Stw #23 Bridal Bedlam Solid Counter Display

I don't imagine that Perry Mason--or, for that matter, too many real-life attorneys--have had potential clients call them up stating that everything, including their clothes, have been stolen, and would it be possible for the attorney to take a set of clothes? That's what happens at the beginning of this Perry Mason caper. Arlene Duvall is the woman, and her father is in prison for a crime Arlene believes he did not commit, a bank robbery that netted nearly $400,000. Since her father's imprisonment, she has lived out of a trailer. She has a mysterious source of income that allows her to spend money both extravagantly and conspicuously, leading to obvious suspicion that her father has told her where the stolen money is. Indeed, this inference is so strong that Mason only agrees to represent her as long as she is innocent. If he discovers she is guilty, he promises to turn her in and take his fee out of the reward money. After the theft and then a murder of someone with some relationship to the bank heist, matters grow far more serious. As usual, District Attorney Hamilton Burger is after Mason, this time for perjury in front of a grand jury--and later possibly as an accessory to murder. The Perry Mason novels are fairly predictable. They are of consistently high quality and tend to feature the same elements, from the wrongly accused client to the vengeful D.A. I have read several without being able to find one that was notably better or worse than the others. Still, there are some elements that set this one apart from others published within a few years. (I'm thinking of The Case of the Demure Defendant (published one year later) and The Case of the Long-Legged Models (published three years later), both recent reads.) From the opening naked client to a few other elements, there are some ever-so-slightly risqué elements here that suggest the time this was published (the mid-1950s). However, those elements are slight, so what we have is another solid entry in the long-running series.

This 1955 novel is dedicated to the Hawaiian medical examiner who described "Bangugut", an unexplained syndrome of sudden death that is called "Nightmare Death". No cause of death can be discovered after examining the vital organs. Popular belief blamed it on witchcraft. Or was it a "perfect crime"? Perry Mason gets a call from a new client, but she can't come in because she has nothing to wear. All her possessions have been stolen while she was sunbathing. Della Street brings her an outfit, and Arlene Duvall tells her story. Her father was sent to prison after being convicted of stealing a money shipment. He was convicted on circumstantial evidence; the money was never found. Arlene hires Mason to find her missing trailer and car. Paul Drake quickly finds the missing trailer, and explains how this is done in Chapter 3. They mention the terrible traffic in Los Angeles (after the destruction of the trolley system). Perry Mason explains to the trailer dealer what constitutes a legal agreement. Arlene hires Mason to investigate the crime and free her Dad. Mason says he will serve justice first; if he Dad is guilty he will get his fee from the reward money. Mason meets with Jordan Ballard, who worked with Colton Duvall at the time of the theft. Ballard asks for a lift home, and tells Mason the background facts. Mason leaves, and checks in with Paul Drake to learn the police were called after Ballard was found murdered! Arlene Duvall was followed, and seen entering Ballard's house just after Mason left. Mason then goes to see Dr. Holman Candler, the good friend of Arlene. The urgency of this situation forces Mason to work through the night. Next morning Mason appears before a grand jury to answer questions about his activity at Ballard's house. The District Attorney wants to charge Mason with perjury, or murder! (There is a lesson her against making assumptions about an action that can have many meanings.) Arlene Duvall is arrested for murdering Ballard, and Perry Mason will have to defend her. As part of this story you will learn about some detective techniques and parts of the laws. A number of funny things happen on the way to the trial. Since Mason's clients are always found 'not guilty' there's no surprise there, but in the journey to this conclusion. The suspense lasts until the final pages when Perry Mason draws the facts together to solve the murder, and the earlier theft of the money shipment. Mason warns against the frequently made mistake of first deciding who was guilty and then fitting the facts to prove that guilt (Chapter 14). I won't give away the ending, but it implicitly warns against assuming that something could not have happened.

This is the best Perry Mason I've read! (But I have to qualify that -- I've only read about 30 of the 70 or so Gardner wrote.) Facing a perjury charge after he gives some tap-dance testimony to a grand jury, and this close to a murder charge, Perry has never been so close to both ruin and prison, and Hamilton Burger has never been so happy! If you only ever read one Perry Mason mystery, this is the one to get. Right away.

or so he thought. Burger's legal aruguement was sound, but then he got the shock of his life, when Mason turned it against him. With Burger pleading to get a look at documents Mason produced, he put Mason on the stand against his own client. However, Mason was both clever enough to avoid a criminal charge... and use his own testimony to get his client aquitted...

Typical Perry Mason mystery with the eccentric opening, the thrilling development and the pleasant victory. Mason is severely cornered; the circumstantial evidence shows that the murderer is either Mason himself or his client, the sunbathing girl. D.A. Hamilton Burger cannot restrain himself from laughing triumphantly. Although I know it is Mason who laughs last, I enjoy the thrillingness very much.