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Book ReviewsThe Case of the Sun Bather's Diary |
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Book: The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary
Written by: ERLE STANLEY GARDNER |
Publisher: Fawcett
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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Finding the Missing Millions
Rating:
5 / 5
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.
The tightest jam Perry's ever been in!
Rating:
5 / 5
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.
Hamilton Burger Had the Upper Hand....
Rating:
5 / 5
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...
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