The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe

The story begins in a bizarre manner, Perry Mason and Della Street are eating in the dining room of a department store and the store detective accuses an elderly woman (Sarah) of shoplifting. She is probably guilty and the young woman (Virginia) with her is embarrassed and pays for the merchandise. When the detective tries to arrest the woman, Mason steps in and points out that it cannot be shoplifting because the woman never left the store. All appears smoothed over and they make a foursome to complete their meal. However, shortly after this the young woman enters Mason's office and poses a problem. Her uncle George has a diamond business and he generally is a methodical and dependable man. However, he occasionally goes out on an extreme drunken spree where he gambles heavily. Fortunately, his methodical nature is also part of his wildness. He prepares for the drunken episodes by dropping his car keys in the mail, taking only a certain amount of money and making sure the business is secure and running. Unfortunately, in this case, something has gone wrong, at first George is missing along with a cache of diamonds, but then he turns up dead. Gem dealer Austin Cullens becomes involved and then he too is shot dead. Sarah is observed running from the scene and she has Cullens' blood on her shoe. Mason defends her and at first the situation appears hopeless. However, some serious holes in the prosecution's presentation of the case combined with some intelligent prodding by Mason takes the case on an unexpected twist. While I enjoyed the courtroom drama of Mason extracting the truth under pressure, there was a weak point in the plot. Much of Mason's success is dependent on the incompetence of the prosecutor, a man named Sampson. He is indecisive and flippant as he fails in his case. The late, great film reviewer Gene Siskel often said that to have a great hero you had to have a strong villain. In this case, the weak courtroom adversary to Perry Mason lessens the quality of the story.

The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe It starts raining, so Perry Mason and Della Street enter a department store for lunch. Della notices a white-haired woman standing by a window. Perry says she is a shoplifter, and the man following her is a store detective! A younger woman joins her at a table. Perry walks over to help resolve this problem. The younger woman, Virginia Trent, pays for the goods picked up by her aunt Sarah Breel. It seems like just one of life's adventures (Chapter 1). Later Virginia Trent shows up at Perry's office to tell about a real problem. Uncle George Trent, Sarah's brother, has disappeared on a bender, and the diamonds entrusted to him on consignment have also disappeared! Austin Cullens returned for these diamonds and they discovered the loss. Ione Bedford shows up, she is the owner of these antique diamonds. Cullens says George Trent pawned the diamonds to cover his gambling losses. This is a complex case by Chapter 2. Cullens says a gambling joint was given the jewels by George Trent. Sarah Breel has also disappeared. They learn that Sarah was hit by a car and taken to a hospital. The police found diamonds in Sarah's bag, and a gun. Austin Cullens lives right where the accident happened (Chapter 3). When Perry and Paul Drake got to visit Cullens, they find him shot dead in a darkened house! They call the police (Chapter 4). Sarah Breel is now the prime suspect in Cullens' murder. When Perry visits George Trent's office he finds red stains on a packing case. George Trent is no longer missing, but can't tell any tales. Sergeant Holcomb shows up, he is investigating George Trent. There is quite a lot of action in the first few chapters. Sarah is well enough to ask for Perry Mason as her lawyer after suffering from a concussion that prevents her from remembering anything from around the time of the accident. Perry and Paul Drake continue their investigation into the people involved with George Trent and Austin Cullens. They find suspicious people and activities, some of which have a bearing on this case. Those diamonds may have been stolen, which places a new light on Cullens' activities and his associates. Perry explains the law about self-defense in a man's house (Chapter 13). Chapter 15 has an example where a prosecutor prepares a witness for trial testimony. The trial begins in Chapter 16. The strategy of the defense and the prosecution is explained. The ballistic expert testifies about the examination of the bullet found in each body. Perry notices a discrepancy in the testimony; could there be a problem in matching a bullet to the gun? Is there a conflict between estimated time of death and the alibi of one person? The investigators return to Cullens' house and find new evidence (Chapter 17). The jury returns a 'not guilty' verdict (Chapter 18). Perry visits the rural hotel where Della and Virginia Trent are staying. Virginia tells what really happened, and what Aunt Sarah couldn't remember. The police are looking

Erle Stanley Garnder's THE SHOPLIFTER'S SHOE is vintage Perry Mason, published in the 30s when Gardner was at the height of his powers. This is a complex tale of sinister gem thieves, blood-stained shoes, phantom bullets, and a double murder. Of course, the most obviously innocent person is immediately determined by the police to be guilty and that propels Perry into action. Perry is more hard-boiled in this story than he is in the 50s and 60s. I don't think audiences were intended to LIKE him as much as we are meant to later in the series. His treatment of Paul Drake (his detective friend who gives constant assistance), for example, is a little more gruff in this tale. And Perry has no time to give to the hysterical Virginia Trant, when a second body almost literally falls in her lap. Gardner, at this stage in his writing, seems to be influenced by his BLACK MASK days, when he was writing his Lester Leith and Phantom Crook tales. But watching Perry in action, whether hard-boiled or not, is always fun.So the question remains: is THE SHOPLIFTER'S SHOE a good book? Yes, but with some reservations. The mystery itself is very good, with a dazzling defense of the defendant. The entire case hinges on which pocket a policemen uses to store the incriminating evidence. This won't ruin anything because we are not actually shown this event when it occurs in the story. Once again, Perry shows the unreliability of circumstantial evidence, which is a Gardner trademark. However, I don't think the characters were as fully developed as in some of the other books. There is really no one to latch on to emotionally. Also, Della Street takes a back seat in this story, which doesn't help either. In fact, Della doesn't really make her mark until the very last page. But I will say that it is worth the wait...To conclude, the plot is very strong in this book, with interesting clues and a strong trial sequence. Though not one of Gardner's main masterpieces, it is still well worth the three hours it would take to read.

Very well-plotted mystery entangled with two murders and two guns. Events occured one after another from the beginning to the end and I never got bored. Mrs. Breel, the shoplifting old lady, was the most peculiar of all Mason's clients; her attitude was as cold as a cucumber but what she really did were highly irrational. I wouldn't say I liked her, but anyway she was very impressive.