Reviews for The Case of the Caretaker's Cat

The average rating for The Case of the Caretaker's Cat based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-03-15 00:00:00 David Repp The plot twists for this mystery start appearing practically from the second page, so it is hard to describe the plot and make the description comprehensible and short at the same time. I think the former would have to be sacrificed, sorry. A crippled man came to Perry Mason with an unusual problem. He was a caretaker for a rich guy practically all of his life, so when his boss died his will stated that the heir should keep the caretaker at his job until he is unable to perform it (we are talking about just living in a house - not exactly a physically demanding job). The heir is fine with the provision, but he strongly insists the caretaker's cat - his only true friend - has to go; he even threatens to poison it in case the poor animal remains in the house. So the caretaker want Mason to protect the cat. I could not resist using an image of Grumpy Cat; I love the guy. And thus the famous lawyer has a cat for a client. He took the case practically out of pity only to be mixed up in several murders, innocent (but stupid, let me tell you) people accused, and having to do his magic in the courtroom. The plot twists keep on coming. What is unusual about this case is the number of dead bodies: a typical Mason's case only involves one - this time it is more; I am not giving the exact count. I like all the twists, but the very end was a little underwhelming for all the buildup. The trademarked Mason's courtroom shenanigans that go on for pages and pages only lasted three ones here and resulted in a quick, but not quite satisfying conclusion.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-10-07 00:00:00 M Jackson First published in 1935, this is a very early entry in the Perry Mason series, back in the day when there were still cuspidors in the courtroom and when both the police and the lawyers could still cut the kind of corners that would get them arrested, disbarred and jailed in this day and age. Perry is fresh off an exhausting murder case when Charles Ashton, a cantankerous, frail, elderly caretaker comes into the office and insists on seeing him. Curious, Perry sees the man who wants him to defend his cat, Clinker. Ashton's employer has recently died in a fire, but the employer's will provides that the caretaker has a job for life, looking after the place. The dead employer's grandchildren move into the home, but one of them hates the cat and insists that the caretaker get rid of it. Otherwise, the snotty grandkid says he will poison it. The will does not specify that the caretaker gets to keep the cat, who is, naturally, the caretaker's best friend in the world. Of course Perry will take the case; of course, someone will soon be murdered; of course the case will be convoluted beyond all belief; of course Clinker the Cat will turn out to be the most important witness, and of course just when Perry's client seems headed for a certain date with the hangman, Perry will pull a rabbit out of the hat and save the day. If you've ever read any of these books, you'd expect nothing less and you won't be disappointed. These earlier books are among my favorites of the eighty-five novels that would ultimately detail Perry's adventures. The characters and the formula were still new, and Perry had a lot more freedom to maneuver, with his skeleton keys and a lot of other devices that the law and the Bar Association prohibited him from using in later years. The Case of the Caretaker's Cat is a quick, fun read and an enjoyable trip back to the early days of pulp fiction crime.