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“Catching sight of my thirty-nine-year-old body in the mirror, I decided I needed nourishment of any kind like I needed a hole in the head. I crawled back to the bed, slid between the sheets, and fell fast asleep. I dreamed I married Perry Mason.”
CeCe Caruso is a writer, specifically a writer of biographies. Currently, she's working on piecing together the fascinating tale of the life of Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of the Perry Mason series. She inadvertently comes across a murder-mystery of her own when going through some of Gardner's old files.
CeCe stumbles her way through a muddled confusion of suspects, innuendo and out-and-out blackmail, trying to find the answer to the question of who killed whom, and for what reason, all the while attempting to hold together her own somewhat odd, and oh-so-human life.
Along the way, CeCe becomes attached to a younger man, struggles to work out the mystifying possibilities of her daughter's husband's before-marriage wild oats, solve the problem of the slimy, and pesky, snail intruders in her yard and, last but not least, finish the Gardner biography in time to give it to her editor.
I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON is a romp that reader's of chic-lit and women's fiction won't want to miss. Filled with unpredictable, down-to-earth characters that grab your attention and make you feel like you're right there in the moment, living their slightly twisted lives right along with them. Author Susan Kandel has given the leading characters quirky little traits that add depth and a deliciously humorous bent to the tale. Readers will have no trouble relating to slap-dash, sometimes-messy, vintage-clothes-loving CeCe. Nor will they have a problem connecting with beautiful big-hearted Lael, CeCe's best friend. And, they certainly won't find it hard to imagine CeCe's attraction to 'tall dark and handsome' Burnett.
Susan Kandel's I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON is truly one of the most entertaining books I've read this year. Writing is an art form, and Kandel certainly has a gift with words. Filled with originality, humor and an earthy charm, I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON is a stunning success. For anyone wanting an escape from the usual, Kandel's latest novel delivers.
At first I was a bit put-off by the first person scenario. As a general rule, I dislike novels written in first-person, but Kandel pulls off this difficult style without a hitch. With sly verbiage, ingenious wit and a storyline that will keep you hooked until the end, I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON has all the bases covered.
Reviewed by Janean Nusz
for The Road to Romance
February 19, 2005
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