The Half-Wakened Wife is one of the better Perry Mason stories I’ve read over the years, and is from that period in the 1950s when Gardner's series was at its zenith. It has some particularly nice moments between Perry and Della that make it memorable. While the caveat of Gardner’s dialog, sometimes much too formal — having characters speak on paper as they never would in real life abounds — exists as always, it’s overcome by some nifty plotting, and those romantic moments between Perry and Della.

It all has to do with a woman named Jane who wants to sell an island and share the wealth with her sister Martha and Martha’s daughter, Marjorie. Oil rights to the island are in dispute because of some tricky business, however, and it may hold up the deal. Perry joins all the participants in the negotiations on a yachting outing designed to hash out the problem. When he hears a scream on the fog-shrouded night at sea, however, and a woman runs smack-dab into him holding a gun, it can’t be long before someone is charged with murder — even if they can’t find the participant who went overboard.

In some unusual twists, Perry and Paul get sued, and Perry gets fired by his own client, whom Paul Drake believes is absolutely guilty. What leads to the lawsuit is a wet blanket and shoes which prompts Perry to accuse someone, and end up with egg on his face — right in front of Tragg! As usual, the plot’s all a bit complicated, but in the end it all makes sense. Before we get there, we have one of the most romantic moments in the long-running series, as Della sits on the grass with Perry’s head in her lap, remaining awake beneath the stars while Perry sleeps. It’s a rare tender moment, but a second surprising one at the end reveals a wistfulness of the heart for the lawyer and his secretary. They are considering purchasing a property in Della’s name, for a day yet to come. Knowing what we do now, one has to wonder if this wasn’t a reflection of Gardner’s own life.

Only the unnatural formality of dialog in a few spots — especially a scene with Paul Drake rattling on and on from his bed while Perry and Della sit and listen — mar a terrific entry in the series. It’s a minor distraction from a great story and entry in the series. It adds a rather unfortunate sense of artificiality to the story that pulls us away from complete immersion. It’s a minor caveat, however, and I’m still giving this one five stars because it’s got so many good moments to offset the few less than stellar ones. A really great one in the series. ( )

Original price scratched out. ( )

Original price scratched out. ( )

Earle Stanley Gardner created the iconic Perry Mason, a lawyer/sleuth every bit as renowned as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Mrs. Marple. In The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife the husband of a saintly woman is murdered and she is found with the murder weapon in her hand immediately after the crime. Perry Mason agrees to defend her. All of the evidence points to her guilt and everyone including Paul Drake, the detective Mason relies on to uncover critical evidence, is convinced that Mason will lose the case. Mason, operating on a theory he seemed to invent out of whole cloth, believes the husband has faked his death.

Unfortunately, The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife has not aged well. The first half of the novel is slow-moving and rather boring. Most of the characters introduced at this time are one-dimensional stereotypes: the greedy but incompetent in-law that is after family money, the ambitious mother, the shyster developer, and the unimaginative and incompetent police and district attorney. Paul Drake, depicted as timid and passive, serves primarily as a doubting Thomas whose role is to stand in contrast to the brilliant and valiant Mason. Aside from Mason, only Della Street, his personal secretary and love interest, is depicted as competent. Given her role, Gardner might as well have put her in a mini-skirt and given her pom-poms to shake.

The second half of the book is more interesting as the focus moves into the legal maneuvering and courtroom confrontations that made Perry Mason such a beloved character. However, most readers will find the more contemporary works of numerous authors to be preferable to the vintage works of Gardner. ( )

Warning: this review contains spoilers.

****

It's a dark and foggy night. Perry Mason, Della Street, and various parties to a pending real estate deal are on board a yacht belonging to the person who wanted to buy the real estate. In the middle of the night, tragedy strikes: a man overboard, and his wife is discovered by Perry Mason, holding a revolver in her hand. Did she kill her husband and pitch him over the side? Or is there something more to this case than meets the eye?

This was a tolerable story. The parts where the various characters talk knowledgeably and at length about real estate law made my eyes glaze over, but the scene aboard the yacht was exciting. The trial scene was dramatic, but the district attorney seemed cartoonish in his quest to convict the wife of murder. (I was also struck by the fact that his name is Hamilton Burger. Do people call him Hamburger?) The solution felt convoluted as well; I somehow missed how Perry was able to figure it all out.

I did find it weird that Ellen Cushing went to such lengths to provide pictures of the picnic, including pictures of the ice on the blanket -- who takes pictures of ice at a picnic in the film age? It would be a waste of film. Nowadays, a picture of ice would not be out of place, because the advent of digital cameras means that people are freer to take more random photos. That was my main inkling that the picnic would prove to be important, but I failed to guess how.

Also, the constant referring to people by their full names every page or so was annoying. There is only one Della in the book, and only one Perry, so a reminder of their surnames once per chapter would have sufficed.

Overall, this may not the best Perry Mason to start with. ( )