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Rating: 
Summary: Not Perry Mason's best but still enjoyable
Review: "The Case of the Singing Skirt" is one of Erle Stanley Gardner's eighty-five Perry Mason books. In this case, the famed defense attorney undertakes to help Ellen Robb, a cigar-and-cigarette girl who works at a local gambling club. Because she refused to help the owner swindle a gambler, Ellen finds herself framed for the theft of a certain amount of money. Mason quickly defuses that situation, enabling the woman to keep the money and threatening suit against the employer for defamation. Events escalate soon, though, when Ellen turns up with a gun in her possession that she cannot explain. Mason suspects that another attempt to frame Ellen is in the works, and he takes steps to thwart that attempt. When a woman turns up dead, though, Mason must defend his client on murder charges--and himself against charges of being an accessory after the fact."The Case of the Singing Skirt" is really a novel in two parts. The first part deals with the machinations of the various parties before court, and the second part puts Mason in his element--the courtroom. As a legal thriller, "The Case of the Singing Skirt" is passable, though not particularly exciting. Mason spends a great deal of time deflecting his opponent's thrusts, but only in the last few pages does Mason go on the offensive. As a result, this book is not the best forum for Mason's considerable legal expertise. As a mystery, there is little doubt who the murderer is. Once one starts with the premise that Mason's clients are, as a rule, innocent, there is little more to figure out. Still, eighty-five books with a single character do not come about by accident, and there is a fair amount of charm to "The Case of the Singing Skirt."
Rating:
Summary: Not Perry Mason's best but still enjoyable
Review: "The Case of the Singing Skirt" is one of Erle Stanley Gardner's eighty-five Perry Mason books. In this case, the famed defense attorney undertakes to help Ellen Robb, a cigar-and-cigarette girl who works at a local gambling club. Because she refused to help the owner swindle a gambler, Ellen finds herself framed for the theft of a certain amount of money. Mason quickly defuses that situation, enabling the woman to keep the money and threatening suit against the employer for defamation. Events escalate soon, though, when Ellen turns up with a gun in her possession that she cannot explain. Mason suspects that another attempt to frame Ellen is in the works, and he takes steps to thwart that attempt. When a woman turns up dead, though, Mason must defend his client on murder charges--and himself against charges of being an accessory after the fact. "The Case of the Singing Skirt" is really a novel in two parts. The first part deals with the machinations of the various parties before court, and the second part puts Mason in his element--the courtroom. As a legal thriller, "The Case of the Singing Skirt" is passable, though not particularly exciting. Mason spends a great deal of time deflecting his opponent's thrusts, but only in the last few pages does Mason go on the offensive. As a result, this book is not the best forum for Mason's considerable legal expertise. As a mystery, there is little doubt who the murderer is. Once one starts with the premise that Mason's clients are, as a rule, innocent, there is little more to figure out. Still, eighty-five books with a single character do not come about by accident, and there is a fair amount of charm to "The Case of the Singing Skirt."
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