The Case of the Terrified Typist

Mae Wallace Jordan needs a place to hide. The building is swarming with cops. She steps into Perry Mason's office and is mistaken as the temporary typist the office is waiting for. Mae is a top-notch typist, so she goes along with the mistake. When she goes on her break she never comes back.

Perry has been hired to defend Duane Jefferson from the charge of murder of Monroe Baxter — whose body has never been found, along with some missing diamonds Baxter is suspected of stealing. Jefferson won't answer any of Perry's questions and it is no surprise Jefferson is found guilty. At that point, Perry goes into high gear to find the connections between Jefferson, Jordan, Baxter and the missing gems.

This seemed a little more complicated than show more the usual Perry Masons I've read. The fact that Perry's client is declared guilty was not really expected. Usually Perry wins the case, but not this time. Burger is delighted and basking in the light, but once more Perry wins. show less

Not as complex and twisted maze as some Mason's, and courtroom slightly less exciting for various reasons, but a whopper of an ending and the author did some new things with the verdict we dont generally see for Mason.

"Then came the pay-off. As the ship was off Gibraltar a helicopter hovered overhead. A man descended a rope ladder, dangled precariously from the last rung. The helicopter hovered over the deck of the ship, and Munroe Baxter dropped to the deck by the swimming pool, where Yvonne Manco was disporting herself in the sunlight in a seductive bathing suit."
"Romantic," Mason said.
"And opportune," Irving said dryly.

Not one of the best. The ending felt rushed and the deductive processes were not really shown. Gardner has Mason "lose" the case, but then corrects the situation by a plot twist.

If you’ve seen the 1950s Perry Mason TV show, you’ll feel comfortable with this series. If you’ve seen the 2020 HBO 8-series Perry Mason, well, that’s a whole different story.

Even though I expected it (I read this before back in 1999), it was still a shock to have the jury come in with a verdict of guilty...

Big ship
8 December 2013