The Case of the Sulky Girl

Perry Mason Series, Book 2

By: Erle Stanley Gardner

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Her uncle was healthy, but in order to get wealthy did she plot his demise? Is there evil in the heir?

Frances Celane has good reason to pout. Thanks to a provision in her late father's will administered by her uncle, she's caught in the middle of a family feud between matrimony and money. If she chooses marriage, she loses a million. But beautiful young Frances has a strong will of her own that she's not afraid to use. One way or another, she means to hear wedding bells and cash registers making beautiful music together. Her first move: hire Perry Mason to orchestrate things.

Unfortunately, stubbornness runs in Frances Celane's family, as Mason discovers when he confronts her Uncle Edward Norton. After Perry's powers of persuasion fail to penetrate his hard head, someone decides the only way of cashing in is by bashing in the uncooperative uncle's skull. But when the blood spills, so do the secrets. Then it's Mason's turn to brood, as he tries to figure out if a girl as pretty as his client could have a hand in something so ugly....

©1933 Erle Stanley Gardner. Renewed 1961 by Erle Stanley Gardner (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Performance makes Perry a mad monster

The performance of the book makes Perry Mason sound mad and like a cheap gangster instead of the thoughtful attorney portrayed by Raymond Burr. Some is also the writing and the terms used at the time the books were written, but the performance sends it over the top.

Perry Mason is the best

keeps one guessing till the end. love to follow him through the logic to conclusion

Plenty of plot twists

There are a lot of interesting characters but it is the lawyer Perry Mason that makes the story special. His energy makes me want to just keep reading and reading. This story is an Erle Stanley Gardner classic.

Loved this story! The TV episode is great as well!

I love this reader, and the stories are all top notch decades after being written

Interesting case for Mason

The writing style is horribly dated. Gardner was big on "telling" and not "showing", something that would never pass an editor today. He also uses phrases repeatedly, and I think Mason hooked his fingers into the armholes of his vest 3 times in the first 3 chapters. The case was a good one, not horribly complicated (but made more so by Mason's clients, who lied a lot). Cendese is growing on me as a narrator. He does amazing voices for men, each totally different. He just can't do women's voices. They all sound like chipmunks on helium. Mason's client, in particular, was bad. When Cendese did her "angry" voice, it was laughable.