Case of the Spurious Spinster

Perry Mason comes to the rescue once again in another enjoyable mystery from Erle Stanley Gardner.

THE CASE OF THE SPURIOUS SPINSTER is a late Perry Mason mystery, published in 1961 by Erle Stanley Gardner. Readers of the Mason mysteries will find all the elements that we have grown to love here: a completely innocent defendant ensnared in a web of circumstantial evidence, great clues, some nifty misdirection, the joyful banter between Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake, and of course, the dramatic trail sequence that dominates the end of the book. There are critics who dislike the late Masons for various reasons, but I tend to disagree. I've read three from that period and have liked them all. SPURIOUS SPINSTER is no exception, and is, to my mind, a very strong book. The discovery of the murder is quite suspenseful. You can almost cut the tension with a knife when Perry and Della stumble uponthe gasoline-soaked corpse in the middle of the night. Also, this novel is quite strong in the clue department: a shoebox filled with hundred dollar bills mysteriously disappears, two spinsters baring the same name arrive at the Los Angeles airport on different days and then they BOTH disappear, and a rental car used by TWO woman dressed as men and filled with fingerprintsfrom high school students. Gardner meant business when he wrote this book and it is a complex and fascinating affair. Really the only letdown is that there is a curious lack of emotional fireworks during the trail, which is typically a Gardner trademark. It doesn't matter though, because Perry, in a moment of intuitive brilliance, hits upon what must be the correctsolution to this baffling puzzle during the prosecution's examination of a witness. And it stings just a little, because his whole focus on a main suspect turns out to be wrong, which goes to show him that even he is not immune to his own prejudices. It's moments like this that make Mason more of a human being, and all it does is make him even more attractive to one of, if not the most, beautiful secretary in literature, Della Street. SPURIOUS SPINSTER is a good, clean mystery, fast-paced and fun. And, of course, it is recommended.

The Case of the Spurious Spinster is yet another marvolous Perry Mason novel by Erle Stanley Gardner. When Susan Fisher finds herself in the middle of a office scandle, and all the fingers are pointing at her, Perry Mason is called. This is a fast pace thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you reading. If you like the television show,the book is even better.