The Case of the Demure Defendant

Author: Erle Stanley Gardner
My Description: Another wonderful Perry Mason book! I really loved it.
It's definitely the most suspenseful of the them all... I never would have guessed who dunnit! I had no idea how Perry was going to pull this one off!
Back-Of-The-Book Description: A young woman under the influence of the "truth" serum sodium penthahol confesses to her doctor that she poisoned the older man in whose house she had been living. After the man's death, she says, she threw the bottle containing the poison into a lake. The doctor, armed with this information and a recording of the session, consults Perry Mason, bringing the famous lawyer into the case.

The police have no knowledge that anyone has been murdered. The possible victim's cause of death was put down to natural causes when he died. Now, though, the police get wind of the confession, and Mason finds himself racing against time to determine whether a crime has been committed at all. He goes to the lake and succeeds in finding a bottle that, thankfully, does not contain poison. Apparently, the case is at an end. The "confession," he thinks, was just a product of the woman's imagination and guilty conscience. However, just when Mason thinks he can rest easy, the police recover a second bottle.

Now, not only is Mason's client back in hot water, but Mason himself is also facing legal trouble. The police, it seems, suspect Mason of having planted the first bottle... Can Perry Mason save his client--and himself?
Starting Date: April 25th
Ending Date: April 28th
Reading Time: Four days
Pages: 242
Recommendations: To anyone who likes mysteries. Again, Erle Stanley Gardner has proven himself a most fabulous writer!
Writing Rating: 7 3/4
Story Rating: 7 3/4
Overall Rating: 7 3/4

Book #26 of '08