This story was unusual as Perry Mason mysteries in several reasons; (1) Mason was assigned by the court as a defending lawyer for a penniless defendant, (2) the case was not a murder but a hold-up and (3) the trial was on from the beginning of the story. The situation went worse and worse to the defendant, but Mason never gave up and at last succeeded in turning the tables more dramatically than ever. The story showed Mason's sincerity as a lawyer; even if he couldn't earn no money, he did everything he could for the defendant. I wish I could retain Mason when I needed a criminal lawyer. And I liked the front cover; it was meaningful.

Erle stanley gardener is a master at weaving a web of suspense around his readers. Like all the other Perry Mason books, this one too, holds your interest till the last pages. It is very difficult to guess at the identity of the murderer in his books, which of course contributes to the fun.

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 Lame Canary": A-

One of Perry Mason's best early mysteries, "The Case of the Lame Canary" starts in typical fashion: a visitor to Mason's law office simply wants some advice on a peculiar situation that seems to make him or, more often, her legally vulnerable, but along the way introduces a puzzle that intrigues Mason and serves as the entry point to his involvement in a convoluted murder case. In this instance, Mason is drawn in by the relatively simple puzzle of determining why the canary his client is carrying appears to be lame. And the case that unfolds from this point forward is certainly satisfyingly convoluted.

In the "Lame Canary", Gardner is at his most adept in keeping the story moving and the reader fascinated by an "onion skin" narrative approach: A puzzling situation is introduced, Perry Mason probes the possibilities, plays a hunch, and pieces together a solution, peeling away one puzzling layer of the mystery - only to introduce another puzzling layer that conceals yet another puzzler that conceals.... Gardner is very adept at peeling away one layer at a time, carefully leading the reader through the logic that Perry Mason uses to get at the truth. And at the same time, preserving through each revelation the one tangled fabric of suspicion, of condemning evidence, that, as the story progresses, seems to be forming a tight noose that is a perfect fit for the neck of Perry's client.

Gardner uses this narrative approach a number of times in the early books, when his fertile imagination was generating innumerable puzzles and clues to their solutions. In "The Lame Canary", many little mysteries are cleared up as the evidence gets uncovered, holding the reader's interest and at the same time seeming to leave the final solution tantalizingly close at hand.

A solid mystery, from simple beginning through complex situations and conspiracies to the surprising yet plausible conclusion. A must-read for Gardner's Perry Mason fans who want to see their protagonist in top form.

Very well-plotted mystery. Especially, the process to the murder is very complicated and fascinating. The disclosure of who is murdered is so surprising, so explosive! That makes this story outstanding.

It is well-known that Mason's clients are always innocent. That seems to limit the mystery, but Mason mysteries are not so easy. It is not sure whether the clients tell the truth. They often tell various lies on various reasons, but sometimes they tell the genuine truth. This is perplexing, and that makes it difficult for Mason and readers to guess what really happened.

Perry Mason mysteries are always dependably interesting and fast moving, and "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" is no exception. As per usual, Perry is defending a client who has been framed, and Perry engages in a few unorthodox practices to protect his client. The client anticipates inheriting wealth from her mother who had nursed a sick man. The man wrote a will to her, leaving the bulk of his fortune. Needless to say, his family did not appreciate the bequest, and one of the witnesses to the will is considering changing her testimony to the effect she did not witness the signing. Murder enters within the confines of this thick plot.

It is not easy to figure out "who done it," but Perry, assisted by Della Street and with minimal help from Paul Drake, manages to frustrate Lieu. Tragg once again. You can't go wrong with any Perry Mason mystery, but this one had an extra touch of human interest.

This case is solidly plotted and masterfully suspenseful. The most dazzling case in Perry Mason's career where he has to solve the case of a corpse dying twice. Gardner smoothly mixes the ingredients like rivalry, betrayal, love, family honour & prepares a dish that is hard to resist. So, I strongly recommend this book!

The case is solidly plotted and masterfully suspenseful.The most dazzling case in Perry Mason's career where he has to solve the case of the corpse dying twice. Gardner smoothly mixes the ingredients like rivalry,betrayal,love,family honour and prepares a dish that was hard to resist for me. so, i strongly recommend this book!

Very well-plotted mystery. Every small details were combined to the truth. Trial scenes took larger part in this novel and I like trial scenes. Highly recommended.

You may be able to guess the truth (what really happened and who the real murderer is) without much difficulty. However, guessing is one thing, proving it is another,especially when the one-track-minded authorities (police and prosecution) firmly believe that they are absolutely right. Mason uses a risky, but very splendid court tactics to prove the truth. It is one of THE MOST SPLENDID tactics in all Mason stories. Highly recommended.

When Janice Wainwright shows up in Perry Mason's office with a suitcase full of money and a story of her employer being blackmailed, Perry, Della, and Janice start recording the numbers of as many bills as possible. However, when her employer ends up murdered, the evidence points to Janice as a blackmailer and a killer. Even more surprising, Perry Mason puts on no defense evidence, effectively betting Janice's life on one small detail, a detail which sets off a firestorm of legal fireworks and has Hamilton Burger spitting nails.

This is a novel that defines Perry Mason; one where he goes up against a mountain of evidence, but finds a different analysis of it, combined with legal tactics which run circles around the district attorney. Highly recommended.