Wed 2 Mar 2022
Mystery Review: ERLE STANLEY GARDNER – The D. A. Breaks a Seal.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[7] Comments
ERLE STANLEY GARDNER – The D. A. Breaks a Seal. Doug Selby #7. William Morrow, hardcover, 1946. Previously serialized in The Saturday Evening Post in seven part between December 1, 1945, and January 12, 1946. Pocket Book #869, paperback, 1952. Cardinal C-292, paperback, 1958.
Thanks to HBO if not the long-running TV series in the 1950s and 60s, everyone in the know knows about famed defense attorney Perry Mason. Not so many have heard about Gardner’s series character who plied his trade on the other side of the aisle, Doug Selby, the District Attorney for Madison County, California, some small distance from the bright lights of L. A., Madison City being a small blip in the larger scheme of things.
But to be honest, Selby is a major in the U. S. Army all through The D. A. Breaks a Seal. He’s on leave and heading for his next assignment when decides to hop off the train and see how the folks he left behind. Rex Brandon is still the sheriff, and Selby’s nemesis, defense attorney A. B. Carr is still making headlines, both in LA and in Madison City. There’s a new D.A in town, of course, but he’s having a tough time making people forget Doug Selby.
The story begins with two people getting off the same train that Selby arrives on, standing out first by the simple fact they’re wearing white gardenias, then by A. B. Carr showing up and obviously seeking them out. Selby’s lady friend Sylvia Martin, a reporter, senses a story, and she’s right. Soon after, a man is found dead in a local hotel room under strange circumstances, and somehow A. B. Carr is involved in that, too – as well in a local legal case about a contested will.
Lots of detective work ensues, unofficially by Selby, and courtroom drama as well, this time officially. The legal matters are, as always in Gardner’s work, supremely complicated, but he, as usual, makes me believe I know what’s going on all the way through.
There’s even a hint of romance in the air – Sylvia is not the only woman in town who remembers Doug with fondness — and Gardner even takes the time to talk about what the country should be like after the war.
There’s lots to like with this one.
March 2nd, 2022 at 9:11 pm
This was the first Gardner novel I ever read, and a good starting place. I still have a fondness for Doug Selby though he takes a backseat to Perry and Donald.
Solid, well clued, smart, and fast paced, Gardner’s virtues.
March 2nd, 2022 at 10:38 pm
There was a TV movie made of one the Selby books, THEY CALL IT MURDER, based on THE D.A. DRAWS A CIRCLE. The cast included:
Jim Hutton as Doug Selby, Lloyd Bochner as A.B. Carr, Jo Ann Pflug as Sylvia Martin, Robert J. Wilke as Sheriff Rex Brandon, and Edward Asner as Chief Otto Larkin
…all of whom were participants in SEAL. At the time I watched it, I didn’t think either Hutton or Bochner fit their roles all the well, but I do remember both of them, even now, how many year later?
March 2nd, 2022 at 11:39 pm
I just purchased this book for my Kindle for $4.25 including tax.
March 3rd, 2022 at 12:24 am
And well worth the money. I think you’re going to enjoy it!
March 3rd, 2022 at 8:06 am
I myself, recall both JoAnn Pflug and Lloyd Bochner.
Distinguished-looking Bochner always played the most glib-tongued, least trustworthy character in any story.
Pflug was the bail bondswoman to Lee Major’s character Colt Seevers in ‘The Fall Guy’.
And without looking it up, I’m pretty sure she was one of the frisky nurses in Robert Altman’s “MASH”.
March 3rd, 2022 at 8:15 am
I mentioned that one the other day. I thought Lloyd Bochner was perfect casting as the oily Carr.
March 3rd, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Somehow I picture Carr as a much heavier fellow, otherwise, yes. Perfect casting.