The Case of the Angry Mourner is one of Earl Stanley Gardener's best works in his Perry Mason series. The premise of the book is very simple, the action is straightforward and suspenseful, and plot keeps you guessing until the very end. The book is a real piece of classic detective fiction because the reader is never lied to and is given all the evidence so that a cunning reader could potentially solve crime before Perry Mason. In fact, Gardener repeatedly gives clues to the ending, but uses his literary genius to present them in such a way that the reader jumps to a false conclusion. In The Case of the Angry Mourner, Perry Mason finds himself on vacation when his rest is suddenly disrupted by a murder. The millionaire Arthur Cushing, who was an infamous playboy, was murdered in his own home. A woman from a neighboring cottage, Belle Adrian, calls upon Mason to defend her daughter Carlotta, who she believes shot Cushing after he became too insistent during an intimate dinner. Carlotta believes that her mother killed him in a vindictive fury and police agree with her conclusion. Its is up to Perry Mason to sort of the clues and determine which woman, if either, killed Arthur Cushing. This book is a great murder mystery because of its presentation of the evidence. Unlike many Agatha Christie and Murder, She Wrote mysteries, the reader does not have to spot a single line of dialogue where the killer slips up and reveals himself or herself. Instead, The Case of the Angry Mourner depends heavily on circumstantial evidence. Gardner laying out a set of clues that can be interpreted in numerous ways and quickly deflates the "experts" who narrowly interpret the evidence against his client.

Background: The stylistic heritage of the Perry Mason mysteries is the American pulp magazines of the 1920s. In the early Mason mysteries, Perry - a good-looking, broad-shouldered, two-fisted, man of action - is constantly stiff-arming sultry beauties on his way to an explosive encounter that precipitates the book's climactic action sequence. In the opening chapters of these stories, Gardner subjects the reader to assertive passages that Mason is a crusader for justice, a man so action-oriented he is constitutionally incapable of sitting in his office and waiting for a case to come to him or to develop on its own once it has - he has to be out on the street, in the midst of the action, making things happen, always on the offensive, never standing pat or accepting being put on the defensive. These narrative passages - naïve, embarrassingly crude "character" development - pop up throughout the early books, stopping the narrative dead in its tracks, and putting on full display a non-writer's worst characteristic: telling the reader a character's traits instead of showing them through action, dialogue, and use of other of the writer's tools.

Rating "Ground Rules": These flaws, and others so staggeringly obvious that enumerating them is akin to using cannons to take out a flea, occur throughout the Gardner books, and can easily be used (with justification) to trash his work. But for this reader they are a "given", part of the literary terrain, and are not relevant to my assessment of the Gardner books. In other words, my assessments of the Perry Mason mysteries turn a blind eye to Erle Stanley Gardner's wooden, style-less writing, inept descriptive passages, unrealistic dialogue, and weak characterizations. As I've just noted, as examples of literary style all of Gardner's books, including the Perry Mason series, are all pretty bad. Nonetheless, the Mason stories are a lot of fun, offering intriguing puzzles, nifty legal gymnastics, courtroom pyrotechnics, and lots of action and close calls for Perry and crew. Basically, you have to turn off the literary sensibilities and enjoy the "guilty" pleasure of a fun read of bad writing. So, my 1-5 star ratings (A, B, C, D, and F) are relative to other books in the Gardner canon, not to other mysteries, and certainly not to literature or general fiction.

"The Case of the Angry Mourner": A+

"The Case of the Angry Mourner" is Gardner's masterpiece, one of the two or three best pure detective story he ever wrote. He is at his deftest in presenting the actual murderer's motive and opportunity in such a way that the reader is looking the other direction for the villain. Against the rural setting of this story, he plays by all the "rules" of detective fiction, never lying to the reader, and above all never hiding evidence that is crucial to the solution of the puzzle. He even one-ups us by repeatedly returning to important clues to the solution, but returning to them in such cunning ways that we constantly misinterpret them to arrive at the wrong conclusion.

The story is straightforward enough. Perry is on vacation at a cottage in the woods when a woman from a neighboring cottage calls upon him to defend her daughter against the charge of murdering a playboy who had become a bit too insistent after an intimate dinner at his rural retreat on the other side of the lake. The scene of the crime is positively cluttered with clues suggesting how the wheelchair-bound bounder met his end. Gardner uses one of his favorite detective story devices: a forensic "expert" who reads the clues and weaves them into a net that snares Perry's client. In this case the expert has two stages on which to strut his stuff: the interior of the murder cottage, and the back-road where the snow around the automobile abandoned by Perry's client tells the expert who came and went on the fateful night. Gardner truly enjoys laying out a set of clues that can plausibly be interpreted in a number of different ways, and his own guilty pleasure is in gently making fun of these experts and deflating the pomposity and closed-mindedness with which they typically deliver their chiseled-stone-tablet conclusions.

Fine stuff all around, with the only letdown being minor: the courtroom scenes are quite good in their own right, but they don't pack quite the punch of some of Perry's urban encounters.

Very well plotted mystery entangled with discord among heirs, missing property, suspicious death of the millionaire, two murders and the caretaker's cat. Mason often uses unconventional tricks to make a cat's-paw of authorities, and the trick he uses in this book is extremely superb.

Della and Drake try to stop Mason from skating on thin ice. Mason retorts "What a hell can a man lose? He only has a lease on life. All that really counts is a man's ability to live, to get the most out of it as he goes through it, and he gets the most kick out of it by playing a no-limit game." Anyway, Perry Mason gets a lot out of life; he lives a full life and he really enjoys it. How I envy him!

Once again, the lawyer-detective solves the mystery. This is a classic with a slightly unusual ending for a Perry Mason novel. I cannot say more without ruining the mystery. David Stern

I loved this book! I hadn't read a Perry Mason book in several years (although I re-read all of Gardner's books written under the AA Fair name every couple of years), and I was caught offguard. A great plot that had some twists that really surprised me, an unusually suspenseful (for Gardner) opening, and a dash -- just a soupcon! -- of romance between Perry and Della. Mm-hmm! I think it's time Perry Mason got remade into a good movie, keeping the 1940s or 50s setting, but with new actors. The Perry in the book was tall, granite-faced, and wore a three-piece suit -- but wasn't afraid to use a little muscle now and again. Plus he knew how to keep Della warm on a cold night! Sounds like a role for Pierce Brosnan! (Can he do an American accent?)

this was the first perry mason book i've ever read (i'm only 13), and i think it is one of the best books i have ever read. i haven't read any others, so i wouldn't know what to compare it with. this book had a lot os twists and surprises. i plan to read as many perry mason books possible.

Typical Perry Mason mystery with the speedy and thrilling development and the superb revelation of the real murderer at the trial. And Mason's character as "a cross between a saint and a devil" is well described in this book. He does everything he can to save the poor redhead girl who can't pay the fee at all. On the other hand, he uses a devilish tactics and stirs up the trial into a complete mess. D.A. Burger get furious as always. Even the judge loses his temper and they accuse each other. That's unusual and very amusing.

This book is exciting. It was just as exciting as tha tv show. Evelyn Bagby is accused of killing Harry Marow. She asks Perry Mason to defend her. I would recommend this book.

or so he thought. Burger's legal aruguement was sound, but then he got the shock of his life, when Mason turned it against him. With Burger pleading to get a look at documents Mason produced, he put Mason on the stand against his own client. However, Mason was both clever enough to avoid a criminal charge... and use his own testimony to get his client aquitted...

Typical Perry Mason mystery with the eccentric opening, the thrilling development and the pleasant victory. Mason is severely cornered; the circumstantial evidence shows that the murderer is either Mason himself or his client, the sunbathing girl. D.A. Hamilton Burger cannot restrain himself from laughing triumphantly. Although I know it is Mason who laughs last, I enjoy the thrillingness very much.

I am expressing surprise, not because I expected less of Charles Stanley, who is a great teacher, but because this book is an exhaustive reference work that will help those who serve in ministry. It must have taken a great deal of work on the part of the team at In Touch Ministries.

This book is carefuly divided into sections that reach almost all areas of the Christian life, from salvation to tongues to the Lord's Supper. In each section, Stanley shows his extensive knowledge of Scripture and his ability to teach the Word in a simple manner. He also sprinkles in many quotes and Scripture references for additional study. I'm a writer and I often use this book just to look up quotes on a particular subject not often found in traditional quote books.

If you're in ministry, this is a small, but worthy investment. Any passage you might have a question on will be answered in great detail. If you're a fundamentalist, you'll find it especially gratifying that Charles Stanley doesn't compromise on issues like speaking in tongues, the real meaning of repentance (one of the hi-lights of the book), and the security of our salvation.

I highly recommend this book. It will really compliment your study library.

Charles Stanley blew me away with this one. This book is so packed with great info, and the one word i would use to describe it is "practical". He gives down to earth, realistic, christian life principles, that actually apply to living in today's crazy world. This book is hip and relevant. It also deals with some of the tough gray areas that christians encounter daily. This book is a keeper and a great place to go to when a question comes up in your christian faith...

My son borrowed this book from the school library and loved it so much we're buying it.

The authors brought out a different side to Cleopatra and portrayed her as the brilliant, intelligent and beautiful women she was. With the use of her power she planned on joining the world under her Egyptian rule. It is full of information, yet it has a natural flow and easy to follow. It has a number of stories within the story telling her enjoyful, tragic life. It starts off with giving some information on her family background and slowing moving into her reighning years as Queen of Egypt. It also mentions her personal love life as well as family members, but not too in detail just enough to give you some kind of idea on her values and strength as a women. There are beautiful illustrations on each page that show you her lifestyle and her riches as a powerful Queen who was loved by many people. The language usage is easily understood and one doesn't seem to get lost in the text. It also has plenty of other useful information on other historical people and events that occured during her life time. This biography of Cleopatra is full of life and is sure to educate children. It is great for readers who are first learning of Cleopatra and the Egyptian form of ruling. Finally there is a great bibliography which could also be very helpful when researching a little bit further on this courageous and charmful ruler.

Homer's The Odyessey is a drudgery to read not to mention understand. This book took the pain and bordom of that and shortned it to a 1 hour (45 if your a fast reader) book that keeps all the details (for your reading pleasure) and explains the importance of each section in relations to High School which actually helps a ton. (pulled my grade on this from the usual B to A thanks to this book).

This is a great way to help you better understand the book. While it does not take the place of the book it is a really good learning tool,

Goldberg has a brilliant approach to speech-language pathology: since there is so little (and I mean very little) clinical research to support what we speech therapists do, why not utilize research from other fields that is very closely related to the clinical skills performed in speech therapy? This will reveal to us what works and what does not. This book is one of the most important which I have purchased. Goldberg's approach is so obvious once you read it-so why hasn't anyone else thought of this before? It helps if you also have degrees in other fields as Goldberg has (philosophy, political theory)-you are more likely to be able to think in novel ways than if you have confined yourself to the literature of only one field. Bravo to the author! If you want to improve your clinical skills, learn new ones, etc., get this book. It is well worth the purchase price. This is a book not just to read but to study in depth. One of the ten most important books on speech therapy which I have bought-and I have bought hundreds!

Clinical methods has been a "gray" area for most graduating master's students in speech-language pathology. It is often taught via the "memorize and regurgitate" method. Dr. Goldberg, however, gives a readable, practical guideline that is useful for training new clinicians, as well as for helping practicing clinician's answer the "why's" of what they are doing, an area that has desperately needed to be addressed in our profession. The content is applicable to all clinical settings, and draws heavily on related discipline's research to augment our practice patterns. Also helpful is a bibliography to guide those wishing to pursue research in the area of clinical methods. This book is truly a godsend to speech pathology!!

This book will help you who want to study physics by yourselves so much. You can be familiar with physics as you answer many questions in the book. As the author said, to understand physics well, you should not just read the book but use it(that is, answer questions many times!).

I found the methods of explaining problems in this book to be clear, concise and very helpful. Though this is more or less the basics of physics, it would be useful to any senior in an advanced level physics class.