The Case of the Velvet Claws (The Best Mysteries of All Time) Hardcover – January 1, 2002

I was happy to see this book available on Kindle, as a hardback copy of the book, if you can find one, are going for astronomical prices - between $400-$9000 - and even the recent paperback reprints are going for double digits. If you're like me, and mostly know Perry Mason from the CBS television show, this book is an eye-opener. Here we see a proto-Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake, not quite fully formed, in this, the first Perry Mason novel. Perry is hardboiled, Humphrey Bogart type who doesn't care about his legal reputation, and as he says in the book "People come to me when they are in trouble. I get them out of trouble." and to the police he describes himself as a "dangerous antagonist". Surprisingly, there isn't a court room scene in this book, it's all resolved before the case goes to court. To discuss the differences between the characters in the book and TV show, one has to go into SPOILER territory, so if you don't want certain details spoiled, stop reading now. SPOILERS: Perry is not above engaging in chicanery and questionable tactics, shaking down clients and paying off policemen. Keep in mind, this book was written in 1933, so it was a different world than the 50s-60s TV era. Perry often talks like a thug. There is definitely a relationship between Perry and Della - there is one scene where they engage in snogging. Della is also jealous of Perry's pretty female clients. Paul Drake has no personality at all in this story. Although we get no backstory about Perry himself, we get a tidbit of Della's background that the TV show skipped over. Della came from a wealthy family who lost their money, and had to go to work at an early age - and she has utter contempt for women who don't have to work for a living. One last spoiler about Perry himself. In this first book he has utter contempt for the wealthy and politicians. It will be interesting to see how the characters develop as the series of novels goes on.

I enjoyed reading this book though it had its dated aspects given the 1930s writing. It was a good story and I look forward to reading more in the series.

This is the first Perry Mason novel and is written with a 30’s pulp technique. Mason is everything, tough, fearless, extremely knowledgeable of the law, and willing to risk his own life and reputation to serve a client, even if she is a pathological liar. The case takes off one way, turns in another and another all the way through to an unexpected end. Enjoyable from the first to the last word.

I will admit. I never watched more than a channel flip of the television series starring Raymond Burr as Erle Stanley Gardner’s titular hero. I’ve been more interested in watching HBO’s take on the character, but I’ve been holding off until I got a chance to read the first book in the Perry Mason series.If you like your mysteries hardboiled, The Case of the Velvet Claws will more than satisfy. Gardner nails everything this genre requires. A dead body. A femme fatal. Scheming relatives and staff. Everyone is lying, so who is telling the truth? Lots of red herrings until the killer confesses.If you want to know what makes this particular lawyer tick, look elsewhere. The only thing the reader is allowed to know, oftentimes as a detriment to the story, Perry Mason never gives up on his clients even when they’re attempting to frame him for murder. I suppose Perry Mason is a testament to the era (original publication date 1933; I read the 2013 version). While banks and government failed, and people lost their shirts and their smiles, there was still one man left in the world that wouldn’t give up on them.

At long last I am starting to read Erle Stanley Gardner. I decided to read the first Perry Mason novel first and am happy that I did. Can’t wait to read number two and learn more about Mr. Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake and other recurring characters. Fun!

The Case of the Velvet Claws begins slowly, introducing readers to a long-lasting series that set the standard for courtroom drama . . . although Perry Mason never makes it into the courtroom in his debut novel. Instead, he uses his legal wits to keep his client -- and himself -- out of court altogether.As a reader, it's important to remember that fashions come and go in writing as in all things. In the early 1930s, it was more common to begin with the detailed description Erle Stanley Gardner provides of Mason, his confidential secretary Della Street and detective Paul Drake than with a snappy sentence or a compelling scene. It's also important to realize that Mason, Street and Drake will become much more polished as the years and the cases add up . . . this is not the savvy advocate of the television series or the later novels but the gritty defender more common in pulp fiction. Della is not yet the constant companion she will become, but the suggestion of romance is stronger here than later, when it is implied but never addressed.Perry's client is pure poison -- a gold digger who manipulates men, or tries to do so, as a matter of course. We aren't supposed to like her. Instead, our sympathy is given to Perry, who seems to have found himself clutched in this claws, despite Della's deep dislike for the dame. This early in their relationship, Della doesn't have the confidence in him he craves (and will later receive), and Della is afraid he's fallen hook, line and sinker for the woman's lies. No fear. Mason is Mason, even if an earlier, rougher sketch of the legal eagle loved by millions of fans over many generations.I grew up reading Gardner's Perry Mason series, although I never found this one. I am delighted to add it to my collection, more for its place as the first of my first than for the story itself. The series certainly gets better and better, yet I have enjoyed every one of the cases I've read, including this one. I was able to pick it up at a discounted price.If you've never read Gardener's Perry Mason novels, this isn't necessarily the place to start. Others are more compelling reads, more typical of the television series starring Raymond Burr, who, to many readers, will always BE the one and only Perry Mason. But it isn't a bad place to begin, either, because, even in the beginning, Mason has the shrewd legal mind that cuts through the lies to find the real culprit and allow justice to triumph.