The Case of the Drowning Duck

Perry Mason, Book 20

By: Erle Stanley Gardner

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Fowl play?

A dead man in the kitchen, gas fumes permeate the house, a duck seems to be drowning in the fishbowl, but it didn't die. Maybe that fact has something to do with murder?

John L. Witherspoon, a wealthy patrician, is loath to let his daughter marry Marvin Adams, the son of a convicted murderer, something Marvin's mother managed to keep a secret - until now. To set the love-struck lass straight, Witherspoon engages Perry Mason to weigh the 20-year-old evidence that sent Marvin's father to the gallows, and prove that the young man is kin to the murdering kind.

Reopening the case, however, quickly opens up a can of worms. While Mason dredges the past for new clues, a blackmailer threatens to dredge up the whole sordid affair in the society pages. Then the whistle-blower is done in by a dose of deadly homemade gas, and the damning evidence points to chemistry whiz Marvin. Like father, like son? Like hell, says Mason, who sets out to bird-dog the clever killer who's trying to turn the young swan into a sitting duck.

©1942 Erle Stanley Gardner. Renewed 1970 by Erle Stanley Gardner. (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

a great listen

If you grew up watching and enjoying Raymond Burr's Perry Mason then you'll enjoy listening to the books in the series. Every book in the Perry Mason series is a fun listen taking me back to a time before cell phones and computers. And, as I learned in this book, a time before detergents, giving us a window into the past while being entertained. Erle Stanley Gardner was a prolific author that could tell a good story and I haven't heard a bad one yet.

A small warning, there are misogynistic attitudes along with racism and bigotry that were the norm in the early 20th century. Those attitudes are usually voiced by the "bad" guys.

The narrator also does an excellent job voicing the male characters and a passable one as the female voices but he makes it all work.

Just ok

I’ve listened to quite a few Perry Mason mysteries at this point. If you like those books, you’ll probably like this. At this point, I find Perry Mason a bit tiresome. Gardiner is too much inclined to put his philosophy of life or cultural musings in the mouths of his characters. The flagrant violation of an attorney’s ethical responsibilities is obnoxious. He definitely deserves to be disbarred. Presumably (based on his many pronouncements) Mason believes no one is above the law … except him. Alexander Cendese does a fine job narrating, as usual.