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The Case of the Amorous Aunt – Erle Stanley Gardner

auntHaving just met author Erle Stanley Gardner in our author review yesterday, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at one of his novels. “The Case of the Amorous Aunt” begins as most Perry Masons do, with a client coming in to the office to visit the famous California lawyer. This time it’s a young engaged couple, Linda Calhoun and George Latty. Mason receives them in his private office, with his confidential secretary Della Street sitting nearby, notebook at the ready.

Miss Calhoun’s aunt Lorraine has been corresponding with a gentleman friend for some time, and now he’s convinced her to cash in her stocks and liquidate large amounts of money so they can go in together on an investment. Linda is sure that her aunt is being scalped and will either be robbed blind or murdered. She’s never met the boyfriend, a man by the name of Montrose DeWitt, but she has a bad feeling about it.

Mason doesn’t think there’s anything to worry about – Lorraine is an adult and is more than entitled to fall in love again. But when Lorraine’s investment broker comes to see Mason, with more details about the money, Mason realizes he may have shooed Linda out of his office a bit too prematurely. He decides to fly to Arizona, where DeWitt is planning to take Lorraine, and see what he can do to stop the wedding.

Ringing up friend and business associate, private investigator Paul Drake, on the unlisted phone, he asks Paul to see what he can dig up, and invites him to come along. Then, on a chartered plane, Paul, Perry and Della head off for Arizona, hoping to save Lorraine’s life or at least head off a major robbery.

Once landed in Arizona, Paul calls his office to see what his operatives have learned so far. Mason arranges a road block with the local police, and they stop every likely-looking vehicle, only to come up empty-handed – DeWitt and Lorraine never come across the border. But to Mason’s surprise, George Latty shows up, with an elaborate tale of how he’s tracked DeWitt all the way to Arizona and then lost him. Mason is furious – calmly furious, because Mason rarely shows temper, but he’s furious nonetheless. George should have left shadowing to the professionals – DeWitt figured out he was being tailed and turned off, avoiding the roadblock at the state line. Now they might not be able to catch him before the wedding, murder, or robbery took place.

It’s not long, though, before a murder is committed, but it’s not the one Mason was hoping to prevent. With some cool thinking, fast detective work, and smooth talking, he manages to solve the case, put the guilty behind bars, and wrap everything up in a neat bow, after having a nice steak dinner, that is. This book is a great example of Mason’s finesse and fine legal footwork – you’ll enjoy it quite a bit.

(This book was published in 1963 by Ballantine Books.)

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