more summer reading....

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason

by Susan Kandel

This is the first of a wonderful series! I saw the 5th one at the library, and it caught my attention (it was called Dial H for Hitchcock!). So, in great expectation, I found the other 4 were at my library, and promptly read them, hating to go out of order. As a lover of murder and mystery, detectives and detecting, justice and mercy-- these books are right up my alley. I wish I'd written them, to be honest. They are sensational!

Cece Caruso writes biographies of deceased mystery writers, and while doing research on the creator of Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner, she comes across a letter, written to Gardner by a prison inmate, asking for help. He'd been accused of his wife's murder and sentenced to life in prison, but he claims not to have killed her. Cece wonders why Gardner never took the case, and starts digging into the mystery. She finds that the inmate is still alive, and visits him, then follows a series of leads to figure out exactly what happened to this man's wife so many years ago.

It's written in the first person, which is my favorite type of book; I believe they are the easiest to read. Cece's attitude and thoughts are frequently hilarious. I love it when I'm reading a book and I actually laugh out loud. And these books are definitely that kind.

#2 Not a Girl Detective (researching the writers of the Nancy Drew books)

#3 Shamus in the Green Room (researching Dashiell Hammet, creator of Sam Spade)

#4 Christietown (Agatha Christie, of course!)

#5 Dial H for Hitchcock (Hitch!)

I loved them. But then, I have a strange taste in books and movies....