The Case of the Terrified Typist (Perry Mason Mysteries (Fawcett Books))

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Perry Mason novels written
Review: I think it is one of the best written by Erle Stanley Gardner. I have heard so much about it and I finally got it from Amazon.com. I could never put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Uncovering the Person Behind the Mask
Review: Perry and Della are working on an important brief, and need a typist. They call an agency, who promise to send out a skilled typist. Later a woman walks in and is given the work; she is quick and efficient, then takes a break. She never returns. Then they are told of a burglary in the building; the suspect resembles the unknown typist. A partner from the burglarized firm hires Perry to defend the co-owner against a murder charge. Perry tries to find this typist by using a scheme that recalls A.C. Doyle's "The Red-Headed League". Perry also assigns detectives to follow this partner as he suspects he's hiding something. The accused co-owner also refuses to discuss certain things. Perry visits the partner's woman friend, only to later find she skipped town. Could the alleged murder victim (no body found) have absconded with the smuggled diamonds?

Like the stories of Dashiell Hammett, this tells of the techniques used to follow a person, and how to avoid a tail. The jury returns a guilty verdict against Perry's client, no recommendation of mercy. But Paul Drake's investigators uncover the facts implied by the testimony of the witnesses. So who was the other man in the boat? This plot seems flawed in having one of the smugglers going to the police to file a murder charge.


Rating:
Summary: The Most Surprising Ending, But...
Review: This novel has the most surprising ending. But unfortunately,"surprising" doesn't always mean "excellent". Because in this novel, too much tricks are used to lead this surprising ending. It might be better if the tricks were used by Mason or by the real murderer(s), but it seems to be Gardner (the author) that uses the tricks. I don't appreciate that very much.