Perry Mason's at it again, trying to save the hide of a beautiful fan dancer accused of murder. If you've never read a Perry Mason novel, here's what they have going for them: Terrific pace (a couple of pages in and you're embroiled in a mystery), good dialogue, complicated plot, a decent amount of suspense (especially in the court room scenes) and best of all, a very quick read. A lot like the TV show. All the Perry Mason novels I've read (about 10) are pretty much the same, which is really the one main drawback. Six months from now, I doubt I'll remember much about this book. Still, a lot of fun. Again, a lot like the TV show.

I love Perry Mason Mysteries; however, I found the detective work in this one to be a bit contrived. Perry Mason finds out things about the murder and the true killer that isn't really explained until he tells Lt Tragg. How he arrived at it isn't apparent in the story. It is a good entertaining book though. I recommend it for you mystery lovers.

Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason is faced with a particularly difficult challenge in "The Case of the Queenly Contestant." Especially duplicitous people, including his client, surround him as he tries to get to the bottom of a case involving a woman who may or may not have had the non-marital child of a now-wealthy (and presumably dead) business owner. The woman, Ellen Adair, was once a beauty contest winner who hoped to make it in Hollywood. That failed, though, and she ended up pregnant, she says, and unmarried. That's when she changed her identity and began a new life.

Now, twenty years later, Ellen seeks Mason's help as she tries to stay hidden. She is being pursued by a variety of formidable forces seeking to get to the truth of her past. At the heart of the case is a nurse who seems to be shopping her story to the highest bidder. The nurse soon turns up murdered, though, and Mason's client is the prime suspect.

This Perry Mason novel is slightly more involved than most of the others and about par for the course in terms of quality. Par, of course, is a high standard for Gardner, and "The Case of the Queenly Contestant" is entertaining and satisfying as a mystery and entertaining diversion.

This is a great book for someone who is hoping to steal financial engineering practices from one industry to apply them in another. I loved this book- we've already ordered two more copies for people in my work group. Experienced or neophyte, if you're into risk management and/or developing new financial instruments get this one

I recently used this book and found it to be very informational, as well as very appealing to the eyes. The illustrations in the book are extremely detailed and will capture the attention of anyone who reads the book. The text was appropriate to be read by individuals, or to be shared through oral reading. The book is dividied nicely into small sections so that material is easy to grasp and understand. Each section also highlights several explorers from that particular era, and within each of the selections, the text highlights sections of cultural interest.

This is one of the most interesting books on this subject. The author covers a wide range of subjects, incl. radios, which are normaly not seen in one book. The photos and illustrations are very well chosen, but some more in-depth information could be useful. I heartyly recomend this book for anybody interesed in this period or the services involved. It does not go into "burocratics" but covers the materiel and some operations of the OSS &SOE, making it a "must" for research.

This book was exhilarating, however, it wasn't really a cliff-hanger. It captured my interest in Samuel Clemens--Mark Twain. I had no clue that there was a town called Florida, Missouri (I'm from the state of Florida).

This is a good book for a book report for school (5th grade).

This is the fourteenth Hugh North story and the first one to present a cold war adventure. North is in Turkey pretending to be drunk and disillusioned but he is really trying to penetrate a network of communist spies. The goal is to obtain a certain microfilm containing secrets which will allow the United States to regain the lead from Russia in the development of missiles and bacteriological weapons. As usual the author gives us a fast-paced international thriller which reflects accurately the tensions of the times.

This collection offers a glimpse of what goes on at the Beyond Baroque poetry evening, one of LA's best-known poetry workshops. The poems it contains cover a number of styles and subjects, from the erotic to the amusing, and this variety means you're likely to find something that appeals to you whatever your taste. I was pleased to see that the volume contained four prose pieces from Ron Bloom, which for me were the highlight of the collection. I also particularly enjoyed pieces by Ruth Wire, Sarah Maclay, and a poem on pain/death by Jessica Pompei.

If you've read many of LA's literary magazines you'll probably know some of these authors; if not, you'll discover new voices you'll want to hear more from. This is a volume worth exploring.

This lovely little book is full of much information on fairy realms, fairy food, protection against fairies, fairy plants & animals, fairy loves & abductions, fairy days & festivals, and much more. It is written in the competant yet down-to-earth style that Ms. Franklin is known for. This is one of Capall Baans few books that doesn't contain a lot of typos, which is also a plus! But I think one of the most charming things about this book is the lovely illustrations; they're all in black & white, but they are still wonderful. Most are old Victorian prints & motifs that really lend even more magic to this already magical subject.

Like most books from this publisher, the price is a bit steep for a paperback. For this price, I would have liked to have seen some color plates. But, I don't mind paying a bit more for Anna Franklin's work. I recommend this book to faery/fairy lovers everywhere!