Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis : When Rita Swain asks Perry Mason to represent her sister, Rosalind Prescott, in a divorce matter, he isn't interested. However, he is curious about the seemingly injured canary Rita happens to be carrying and agrees to take the case in exchange for learning more about why. At first, he is disappointed by her story. But, when Rosalind's husband, Walter, is found murdered, he eventually winds up defending Rita against the charges. Review: When I decided to take advantage of our local library's COVID-related mail-order service, I opted to double down on Perry Mason and checked out this book as well as The Case of the Dangerous Dowager . After finishing the latter, I immediately started on this book and, overall, I have to say I enjoyed it. To tell you the truth, I did have a moment where I felt like I had to force myself to continue. The introduction of the book was a little on the dull side and I was admittedly a little confused about what, exactly, Mason was bein...

Synopsis : When Matilda Benson wants to hire attorney Perry Mason to help negotiate a payoff of her granddaughter Sylvia's gambling debt to Sam Grieb, he reluctantly agrees. However, when Grieb is eventually found murdered, Sylvia becomes the primary suspect with Mason facing charges as an accessory. The attorney must work quickly to prove his client's innocence before the police arrest him. Review: Our local library is still closed because of this COVID pandemic. However, they did start allowing people to have books mailed to them and I took advantage of that. Since I didn't really know what I wanted, I figured I would give Perry Mason another try. And, as it turns out, this book became one of my favorites from the series. Overall, this is a great locked-room mystery. There are a bunch of potential suspects, including Grieb's partner, Charlie Duncan. However, the fact there was only one entrance and eye witnesses laid out a timeline that implicated either Sylvia or M...

Synopsis: A short story collection that has super detective Hercule Poirot investigating two murders, solving the theft of valuable government papers and trying to prevent a murder while he's on vacation. Review: I picked up this book at our local library a couple weeks ago and, thanks to my daughter skating once again (meaning I have hours to kill at the ice rink), I was able to get through it relatively quickly. With some exceptions, I like Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and was intrigued with the collection of short stories that were, in essence, offering four mysteries for the price of one. After getting through the book, however, I did find I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. This is mostly because Poirot is a detective that has a set process that requires the reader to be patient. In short story form, I just felt as though his process was a bit rushed. In addition, some of the supporting characters (something that is usually Christie's stre...

Synopsis: Jacqueline de Bellefort is in love with Simon Doyle and intends to marry him. When her former fiance decides to marry her rich and beautiful best friend, Linnet, instead, she becomes obsessed with ruining things for the newlyweds and follows them on their Egyptian honeymoon. When Linnet is found murdered, Jacqueline is naturally the primary suspect. But, when she is immediately cleared of the crime, it is up to the vacationing Hercule Poirot to figure out who else had motive to kill her. Review: It took me a little longer to read this book than it normally does, mostly because I didn't have as much free time the past few weeks as I normally do. I finally managed to finish this book this morning. To tell you the truth, I figured out who was responsible for Linnet's death (and, later, a couple other murders) about halfway through the book. This wasn't because of any specific clue or anything like that. Instead, Agatha Christie tends to re-use certain con...

Synopsis: After a nasty fall down the stairs leaves the wealthy Miss Emily Arundell bed-ridden and suspicious of her money-hungry family members. In addition to sending for her attorney, she writes a letter to detective Hercule Poirot. However, her letter is not sent until weeks later, after she dies, seemingly of natural causes, shortly after changing her will so none of her family members receive a dime. Poirot, out of curiosity, visits those who knew her and grows suspicious about the circumstances leading to her death. Review: There were a couple other books I was planning on reading before checking out another Agatha Christie book. However, they happened to be in the library archive and, rather than wait for the librarian to retrieve them, I decided to just get a book that was already on the shelf. I had never heard of this book before and the only thing I knew about it was it featured Hercule Poirot . After reading it, however, I have to say it made the list of my favor...