A review by jiddle
The Case Of The Stuttering Bishop by Erle Stanley Gardner

3.0

I felt like it was high time to revisit Perry & Co., and I had long had this one selected as my next selection in the series, due to the fact that I thought I'd accidentally spoiled it for myself. Good news, I didn't. So the mystery aspect of the novel was still surprising and fun. There are some good Gardner clues, but as always it is the fast talk and the plotting itself which I hold onto. Gardner does this with his usual skill, although as a pre-Lame-Canary title it is still a bit pulpier than the Perry we eventually get to know. I felt that some of the plotting was a bit over-complicated at times - usually I have no problem remembering the many characters in each Mason mystery, but I did have a bit of trouble here, besides the two characters who share a first name for an important reason. So even if this didn't stand up to par with such classics as Sleepwalker's Niece, Careless Kitten, or Borrowed Brunette, I still had a lot of fun and was reminded that there's always a lot more to Perry Mason than the formula.