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Terry Clane #2
The case of the backward mule
Chinatown...To baffle the lie-detector clamped on his arm, Terry Clane used the technique of intense concentration that he had learnt in the Orient. But the sight of a little Chinese figure - an old man riding backwards on a mule - sent the lie-detector needle for he had given it once to Cynthia, his former fiancee and a close friend of a man convicted of murder who had escaped.'Either there is something which I have not accurately diagnosed,' said the police examiner, 'or else... you murdered Horace Farnsworth.'That was just the start of a long and spine-chilling game of hide-and-seek played through San Francisco's Chinatown.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,324 books846 followersErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories who also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 10, 2012
It's been said that Erle Stanley Gardner was a fine writer, but wrote too much, the implication being that more attention lavished on fewer books would have raised their quality. The Case of the Backward Mule bears out this judgment. There are some very effective scenes, the mystery is nicely constructed, and most of the characters live -- except the culprit. This last trait, I've come to believe, is the hallmark of a mediocre detective story. If the murderer is a cardboard figure, or is seen so little the reader hardly considers him a character, that means the central element of any good story, the conflict, is hopelessly underdeveloped, no matter how much well-told action livens up the narrative.
November 20, 2020
This is a continuation of my reviews of Gardner's non-Perry Mason novels. This is the second (and last) of two Terry Clane novels (the first is
Murder Up My Sleeve
).
Major characters:
Terry Clane, attorney, in tight with the Chinese community; a.k.a. First Born, and Owl
Yat T'oy, Terry's servannt
Alma Renton, a widow, Terry's love interest
Cynthia Renton, Alma's sister, a.k.a. Painter Woman
Horace Farnsworth, E.A.I.T.C.*, already dead
Stacey Nevis, E.A.I.T.C.
George Gloster, E.A.I.T.C.
Ricardo Taonon, E.A.I.T.C.
Daphne Taonon, his wife
Bill Hendrum
Edward Harold, convicted of Farnsworth's death
Sou Ha, a.k.a. Embroidered Halo
Inspector Malloy
* Eastern Art Import and Trading Company
Locale: San Francisco
Synopsis: Terry Clane returns to San Francisco from studying concentration in the Orient. No sooner does he step off the boat, when the police bring him in for questioning. Edward Harold is on death row for the murder of Horace Farnsworth (boyfriend of Cynthia Renton after Terry broke up with her). Now Farnsworth has escaped, Cynthia is nowhere to be found, and the police think Terry knows their whereabouts. The police show him a wooden figure of a Chinese man riding a mule backwards, and ask if he recognizes it. He does. It belongs to Cynthia Renton, and now it has blood spots on it.
Terry is convinced that Harold is innocent of the charges, and seeks to find him. He is called to a meeting at a warehouse of the Eastern Art Import and Trading Company (E.A.I.T.C.), whose owners are George Gloster, Stacey Nevis, Ricardo Taonon, and the late Horace Farnsworth. Terry enters the warehouse to find someone has been living there. Then he finds the body of George Gloster.
Review: It is too bad there were only two Terry Clane books, they are excellent; especially for their descriptions of the Chinese community. After reading these, one feels as if he could go to Chinatown and feel right at home.
Sou Ha is a great character, well developed and believable as she guides Terry (and the reader) through the mysteries of Chinatown. Cynthia Renton has the leading mysterious where-is-she woman role, her sister Alma is relegated to a brief mention.
Terry Clane's identity is vague - in the first book he is referred to as a lawyer, but his life seems to circle around his trips to China to study with the monks. Bill Hendrum is a puzzle, his role is never explained. Inspector Malloy can be annoying, but that's his job.
A final little mystery - why did nine years elapse beween book #1 (1937) and #2 (1946)?
Major characters:
Terry Clane, attorney, in tight with the Chinese community; a.k.a. First Born, and Owl
Yat T'oy, Terry's servannt
Alma Renton, a widow, Terry's love interest
Cynthia Renton, Alma's sister, a.k.a. Painter Woman
Horace Farnsworth, E.A.I.T.C.*, already dead
Stacey Nevis, E.A.I.T.C.
George Gloster, E.A.I.T.C.
Ricardo Taonon, E.A.I.T.C.
Daphne Taonon, his wife
Bill Hendrum
Edward Harold, convicted of Farnsworth's death
Sou Ha, a.k.a. Embroidered Halo
Inspector Malloy
* Eastern Art Import and Trading Company
Locale: San Francisco
Synopsis: Terry Clane returns to San Francisco from studying concentration in the Orient. No sooner does he step off the boat, when the police bring him in for questioning. Edward Harold is on death row for the murder of Horace Farnsworth (boyfriend of Cynthia Renton after Terry broke up with her). Now Farnsworth has escaped, Cynthia is nowhere to be found, and the police think Terry knows their whereabouts. The police show him a wooden figure of a Chinese man riding a mule backwards, and ask if he recognizes it. He does. It belongs to Cynthia Renton, and now it has blood spots on it.
Terry is convinced that Harold is innocent of the charges, and seeks to find him. He is called to a meeting at a warehouse of the Eastern Art Import and Trading Company (E.A.I.T.C.), whose owners are George Gloster, Stacey Nevis, Ricardo Taonon, and the late Horace Farnsworth. Terry enters the warehouse to find someone has been living there. Then he finds the body of George Gloster.
Review: It is too bad there were only two Terry Clane books, they are excellent; especially for their descriptions of the Chinese community. After reading these, one feels as if he could go to Chinatown and feel right at home.
Sou Ha is a great character, well developed and believable as she guides Terry (and the reader) through the mysteries of Chinatown. Cynthia Renton has the leading mysterious where-is-she woman role, her sister Alma is relegated to a brief mention.
Terry Clane's identity is vague - in the first book he is referred to as a lawyer, but his life seems to circle around his trips to China to study with the monks. Bill Hendrum is a puzzle, his role is never explained. Inspector Malloy can be annoying, but that's his job.
A final little mystery - why did nine years elapse beween book #1 (1937) and #2 (1946)?
January 6, 2022
It’s not clear what Terry Clane does for a living, how he affords to live is a nice flat in San Francisco. Sure, a taxi ride costs less than $2 and a meal at a diner goes for a quarter, but that’s because it’s the mid-1940s. He’s been doing something secret in China the past 3 years (avoiding getting drafted into WWII?) and has returned to San Francisco where a close female friend is wrapped up in a murder investigation. Erle Stanley Gardner presents a lot of insight into how Americans be like this, Chinese people (“Orientals” in 1940s speak) be like this and this one “Eurasian” guy is like your typical Eurasian guy (you know how they be). The book is full of stereotypes, though not in a mean way - the Chinese people are wily, resourceful, inscrutable (of course) and capable of mental feats that are beyond the powers of most Occidentals - but certainly inappropriate. Gardner, a male author, also is able to understand women and write female characters who can explain how men don’t understand women.
Women throw themselves at Clane and yet he seems unmoved by them. Perhaps it has something to do with his life as a bachelor living with his male Chinese “assistant” in a way that Gardner could not be too explicit about in the 1940s.
The mystery is fairly well done and the writing is typical Gardner, so if you like him, this is a quick, easy, good enough read.
Women throw themselves at Clane and yet he seems unmoved by them. Perhaps it has something to do with his life as a bachelor living with his male Chinese “assistant” in a way that Gardner could not be too explicit about in the 1940s.
The mystery is fairly well done and the writing is typical Gardner, so if you like him, this is a quick, easy, good enough read.
January 9, 2026
The Case of the Backward Mule (1946) is a Terry Clane mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner, following a traveler returning to San Francisco from the Orient to help his ex-girlfriend, Cynthia Renton, clear her fiancé, Edward Harold, who is on death row for killing Horace Farnsworth. Clane uses Eastern-influenced techniques to evade police and investigate, finding clues related to a small statue of a man riding a mule backward.
Key Details of the Plot:
The Setup: Terry Clane returns from China and is immediately questioned by police, as his former girlfriend Cynthia is implicated in a murder case.
The Fugitive: Cynthia’s fiancé, Edward Harold, was convicted of killing businessman Horace Farnsworth but escapes from custody.
The Investigation: Clane, believing Harold is innocent, uses his connections in Chinatown to investigate.
The Clue: A statue of "Chow Koh Koh" riding a mule backward, gifted by Clane to Cynthia, acts as a symbol of the mystery.
The Outcome: The investigation leads through San Francisco's Chinatown, uncovering another murder and identifying the real killer.
The book is characterized as a fast-paced pulp thriller featuring a, intelligent, well-connected protagonist who relies on methods learned in Asia.
Key Details of the Plot:
The Setup: Terry Clane returns from China and is immediately questioned by police, as his former girlfriend Cynthia is implicated in a murder case.
The Fugitive: Cynthia’s fiancé, Edward Harold, was convicted of killing businessman Horace Farnsworth but escapes from custody.
The Investigation: Clane, believing Harold is innocent, uses his connections in Chinatown to investigate.
The Clue: A statue of "Chow Koh Koh" riding a mule backward, gifted by Clane to Cynthia, acts as a symbol of the mystery.
The Outcome: The investigation leads through San Francisco's Chinatown, uncovering another murder and identifying the real killer.
The book is characterized as a fast-paced pulp thriller featuring a, intelligent, well-connected protagonist who relies on methods learned in Asia.
April 4, 2023
Terry Clane is an interesting character, introduced in a previous book (which I haven’t read yet), versed in the mysterious ways of the Orient. He uses his wiles and intellect to solve mysteries.
I enjoyed reading this even though it is “dated”. Reminded me of a 1940’s film noir movie (which I like)! The title intrigued me, took a while to figure out what it meant.
I may have to find and read the first book in this series.
I enjoyed reading this even though it is “dated”. Reminded me of a 1940’s film noir movie (which I like)! The title intrigued me, took a while to figure out what it meant.
I may have to find and read the first book in this series.
December 4, 2017
Took too long to finish this one. Too much talk and less action is the bane of this mystery. Also, too much reliance on Oriental mysticism. Not that it wasn't enlightening, but it could have been shortened.
I wonder why Gardner keeps his main male protagonists so aloof and commitment phobic!
Anyway, a nice mystery.
I wonder why Gardner keeps his main male protagonists so aloof and commitment phobic!
Anyway, a nice mystery.
May 13, 2018
Dull. When Gardner gets away from lawyers, he gets either boring or annoying. In this case, his emotionally stunted hero has the fascination of a Nebraska plain, somewhat awe inspiring in its endless unaffected flat. A decent murder plot is the only thing that keeps this from being a complete one star snore.
November 1, 2020
A Terry Clane mystery. I enjoyed this story but I think I preferred the first one, Murder Up My Sleeve.
July 2, 2021
They don’t write them like this anymore.
June 7, 2022
I was anticipating a Perry Mason case, but this was better.
March 7, 2017
Quite far-fetched plot
Chinese philosophy interspersed with amateurish plot. Bought this by mistake thinking it was a Perry Mason book. Regretting buying it.
Chinese philosophy interspersed with amateurish plot. Bought this by mistake thinking it was a Perry Mason book. Regretting buying it.
December 8, 2012
#2 in the Terry Clane series. This final entry in the series appeared in 1946, nine years after Murder Up My Sleeve (1937). Clane, Cynthia Renton, her sister Alma, and Sou Ha, all prominent in the first novel are still single and able to provide sexual tension. This entry is an improvement from the first - the plot is more straight-forward and the racist comments have disappeared, except for a passing reference to the smile and laugh characteristic to the Japanese.
Terry Clane series - Terry Clane, returning to San Francisco after concluding some successful war work in China, is met by the police and taken in for questioning. An investor for Cynthia Renton, his former fiance, has been murdered. A man was convicted of the murder, but escaped just as his appeal was about to reach the Supreme Court. Cynthia has disappeared. Terry will need both his skills of concentration (learned in the Orient) and his photographic memory to solve this case. Unfortunately these skills aren't matched by an ability to understand the women in his life -- Cynthia and Sou Ha.
Terry Clane series - Terry Clane, returning to San Francisco after concluding some successful war work in China, is met by the police and taken in for questioning. An investor for Cynthia Renton, his former fiance, has been murdered. A man was convicted of the murder, but escaped just as his appeal was about to reach the Supreme Court. Cynthia has disappeared. Terry will need both his skills of concentration (learned in the Orient) and his photographic memory to solve this case. Unfortunately these skills aren't matched by an ability to understand the women in his life -- Cynthia and Sou Ha.
February 10, 2018
Terry Clane and Inspector Malloy are two characters I am not familiar with. Usually it is Perry Mason.
Terry Clane has just returned to San Francisco from time spent in China and finds himself in the middle of murders and an escaped prisoner who is appealing his conviction. Between Inspector Mallory and Clane's ex Cynthia Renton it seems to be full time action and little in picking up clues to solve the situation.
A good portion of the action takes place in the Chinatown area, with hidden tunnels, mysterious doors and inscrutable characters.
The one part I wasn't big on the the way Mallory talked on and on. He was a bit annoying in that aspect. Otherwise it would have been a better read.
Terry Clane has just returned to San Francisco from time spent in China and finds himself in the middle of murders and an escaped prisoner who is appealing his conviction. Between Inspector Mallory and Clane's ex Cynthia Renton it seems to be full time action and little in picking up clues to solve the situation.
A good portion of the action takes place in the Chinatown area, with hidden tunnels, mysterious doors and inscrutable characters.
The one part I wasn't big on the the way Mallory talked on and on. He was a bit annoying in that aspect. Otherwise it would have been a better read.
March 18, 2015
The second and final entry, in the Terry Clane series. A marked improvement from the first, I wish there had been a third.
Similar in a lot of ways to ESG's Ed Jenkins, The Phantom Crook series, with a similar triangle with the protagonist, a White woman, and a Chinese woman, and a friendship with an important personage in Chinatown. In this case, Clane isn't a crook, just an amateur seen as a nuisance and a suspect by the police.
I enjoyed it, but it could have been better. I suspect ESG was using his plot wheels on this one.
Similar in a lot of ways to ESG's Ed Jenkins, The Phantom Crook series, with a similar triangle with the protagonist, a White woman, and a Chinese woman, and a friendship with an important personage in Chinatown. In this case, Clane isn't a crook, just an amateur seen as a nuisance and a suspect by the police.
I enjoyed it, but it could have been better. I suspect ESG was using his plot wheels on this one.
June 24, 2014
Not a Perry Mason story, but a reasonably good yarn anyhow. Terry Clane, the hero, is a man of action much like Mason, but has some of the mysterious wisdom of the Orient at his command as well. We get a San Francisco setting with some Chinatown touches. Nice and readable except when the excessive pretense of dull-wittedness practiced by Inspector Malloy is on scene.
July 1, 2016
A thrilling novel from ES Gardner, albeit of completely different style. Gripping murder mystery, brain games between the police and the "good people", all laced with amazing lines of Chinese philosophy. 70 years after it is first published, it still intrigues the readers with its analysis of Chinese way of life. Many visits to China wouldn't accomplish what this book does.
February 9, 2016
The main hero of the book is Terry Clane & not Perry Mason for which the writer is famous for. The average plot of the murder mystery is without the usual courtroom drama. DISAPPOINTING....
November 14, 2012
Atmospheric but ultimately not memorable.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews