The Case of the Velvet Claws Audiobook By Erle Stanley Gardner cover art

The Case of the Velvet Claws

Perry Mason Series, Book 1

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Case of the Velvet Claws

By: Erle Stanley Gardner
Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.00

Buy for $20.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Criminal lawyer and bestselling mystery author Erle Stanley Gardner wrote nearly 150 novels that have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Now, the American Bar Association is bringing back his most famous and enduring novels - featuring criminal defense lawyer and sleuth Perry Mason - in striking trade paperback editions.

Married Eva Griffin has been caught with a prominent congressman, and is ready to pay the editor of a sleazy tabloid hush money to protect the politician. But first Perry Mason tracks down the publisher of the blackmailing tabloid and discovers a shocking secret, which eventually leads to Mason being accused of murder.

This is the first Perry Mason mystery and our introduction to secretary Della Street, detective Paul Drake, and the great lawyer himself.

©1945, 2011 Erle Stanley Gardner (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Detective Mystery Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Featured Article: Dream Big—Meet the All-Star Cast of The Sandman: Act II


Immerse yourself in the world of The Sandman right now with an unforgettable audio experience. The star power alone is worth the price of admission—the cumulative amount of awards that have been won by the cast over the course of their careers is simply staggering. The cast features some of the most talented and esteemed actors working today. So let's dive right into the who's who of The Sandman: Act II.

What listeners say about The Case of the Velvet Claws

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    279
  • 4 Stars
    123
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    282
  • 4 Stars
    93
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    255
  • 4 Stars
    103
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Perry Mason

Perry Mason is an excellent book to listen to. I found this book is interesting as Raymond Burr's portrayal of Perry Mason. this is the first book out of 150 books of Perry Mason.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Spotty Legal Noir

First things first: the narrator was decent, though he slipped a few times with the characters and narration. In that a character would speak and he’d slip the characters voice with the narration or another character.

Other than that he was fine, a dry timber voice, that sits somewhere between Phil Heartman’s 30’s parody and Ron Burgundy, both with a more serious tone and sense.

As for the story, frankly this is my first ESG book, so take this with a grain of salt.

1) shocked this didn’t end up being a court room drama like the ol’ Raymond Burr show, it’s in a way more a kin to the current HBO show.

2) ESG seems to really (and heavily) rely on copious descriptions of eyes and the phrase “has an air about him/her” to the point that it toes the line of gratuitous.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

delivery! crisp and clear!

the performance makes it easy to feel like you are there...in that time and in that place!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story

For a story set in L.A., everyone sounds like they are from New York except those specifically from Georgia. Still, the performance was great, just funny to someone from the West Coast. I would still listen because the voice actor did a good job.
As usual, the Perry Mason series is interesting with twists and turns. It made it hard to complete chores around the house because of how interested I was in the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent, but Dated

I wanted to try out a Perry Mason book after seeing the latest HBO series, and remembering the old TV series as well as the old movie serials with Warren William. Each film version portray Mason so differently I wanted to go back to the original story. It was a bit disappointing. The story was alright, but the reader's voice work (and story) emphasized the sexism of the day. The women sounded weak, predatory, or clingy. Even Della Street sounds clingy and whiny. Mason sounds like a thug... The writing style was as if Gardner was afraid people would forget the main characters' names, always using the full name each time through most of the book. Probably wouldn't read another.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Horrible Narration but Good Story

What did you love best about The Case of the Velvet Claws?

Classic whodunit.

Any additional comments?

Cendese is the single worst narrator I've heard. I've listened to several Perry Mason's now.
His choice of voices are normal, Kentucky Colonel, bad Jimmy Stewart impersonation, mob muscle thug, breathless airhead female and a couple of others. All except "normal" are extreme and usually the voice does not go with the character. The judge might get the mobster voice, and Paul Drake usually gets the high pitched breathless voice. He totally misses the subtle voice changes for different characters used by other narrators.

That said, I've listened to several and keep listening. I just accept that Perry Mason in general is formula, campy and anything but deep literature, and try to ignore the narration. Cendese also improved (some) as the series progressed.

Bottom line. The stories are fun and worth listening too, just accept crappy narration as part of the package.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun Book

I see why the Earl Stanley Garner books were so popular. They hold up well over time. Good read and listening for someone doing a lot of driving.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous narration of a "dated" writing style

Most people know Perry Mason via the television show starring Raymond Burr. This is NOT that Perry Mason. I find the writing style dated - very film noir, reminiscent of Dash Hammett. Which means: short choppy sentence structure, and dialogue that by modern standards is utterly cheesy. If you can get past that however, it is well worth the read/listen. The narrator here gets the "film noir" vibe and it comes through in his reading, and it made the very dated writing style seem less so.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good

I thought the book was pretty good over all, but I thought two cuss words were used too much. and some places in the story were weak, but after seeing the tv show, I was interested.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator could be better

The Narrator is good but I didn't like his voice. They should have had different people doing this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!