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Title: The Case of the Sulky Girl
Subtitle: Perry Mason Series, Book 2
Author: Erle Stanley Gardner
Narrator: Alexander Cendese
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-05-16
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 30 votes
Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Classic Detective
Publisher's Summary:
Her uncle was healthy, but in order to get wealthy did she plot his demise? Is there evil in the heir?
Frances Celane has good reason to pout. Thanks to a provision in her late father's will administered by her uncle, she's caught in the middle of a family feud between matrimony and money. If she chooses marriage, she loses a million. But beautiful young Frances has a strong will of her own that she's not afraid to use. One way or another, she means to hear wedding bells and cash registers making beautiful music together. Her first move: hire Perry Mason to orchestrate things.
Unfortunately, stubbornness runs in Frances Celane's family, as Mason discovers when he confronts her Uncle Edward Norton. After Perry's powers of persuasion fail to penetrate his hard head, someone decides the only way of cashing in is by bashing in the uncooperative uncle's skull. But when the blood spills, so do the secrets. Then it's Mason's turn to brood, as he tries to figure out if a girl as pretty as his client could have a hand in something so ugly....
Members Reviews:
Another classic hard boiled mystery
If you enjoy Phillip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, Mike Shane, and the other hard boiled detectives you will enjoy the Perry Mason series of mysteries. This is not the Perry Mason you may know from the television series. This Perry Mason is s tough, no hold bared, lawyer/detective. Think Phillip Marlow or Mike Hammer with a law degree and you got the idea.
Another mystery solved
Excellent story with a great plot and characters. The voice for women is quite distinguish in a strange way. The plot followed well; definitely will continue to listen to the series
Interesting case for Mason
The writing style is horribly dated. Gardner was big on "telling" and not "showing", something that would never pass an editor today. He also uses phrases repeatedly, and I think Mason hooked his fingers into the armholes of his vest 3 times in the first 3 chapters. The case was a good one, not horribly complicated (but made more so by Mason's clients, who lied a lot). Cendese is growing on me as a narrator. He does amazing voices for men, each totally different. He just can't do women's voices. They all sound like chipmunks on helium. Mason's client, in particular, was bad. When Cendese did her "angry" voice, it was laughable.
Irritating performance ruins great story
What would have made The Case of the Sulky Girl better?
Nothing. It's great historical reading from the 30's and the plots grip me.
What other book might you compare The Case of the Sulky Girl to and why?
N/A so far - nothing else I've read sounds like Gardner
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Female parts read by Cendeses sounded like all the women were drag queens. Very distracting while trying to enjoy the story. English accent a little over the top.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Case of the Sulky Girl?
None of it needed to be cut. Love what little of the Perry Mason books I've read so far. Just not impressed by them as audio books because you don't have much variety in narrators.
Performance makes Perry a mad monster
The performance of the book makes Perry Mason sound mad and like a cheap gangster instead of the thoughtful attorney portrayed by Raymond Burr.