The Case of the Daring Decoy: A Perry Mason Mystery Paperback – 1960

Just what I expected. Shipment didn't take unusually long. Book in good condition. The 2 novels in the book about as good as other Perry Mason novels. Less unusual than The Crooked Candle and The Buried Clock. Not expensive to buy used.

The Case of the Daring DecoyThe 'Foreword' is dedicated to Merton M. Minter, M.D., a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Minter devotes his 'spare time' to study the problem of evidence, of law enforcement, and the part of the citizen in co-operating with various law enforcement agencies.The story opens with a proxy fight to gain control of an Oil Exploration Company. Should a company distribute profits, or invest them for greater profits in the future? The CEO gets a phone call that promises him confidential information about his rival's proxies. Conway must go to a room in a hotel for this document. When he enters, a half-dressed woman acts surprised, and waves a gun at him. Conway disarms her, and leaves; he finds one bullet discharged. Thinking this was a set-up to entrap him, he consults Perry Mason. Mason & Drake return to the room to find the body of a young woman - a different person from earlier! Now they must work fast to investigate these strange events, and clear Mason's client. Mason's clients are never really guilty; that's the rule of this series. Also, the real killer is revealed only in the last pages, even if others seem culpable of something.Examining stomach contents can time the death once they know when the victim ate their last meal. The position after time of death is indicated by lividity. It takes time for lividity to be established. The fatal bullet can be traced to the pistol, if the latter can be found. This book uses these and other facts to create a puzzling mystery that will entertain you until the last page. Circumstantial evidence is the best evidence, but it can be misinterpreted. If salad, turkey, potatoes, and peas are in the victim's stomach, but they only ordered the first three items, how to account for this discrepancy? The plot takes precedence over character development (which is implicit for adults); this keeps the story moving along. The money figures are many decades out of date.

I've been reading Gardner's Perry Mason books off and on for many years. Many years ago, I was an intense fan of the series, and read them all, at least once. Now, after a lot of water over the dam, I'm looking at them again.Those who are used to really fine mystery writers (in the literary sense), such as Ross Macdonald, may find the writing style here off-putting. It can be stiff and mechanical. Nonetheless, I still love the general setting: the characters of Perry, Della, Paul, Lt. Tragg, and Hamilton Berger. That, and the ingenious plots, are why I read Perry Mason.On the whole, the ones written by 1950 are the best. This one was written in 1957, and is rather typical of the later ones, those written after the TV show became a hit. The plot is interesting and creative, even ingenious. But it is mechanically written, with virtually no embellishment of characters or scence.The plot is centered around a proxy battle to wrest control of an oil company from the current manager and CEO named Jerry Conway. A former member of the board named Gifford Farrell is soliciting proxys via a newspaper ad. Conway receives a phone call from a mysterious woman who says she can deliver to him the list of all the people who have sent their proxies to Farrell. But she insists that Conway meet her in a hotel room alone to get the list! Conway is justifiably afraid that it's a trap to smear his reputation. Yet there is something about the woman's voice that convinces him. He goes to the assigned hotel room but finds there only a very scantily clad young woman who threatens him with a gun! A decoy? He gets the gun away from her and leaves in a panic. He soon realizes his predicament, and gets Perry Mason on the case. Before long the body of an apparently different young woman is discovered in the hotel room. Was she shot with the gun now in Conway's possesion? Conway's story sounds crazy, and he is soon arrested by the police.As the plot unfolds we meet Conway's secretary, Farrell's wife, Farrell's secretary, and a very observant female elevator operator. She never forgets a shoe.Hamilton Burger himself takes a big interest in the prosecution. There are very good courtroom scense as Perry cross-examines some witnesses and a gun expert.As I said above, the writing is spare, even mechanical. Most of the earlier stories in Gardner's long career contain little touches that pique the reader's curiosity and reveal little details about how life was lived in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Not here. There is no reference to exotic locations or long ago events. There is no emotional kick at the end, as there is in the best books.Moderate use of Della and Paul Drake, virtually none of Lt. Tragg. Exceptional use of Hamilton Burger.Recurring themes: action taking place in a hotel room. More than one gun is involved.Recommended for plot and Hamilton Burger.