The case of the velvet claws

The first Perry Mason mystery.

California lawyer Perry Mason takes on a client, Eva Belter and she's instantly disliked as “all velvet and claws” by his secretary Della Street.

Eva's husband George is behind tabloid editor Frank Locke’s blackmail of Congressman Harrison Burke. The politician and Eva had been together at a restaurant when there was an attempted robbery. It's not long before George takes a bullet to the heart as he's getting out of his bath. There's a forged will too. It benefits his nephew Carl, who is engaged to the daughter of Mrs. Veitch, the Belters’ secretive housekeeper. Is this complicated or what!

At least Eva Belter had brains; she was smart enough to consult Perry Mason.