brown teddy bear than a human being. There are also elements of misogyny with the manly heroes berating and even manhandling their fairer sexed costars.

In spite of these archaic tropes, I applaud DC Comics for not editing a work such as this. Keeping the good with the bad and the ugly shows how far we've come from a pre-war US of A. Hopefully younger generations will still be able to appreciate the quality of these works while identifying what societal missteps are still in need of fixing.

Completing this review completes Task #41 (A Facsimile Edition) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.