The Case of the Step Daughter's Secret

(a Perry Mason book; reviews on my book blog include: (The Case of...) The Worried Waitress, The Demure Defendant, The Shapely Shadow, The Fabulous Fake)

Author: Erle Stanley Gardner
Back-of-the-Book Description: When a man's past threatens his family's future, there's only one way to turn--to Perry Mason....

Harlow Bissenger Bancroft, head of a vast corporate empire and a happily married man, had a battery of lawyers--not one of any of any use to him in his present situation.
That's why he sat facing Perry Mason, his air of authority vanished, a deeply disturbed man.
"There are three ways of dealing with a blackmailer," Mason told him, "but only one should concern you--tell him to go jump in the lake." (This is Galaxy speaking; I don't remember that line in the book... but I might have forgotten it. And I thought there were four ways of dealing with a blackmailer...?)
The blackmailer was found on the lake, all right, but he'd not had a chance to jump in it for he was dead as the proverbial mackerel.
My Description: One thing that really annoys me in this series is how his clients always lie to him, or don't come to him immediately. If they just had told him the truth (though this book isn't a very good example of that) or had come to him when there was trouble (this book is a good example of that) things would have been sooooooo much better for them!

Anyways, it's a fun Perry Mason. Not as mind boggling as some of the others, but with a satisfying ending and plenty of times to try and guess as to what is going on in that lawyer's mind. There's a bit of the annoying repetition (see The Worried Waitress through the link above), a bunch of the heart-pounding suspense... I'd write more, but I've reviewed so many books in this series that there isn't much more to say... oh, except that I missed Lt. Tragg and Hamilton Burger in this one, but I guess they can't be in 'em all.
Pages: 166
Recommendations: To anyone who likes mysteries, or any Perry Mason books.
Writing Rating: 7
Story Rating: 7
Overall Rating: 7 3/4


Book #24 of '09, Book #74 of all