Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: The wealthy Stewart Bedford is happy to be married to his much younger trophy wife, Ann Roann, who he loves to show off in social circles. When a blackmailer calls on him and threatens to expose his wife's criminal past, Stewart decides to cave into his demands, only to be drugged and wake up in a motel room with the blackmailer's body. Perry Mason is hired to defend him against murder charges however, there is one major problem, there is evidence Ann Roann was at the motel too and may be involved. Review: My daughter has an ice show coming up in a few days and, since we've been at the ice rink a lot, I've had plenty of time to read. That includes this book, which I managed to finish up while waiting for one of her rehearsals to be over. When I first started reading this book, I honestly didn't think I would like it all that much, mostly because the author decided to start out by telling the story from the victim's perspective and introducing Perry ...

Synopsis: When Dr. Logbert Denair uses a truth serum therapy on Nadine Farr to find out what secret has been troubling her, he is both surprised and concerned when she confesses to killing someone and consults Perry Mason . Mason agrees to help the girl but the police, after receiving a tip about the confession, are quick to find corroborating evidence. Complicating things is very-public evidence tampering accusation against Mason with no way to prove he didn't do it. Review: When I checked this particular Perry Mason novel out from our library, it was done with some high expectations because I enjoyed the previous couple I had read. Unfortunately, this one really didn't live up to those expectations. The case itself was an intriguing one. The defendant seemed to believe she killed the victim (albeit by accident) and hid the evidence. However, the discovery of a second bottle of pills in the same place she disposed of the first one did create some doubt about that, along with...

Synopsis : Sybil Harlan knows about her husband's affair with his business client Roxy Claffin but, since he is her whole world, she doesn't want a divorce. Instead, she wants Perry Mason to buy stock in a company her husband is dealing with on Roxy's behalf and do everything he can to stop the deal, hoping the other woman's reaction will drive her husband back into her arms. However, when Sybil is blackmailed by another stockholder and that stockholder is later murdered, she needs Perry Mason to prove her innocence. Review: I picked up a copy of this book at the library on Friday and, despite starting out by reading another book (which I lost interest in after about a day), managed to finish it by Monday. At first, I wasn't sure what to think of it but, after reading the last page, do think it was a good read overall. I thought the overall case was intriguing. While I was never convinced his client was guilty, a variety of poor judgements did at least make it see...

Synopsis: When Eleanor Corbin is arrested after running almost naked through a park, she claims to have amnesia about what happened to her prior to the event and her half-sister, Olga, hires Perry Mason to protect Eleanor's interests. Things become more complicated when Douglas Hepner, the man Eleanor claims to have married two weeks earlier, is found dead with Eleanor's gun hidden nearby. The district attorney seems to have an airtight case against her, and with Eleanor refusing to give up on her obviously fake amnesia story, Mason isn't convinced she isn't guilty. Review: I recently regained my enthusiasm for Perry Mason novels and, despite giving myself a short break by reading an Agatha Christie mystery first, made sure to check out this book while at the library. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would enjoy this book at first, but it ended up being one of Mason's most intriguing cases. I think the thing I liked best about this book was the fact Mason himse...

Synopsis: While investigating a hit-and-run case for a client, Perry Mason receives an anonymous tip indicating the evidence he was searching for was located in the apartment of Lucille Barton. When the tipster provides him with a key and suggests he enters while Lucille is away, Mason suspects a trap and proceeds with caution. However, that doesn't stop him from getting involved in yet another murder case and, this time, his fingerprint is on the murder weapon. Review: It usually takes me less than a week to get through a Perry Mason mystery. This particular one, however, took quite a bit longer than that. I did finally finish it last night and, while I didn't hate it, I also wouldn't list it as one of my favorites. I think my biggest problem with this mystery was the decision to make Mason one of the primary suspects in the murder case. This resulted in quite a bit of filler, mostly geared toward Mason trying to cast doubt on a witnesses' identification, and caused...

Synopsis : When the United States is forced to surrender five Appalachian states to an unknown group calling themselves the Conquerors, a British scientist and two companions travel into the newly-abandoned region in search of answers. Review: I ended up checking out this book as part of a pairing with another book, Ten to the Stars . I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one but, mostly because I enjoyed the latter, I was optimistic. Unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would. I actually liked the first part of this book, mostly because I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the mysterious Conquerors. I wasn't sure if they were aliens or something else but was curious why they seemed so interested in that region of the country. I also found myself wondering if maybe they were bluffing, especially since they were small in stature and seemed to want to avoid a violent confrontation. As a result of that, I did wonder what the eventual ...

Synopsis : Feeling under the weather and facing the prospect of spending Christmas alone, Hamish Macbeth reluctantly agrees to accompany one of Priscilla's friends, Jane Wetherby, to her health farm and investigate what she believes were attempts on her life. While he is doubtful the "attempts" were anything more than accidents, Hamish quickly learns Jane isn't very popular with her highly conservative neighbors and does think her life is in danger. However, when a body is discovered, it isn't Jane. Instead, it is one of her guests, the snobbish Heather Todd. Review: My wife and I had a lot of time to kill this past Sunday while waiting for our youngest daughter at what was essentially a day-long dance camp. As a result of that, I managed to read both Death of a Hussy and this book with plenty of time to spare. So far, I have been pretty impressed with M. C. Beaton and her character Hamish Macbeth. However, this book did leave me a little disappointed. ...

Synopsis: Maggie Baird became a wealthy woman by being a mistress for a series of rich men. However, after a love affair left her heart broken, she let herself go and now lives in Lochdubh with her cancer-survivor niece Alison Kerr. Determined to regain her former glory, Maggie undergoes a transformation that involves cosmetic surgery and other expensive treatments. She then invites four men from her past in an effort to get one of them to marry her for her money. However, her plan goes awry when she is killed in a car fire. The official investigators believe it was an an unfortunate accident. However, constable Hamish Macbeth believes she was murdered. Review: My youngest daughter had a dance event all day yesterday and, since there wasn't much else to do while hanging around the hotel, I made sure to have a couple books with me, including this one. I've been reading Hamish Macbeth mysteries for a short while now and, so far, they have continued to impress me. This on...

I started out my year focusing on Agatha Christie books and have made it through 18 of them so far. But, I'm in the mood for a little bit more of a variety going forward so I decided to change things up a bit. I'll still read Agatha Christie in between, but I am now focusing on Humphrey Bogart. No, I don't mean I'm looking for books he wrote. To clarify, Bogart starred in quite a few films that were based off of books and I plan on reading those movie-inspiring novels. I figure, if I do that, I'll be able to read several different authors and multiple genres. I already made it through The Maltese Falcon . Next up will be The African Queen.

Synopsis: Detective Hercule Poirot is invited to attend a dinner and bridge party thrown by Mr. Shaitana, who has suggested four of his guests have once gotten away with murder. When the host is murdered during the course of the night, suspicion falls on one (or more) of the four he accused of murder. It is up to Poirot, with the help of Superintendent Battle and two other sleuths, to figure out who is responsible and what secret they were trying to keep. Review: I picked out this book a couple weeks ago because I knew, with my daughter's ice show being held last weekend, I would be at the ice rink quite a bit and needed something to keep me from being too bored. As it turns out, I was too busy helping out at the rink most evenings to get through this book as fast as I was expecting to. But, I still managed to find time to get through it and, after finally finishing it last night, I found I wasn't as impressed with it as I had hoped to be. The mystery itself had some...