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Ellen Robb does more than just sing for her supper--she also dances and sells cigarettes in a two-bit gambling parlor in a one-horse town. But when she hits a sour note with her scheming employer by refusing to help fleece a fat-cat customer in a crooked card game, she finds herself out of all three jobs. That's when she sings her song of woe to Perry Mason, who promises to turn her blues into greenbacks with the help of his crack team, Della Street, and Paul Drake, and a hefty lawsuit. show more Things are humming along just fine--until murder interrupts the merry melody of Mason's crafty legal maneuvers. When the vindictive wife of Ellen Robb's not-so-secret lover turns up shot to death, Mason is certain it's a frame-up--and that his songbird client's belligerent boss is to blame. Until his own gun is found at the scene. The cocksure Mason will have to change his tune--and do some quick thinking--or else this case could be his swan song. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The most law-ful plot of Perry Mason that I've read so far. I cannot attest to the actual lawfulness, but Gardner alleged enough legal citations and lots of courtroom procedural patter that we're left with no doubt that Mason is intended to be a lawyer here - a fact lost in many on the series where he's just gone full private detective, depriving Paul Drake of the loot.
This was a complicated one with the usual sexy dame who is potentially lying and guilty, a rich married man, and some gambling and lawyer crooks. The mystery itself was convoluted and required too much planning for both the writer and criminal. Still, one of the more enjoyable and memorable solves.
This was a complicated one with the usual sexy dame who is potentially lying and guilty, a rich married man, and some gambling and lawyer crooks. The mystery itself was convoluted and required too much planning for both the writer and criminal. Still, one of the more enjoyable and memorable solves.
Very noir for a Mason book. Brings back memories of Gardner's pulp days with a city run by the grifters who have set up a gambling operation in town. Of course, Mason prevails over them.
4.5 - A great Mason. Tense in the courtoom, not too complicated to where it's confusing (besides the guns, these eventually get confusing), and a sympathetic client with an unconventional job with abuse.
I last read this twenty years ago. It's still quite the page turner. I wasn't sure how Perry was going to get out of it this time.
Mason's client is framed for theft and fired because she wouldn't help cheat a casino patron. Then she's accused of murder, and the gun juggling begins.
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Author Information
866+ Works 30,649 Members
Mystery writer Erle Gardner was born on July 17, 1889 in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1902, he had moved to Oroville, CA. His parents could not afford to send a second son to college, so he worked in a legal office as a clerk reading law. He spent a short time at Valparaiso University in Indiana but had to drop out because of an illegal boxing show more exhibition. He continued to travel throughout California and read law at several law offices and finally passed the bar in 1911, at the age of 21. He married Natalie Francis Beatrice Talbert on April 9, 1912. In 1916, he formed the Law Firm of Orr and Gardner in Venture, CA. Gardner used many pseudonyms such as Charles Green, Kyle Corning and Grant Holiday. While working as an attorney, he began writing fiction. In 1921, "Nellie's Naughty Nighty" was published in the pulp magazine Breezy Stories. He had a goal of writing 100,000 words a month and would sometimes write two or more stories a day. In 1923, "The Shrieking Skeleton" was sold to the Black Mask Magazine. In the 1930's, Gardner had two manuscripts that were rejected and than "rediscovered" by Thayer Hobson, the president of the William Morrow Publishing Company, and rewritten as courtroom mysteries. During this process, the character Perry Mason was born. In 1933, the first Perry Mason book was written, "The Case of the Velvet Claws." The next one was entitled "The Case of the Sulky Girl" and they were followed by more than eighty additional Mason mysteries. Gardner died on March 11, 1970. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Öölane (40)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Perry Mason Omnibus: The Case of the Singing Skirt | The Case of the Blonde Bonanza | The Case of the Horrified Heirs by Erle Stanley Gardner
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Case of the Singing Skirt
- Original title
- The Case of the Singing Skirt
- Original publication date
- 1959
- People/Characters
- Perry Mason; Della Street
- Dedication
- My friend,
NICHOLAS M. CHETTA, M.D.
Coroner and ex officio phsycian
of the Parish of Orleans - First words
- George Anclitas looked at Ellen Robb with the shrewd appraisal of a cattle buyer inspecting a shipment of berf.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 250
- Popularity
- 129,354
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.62)
- Languages
- 5 — Czech, English, Estonian, German, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 22
