Review of I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON by Susan Kandel (see her website)

A CECE CARUSO MYSTERY

William Morrow, May 2004

Biographer Cece Caruso is stuck in her planned biography of Erle Stanley Gardner--the creator of Perry Mason. When she comes across a misfiled letter a prison inmate sent to Gardner, she thinks this might be a key to unlocking a part of his personality. But when she meets the convicted murderer, she wonders if Gardner made a mistake--because she can't believe that Joe Albacco really is guilty of the crime he's spent most of his life in jail for. On the urgings of the pison priest, Cece sets of to discover the truth--and finds herself pursued by a mysterious black SUV and confronting murder far more recent than the one that took place half a century ago.

Cece flitters back and forth between the Los Angeles of today and the southern California of the early twentieth century when oil discoveries made some people billions, when Erle Stanley Gardner was writing his thrillers, and when Hollywood set the stage for fashion. Cece frequently wears vintage costumes, fitting herself more into the world of the past than that of the present. But in this case, the past is striking back with a vengence because someone still holds onto a secret--one that just may be worth one more murder.

Author Susan Kandel creates a sympathetic and motivated heroine in Cece Caruso. While she's not investingating long-ago murders, she's delaying her writing by trying to save her daughter's wedding, trying to decide whether to pursue an interest in the glamorous Burnett or the sexy but practical Detective Gambino, or shopping for first edition Perry Mason or a Coco Channel outfit. Kandel brings in plenty of parallels to the Perry Mason style of investigation (including occasional disregard for the law in the hunt for the truth) and does it all with a sexy female-empowered attitude.

There's a lot to like in this cute short mystery.

See more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Susan Kandel.

Four Stars

Reviewed 6/04/04

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