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The Case of the Spurious Spinster

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The Case of the Spurious Spinster

The 'Foreword' dedicates this book to Richard O. Myers, M.D. a specialist in forensic pathology. This specialty can keep the guilty from escaping justice or the innocent from being wrongly convicted. These seekers after truth are different from the partisan expert witnesses who testify for one side [but are needed for checks and balances]. Gardner says these experts are relatively underpaid.

The opening of this novel is a change from the usual style. Sue Fisher came in to work Saturday morning to finish typing a report. Her manager's son and governess came by; Carleton Campbell is dropped off so Elizabeth Dow can run a personal errand. Sue gets a call from Amelia Corning, who is at the airport and demands help; she will make a personal check on the business she owns. Corning is dissatisfied with what she hears, and send Sue out to buy luggage so Corning can take papers to her hotel for inspection. Later, when Sue reaches Endicott Campbell to tell him what
happened, Endicott says Sue must be crazy or lying. Sue hangs up and calls Perry Mason. Endicott calls back and demands Sue meet him at Amelia Corning's hotel. Perry tells Sue she should have had a witness to verify the cash found in that shoe box to forestall any possible claims. When they all show up for the 8:45 meeting they find that Amelia Corning has left the hotel, and just disappeared into thin air with the company records!

Then another Amelia Corning shows up. Forewarned, Perry Mason meets her at the hotel. Can anybody judge a person by the sound of their voice (Chapter 4)? The auditors found over $160,000 missing, and heavy losses at their Mojave Monarch mine. Perry and Della visit this mine to talk to Ken Lowry, the manager of this mine. They find he was hired by mail, and received instructions on the telephone from someone he's never met. Lowry sent in monthly figures as if the mine was still in operation. The payroll check would be cashed and most of it sent back in a secretive manner! It was peculiar (Chapter 6).

Amelia Corning calls Perry for a meeting - but Amelia disappears! When Perry and Della visit Sue Fisher, she isn't there. When she returns, Sue tells of the order she received over the phone. When Perry and Della visit the place where Sue parked, they find a body and the missing records! Perry calls Lt. Tragg to report the body, then continues his investigation into this case. The dialogue tells of the efforts. Sue Fisher is arrested as a suspect in the murder; she fit the description. Chapter 11 begins the Preliminary Hearing. The testimony of Mrs. Jackson shows how a "maybe" gets turned into positive identification.

Perry gets information from Paul Drake about a lady friend of Endicott Campbell, and asks for a recess. Perry quickly investigates this person, and solves this riddle to free his client. Perry, as a veteran trial lawyer, had a good idea who was telling the truth; and this led to the person who was lying, and guilty. Note Gardner's illustration of the fact that a rented car will have the fingerprints of prior users.
[The story about the defalcation needs more work.]

The 'Foreword' dedicates this book to Richard O. Myers, M.D. a specialist in forensic pathology. This specialty can keep the guilty from escaping justice or the innocent from being wrongly convicted. These seekers after truth are different from the partisan expert witnesses who testify for one side [but are needed for checks and balances]. Gardner says these experts are relatively underpaid.

The opening of this novel is a change from the usual style. Sue Fisher came in to work Saturday morning to finish typing a report. Her manager's son and governess came by; Carleton Campbell is dropped off so Elizabeth Dow can run a personal errand. Sue gets a call from Amelia Corning, who is at the airport and demands help; she will make a personal check on the business she owns. Corning is dissatisfied with what she hears, and send Sue out to buy luggage so Corning can take papers to her hotel for inspection. Later, when Sue reaches Endicott Campbell to tell him what happened, Endicott says Sue must be crazy or lying. Sue hangs up and calls Perry Mason. Endicott calls back and demands Sue meet him at Amelia Corning's hotel. Perry tells Sue she should have had a witness to verify the cash found in that shoe box to forestall any possible claims. When they all show up for the 8:45 meeting they find that Amelia Corning has left the hotel, and just disappeared into thin air with the company records!

Then another Amelia Corning shows up. Forewarned, Perry Mason meets her at the hotel. Can anybody judge a person by the sound of their voice (Chapter 4)? The auditors found over $160,000 missing, and heavy losses at their Mojave Monarch mine. Perry and Della visit this mine to talk to Ken Lowry, the manager of this mine. They find he was hired by mail, and received instructions on the telephone from someone he's never met. Lowry sent in monthly figures as if the mine was still in operation. The payroll check would be cashed and most of it sent back in a secretive manner! It was peculiar (Chapter 6).

Amelia Corning calls Perry for a meeting - but Amelia disappears! When Perry and Della visit Sue Fisher, she isn't there. When she returns, Sue tells of the order she received over the phone. When Perry and Della visit the place where Sue parked, they find a body and the missing records! Perry calls Lt. Tragg to report the body, then continues his investigation into this case. The dialogue tells of the efforts. Sue Fisher is arrested as a suspect in the murder; she fit the description. Chapter 11 begins the Preliminary Hearing. The testimony of Mrs. Jackson shows how a "maybe" gets turned into positive identification.

Perry gets information from Paul Drake about a lady friend of Endicott Campbell, and asks for a recess. Perry quickly investigates this person, and solves this riddle to free his client. Perry, as a veteran trial lawyer, had a good idea who was telling the truth; and this led to the person who was lying, and guilty. Note Gardner's illustration of the fact that a rented car will have the fingerprints of prior users. [The story about the defalcation needs more work.]

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 upon
the 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 fingerprints
from 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 correct
solution 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.

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