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Perry Mason #63
Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Shapely Shadow
When a restless and sexually adventurous tycoon sets himself up for blackmail, Perry Mason finds an eyeful of glamour means a fistful of trouble...
Was the shapely shadow that followed Morley Theilman, his beautiful ex-showgirl wife...his attractive ex-wife who still carried a torch...or his pretty secretary disguised as a Plain Jane?
And which of these lovelies would kill the goose that laid the golden egg?
In the courtroom the DA is poised for the knockout but Perry beats the punch with some fast legal footwork...
Was the shapely shadow that followed Morley Theilman, his beautiful ex-showgirl wife...his attractive ex-wife who still carried a torch...or his pretty secretary disguised as a Plain Jane?
And which of these lovelies would kill the goose that laid the golden egg?
In the courtroom the DA is poised for the knockout but Perry beats the punch with some fast legal footwork...
Paperback
First published June 1, 1960
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About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,350 books817 followersErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories who also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 1, 2021
I've been reading Gardner's Perry Mason books off and on for many years. Many years ago, I was an intense fan of the series, and read them all, at least once. Now, after a lot of water over the dam, I'm looking at them again.
Those who are used to really fine mystery writers may find the writing style here a bit stiff and mechanical. Nonetheless, I still love the general setting: the characters of Perry, Della, Paul, Lt. Tragg, and Hamilton Berger. That, and the ingenious plots, are why I read Perry Mason.
On the whole, the ones written by 1953 are the best. This one was written in 1960, quite late in the canon.
The story starts when a youngish woman named Janice Wainwright comes to Perry's office. She is the secretary to a real estate developer. She wants Perry to advise her what to do with a suitcase her boss just gave her. She thinks he is being blackmailed because she saw a threatening letter addressed to him. He gave her odd instructions about taking the suitcase to the train depot and putting it into a certain locker, then mailing the key to the locker to someone named A. B. Vidal at general delivery. She thinks it contains a lot of money! They open it and indeed it does, somewhere around $200000. So this must mean that A. B. Vidal is a blackmailer, right? Perry and Della record as many of the numbers on the bills as they can, then Della and Janice leave with it for the depot. Paul Drake gets an operative staked out at the post office to see who comes for the envelope, but no one ever does.
The next morning Janice phones to say that her boss, Morely Theilman, is now missing. His second wife, Day Dawns, also saw a threatening letter implying blackmail, so she reported him missing to the police when he never returned from a business trip to Bakersfield. He apparently met his partner there the previous evening and was supposed to drive home by about 11:30pm. He never got home.
Later that day Perry flies to Las Vegas where he meets Janice and Carlotta, the first wife of Theilman. They learn that Theilman is dead, apparently murdered in Palmdale, twenty-five miles from Bakersfield, where he had an old real estate office. Due to the blackmail story the police get on the job very quickly. The business associate in Bakersfield, Cole Troy, says that as he watched Theilman walk out of the building there, he was shadowed by a shapely young woman. He couldn't see the face of the "shapely shadow." Was it Janice, Carlotta, Day Dawns, or ...?
Suspicion falls on Janice when it is realized that distinctive tracks of her car were at the Palmdale spot. But Janice swears she was never near the place. How can that be?
There are good courtroom cross examinations. Very good Hamilton Burger, fair Tragg, no Holcomb. Good use of Della, average Drake. Perry is not in any legal hot water.
The cast:
Janice Wainwright, hard-working secretary for
Morely Theilman, real estate developer, who is apparently being blackmailed by one
A. B. Vidal, mysterious letter writer.
Cole B. Troy, business associate of Morely Theilman.
Day Dawns, the second (current) Mrs. Theilman.
Carlotta Theilman, the first Mrs. Theilman.
Is this the smallest cast of any Mason novel? Burger and Tragg are in it. There are a couple policemen and the usual two or three expert witnesses. And one of the above names above isn't real. So there are only three suspects! We never actually meet Theilman. We meet Cole Troy only briefly on the witness stand.
This story has both good aspects and bad aspects. There are good clever ideas here that needed a better development. The stashing and recovey of the suitcase at the depot is very clever. There is a very clever idea later about water. But Theilman's actions don't ring true. The murderer's actions seem improbable at best. The writing is very repititious; it's as if Gardner was padding the word count. Yet there is very little embellishment anywhere, and at least one other person should have been a named character.
As happens in other late stories in the canon, Drake learns things very quickly, with seemingly unreal ease.
There are several holes in the plot, most of which I can't say here because of spoilers. But for one example, who found the body? So soon? Supposedly the Palmdale area was abandoned.
The book is very much a product of its time, 1960, when the role of women was much more circumscribed than today. Readers today may tire of all the discussion about women fighting to stay attractive and keep their husbands. Of course, really all the Mason novels are products of an age when the role of women was narrower, but this one is unusual in so much talk of attractive women keeping their husbands from other attractive women.
The defendant is sympathetic.
The judge declares a mistrial because of Burger!
Twenty dollar bills with recorded serial numbers also occur in The Irate Witness, which was published in 1970 but is actually a short story.
Perry makes a comment to Della that I don't think I've seen elsewhere: “Did I ever tell you you’re a remarkably beautiful woman?”
I can't recomemend it.
Those who are used to really fine mystery writers may find the writing style here a bit stiff and mechanical. Nonetheless, I still love the general setting: the characters of Perry, Della, Paul, Lt. Tragg, and Hamilton Berger. That, and the ingenious plots, are why I read Perry Mason.
On the whole, the ones written by 1953 are the best. This one was written in 1960, quite late in the canon.
The story starts when a youngish woman named Janice Wainwright comes to Perry's office. She is the secretary to a real estate developer. She wants Perry to advise her what to do with a suitcase her boss just gave her. She thinks he is being blackmailed because she saw a threatening letter addressed to him. He gave her odd instructions about taking the suitcase to the train depot and putting it into a certain locker, then mailing the key to the locker to someone named A. B. Vidal at general delivery. She thinks it contains a lot of money! They open it and indeed it does, somewhere around $200000. So this must mean that A. B. Vidal is a blackmailer, right? Perry and Della record as many of the numbers on the bills as they can, then Della and Janice leave with it for the depot. Paul Drake gets an operative staked out at the post office to see who comes for the envelope, but no one ever does.
The next morning Janice phones to say that her boss, Morely Theilman, is now missing. His second wife, Day Dawns, also saw a threatening letter implying blackmail, so she reported him missing to the police when he never returned from a business trip to Bakersfield. He apparently met his partner there the previous evening and was supposed to drive home by about 11:30pm. He never got home.
Later that day Perry flies to Las Vegas where he meets Janice and Carlotta, the first wife of Theilman. They learn that Theilman is dead, apparently murdered in Palmdale, twenty-five miles from Bakersfield, where he had an old real estate office. Due to the blackmail story the police get on the job very quickly. The business associate in Bakersfield, Cole Troy, says that as he watched Theilman walk out of the building there, he was shadowed by a shapely young woman. He couldn't see the face of the "shapely shadow." Was it Janice, Carlotta, Day Dawns, or ...?
Suspicion falls on Janice when it is realized that distinctive tracks of her car were at the Palmdale spot. But Janice swears she was never near the place. How can that be?
There are good courtroom cross examinations. Very good Hamilton Burger, fair Tragg, no Holcomb. Good use of Della, average Drake. Perry is not in any legal hot water.
The cast:
Janice Wainwright, hard-working secretary for
Morely Theilman, real estate developer, who is apparently being blackmailed by one
A. B. Vidal, mysterious letter writer.
Cole B. Troy, business associate of Morely Theilman.
Day Dawns, the second (current) Mrs. Theilman.
Carlotta Theilman, the first Mrs. Theilman.
Is this the smallest cast of any Mason novel? Burger and Tragg are in it. There are a couple policemen and the usual two or three expert witnesses. And one of the above names above isn't real. So there are only three suspects! We never actually meet Theilman. We meet Cole Troy only briefly on the witness stand.
This story has both good aspects and bad aspects. There are good clever ideas here that needed a better development. The stashing and recovey of the suitcase at the depot is very clever. There is a very clever idea later about water. But Theilman's actions don't ring true. The murderer's actions seem improbable at best. The writing is very repititious; it's as if Gardner was padding the word count. Yet there is very little embellishment anywhere, and at least one other person should have been a named character.
As happens in other late stories in the canon, Drake learns things very quickly, with seemingly unreal ease.
There are several holes in the plot, most of which I can't say here because of spoilers. But for one example, who found the body? So soon? Supposedly the Palmdale area was abandoned.
The book is very much a product of its time, 1960, when the role of women was much more circumscribed than today. Readers today may tire of all the discussion about women fighting to stay attractive and keep their husbands. Of course, really all the Mason novels are products of an age when the role of women was narrower, but this one is unusual in so much talk of attractive women keeping their husbands from other attractive women.
The defendant is sympathetic.
The judge declares a mistrial because of Burger!
Twenty dollar bills with recorded serial numbers also occur in The Irate Witness, which was published in 1970 but is actually a short story.
Perry makes a comment to Della that I don't think I've seen elsewhere: “Did I ever tell you you’re a remarkably beautiful woman?”
I can't recomemend it.
February 26, 2018
Perry Mason is tougher, threatening to break someone's leg, and more romantic, kissing Della Street, than he is in the tv show.
January 6, 2015
#63 in the Perry Mason series. This entry had a sharp departure from the usual progress of a Parry Mason mystery; at the end of chapter eleven, Perry receives a subpoena for a grand jury hearing - chapter twelve starts with the grand jury hearing over, Perry's client indicted and the jury trial beginning - all with no indication of how much time has passed. Once the trial starts Perry uses stipulations and rules of procedure for the benefit of his client and the consternation of DA Hamilton Burger.
Perry Mason series - When Janice Wainwright shows up in Perry Mason's office with a suitcase full of money and a story of her employer being blackmailed, Perry, Della, and Janice start recording the numbers of as many bills as possible. However, when her employer ends up murdered, the evidence points to Janice as a blackmailer and a killer. Even more surprising, Perry Mason puts on no defense evidence, effectively betting Janice's life on one small detail, a detail which sets off a firestorm of legal fireworks and has Hamilton Burger spitting nails.
Perry Mason series - When Janice Wainwright shows up in Perry Mason's office with a suitcase full of money and a story of her employer being blackmailed, Perry, Della, and Janice start recording the numbers of as many bills as possible. However, when her employer ends up murdered, the evidence points to Janice as a blackmailer and a killer. Even more surprising, Perry Mason puts on no defense evidence, effectively betting Janice's life on one small detail, a detail which sets off a firestorm of legal fireworks and has Hamilton Burger spitting nails.
December 20, 2016
As is true of the later mysteries in the Perry Mason series, this book lacks the playful interactions and innuendos between Perry Mason and Della Street that were characteristic of the books in the series written in the 1940s where Della played an integral part in the plots, although it hints at them in the events at the beginning of the book. Nevertheless this is an entertaining read which follows the general plot line of a Perry Mason mystery although there are a few variations such as the case going to trial. The side plots are not well developed, but one is not perplexed by the resolution of the mystery since the villain is the only person aside from the main characters who could have been the perpetrator of the crime. I give this book 3.5 stars.
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March 23, 2023Who is Erle Stanley Gardner? A series of pseudonymous writers? A committee? A woman? A Jew or a Pole seeking an alias? It certainly doesn't sound like the name of an actual human being.
Reading him – or her – makes one realize how indebted Agatha Christie is to Dickens, for her sarcastic caricatures. The characters in this book are all anonymous men in suits, or "shapely" women. The latter, apparently, are extremely dangerous. They can grab you in their claws, keep you as long as they want, then drop you in the wastebasket of their affections, while fleecing your bank account. Such were the dangers of upper-middle-class life in 1960, apparently. (Especially if you were a real estate developer.)
In life, Perry Mason is mild and abstracted, but in the courtroom he’s a sonofabitch, bending rules, breaking rules, unbending rules, unbreaking rules, with the fluidity of a Marx Brothers baking explosion.
Opening at random:
“And what happened then?”
“The woman moved out of the shadows and stood almost directly beneath my window.”
“You couldn’t see her clearly at that point?”
“No, just her head and shoulders.”
[Erle Stanley Gardner was his real name.]
March 10, 2017
"I'll give you factual information. I'll give it to you the same way that you have given factual information to me. I will tell you what I have told the police. I will not put all my cards on the table until you are in a position to put all your cards on the table. "
The book (and the entire Perry Mason series) in a nutshell.
Standard stuff for the series: a shady client asked Perry's legal advice for a dangerous situation, a body eventually turned up, and Perry had to defend his client from a losing position. I used to dislike the early part of these books, where everyone's still in the dark and Perry is stumbling around with his laywer-ism in full force, but I've grown to really like this part nowadays. Here, it's fun to see Perry, Della and Paul teamed up to gather information, where the key strategy is to withhold all the info they have and extract as much as they can from the other parties.
The case itself, as well as the solution to it, are pretty straightforward. A wealthy businessman died, and the three women in his life (First Wife, Second Wife, and Secretary) are the prominent suspects. There's a bit of a social commentary about the competition among these women, particularly in how the secretary worked at being 'unattractive' in order to make herself seems like less of a threat. Not really among Perry's most memorable cast or characters, but it's still entertaining to see the lawyer punched holes in the testimonies of the prosecution's key witnesses, wound up his arch nemesis Ham Burger, and revealed the real murderer, all in the same court proceeding.
The book (and the entire Perry Mason series) in a nutshell.
Standard stuff for the series: a shady client asked Perry's legal advice for a dangerous situation, a body eventually turned up, and Perry had to defend his client from a losing position. I used to dislike the early part of these books, where everyone's still in the dark and Perry is stumbling around with his laywer-ism in full force, but I've grown to really like this part nowadays. Here, it's fun to see Perry, Della and Paul teamed up to gather information, where the key strategy is to withhold all the info they have and extract as much as they can from the other parties.
The case itself, as well as the solution to it, are pretty straightforward. A wealthy businessman died, and the three women in his life (First Wife, Second Wife, and Secretary) are the prominent suspects. There's a bit of a social commentary about the competition among these women, particularly in how the secretary worked at being 'unattractive' in order to make herself seems like less of a threat. Not really among Perry's most memorable cast or characters, but it's still entertaining to see the lawyer punched holes in the testimonies of the prosecution's key witnesses, wound up his arch nemesis Ham Burger, and revealed the real murderer, all in the same court proceeding.
June 23, 2019
The case of Shapley Shadow is 63rd novel in the Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner.
The book is an entertaining read from start to finish.The author is able to hide the mystery of the Shapley shadow from the reader till the very end, which makes it a very satisfactory read for me.
If you like good mysteries and a good court room drama, then you would not be disappointed by it.
You can my complete views by clicking on the link below:
The case of Shapley Shadow
The book is an entertaining read from start to finish.The author is able to hide the mystery of the Shapley shadow from the reader till the very end, which makes it a very satisfactory read for me.
If you like good mysteries and a good court room drama, then you would not be disappointed by it.
You can my complete views by clicking on the link below:
The case of Shapley Shadow
March 13, 2016
Nice. Especially the last page. I did guess who the real culprit was... but some minor things got me confused alright..
March 23, 2017
The story shows "what newspaper characterizes as some of the fastest legal legerdemain that was ever pulled in a local courtroom." Whenever there is a real trial in front of grand jury we can be sure there will be something spectacular going on and I wasn't disappointed.
The story begins in Mason’s office. When Della persuades him to squeeze an intriguing girl in who stopped by the office. She is very beautiful, as always, but tries to make herself look unattractive, which naturally, is quite the opposite of what regular clients do. She also carries with her a suitcase watching it with great care at all times and asks for an advice regarding opening the suitcase. She introduces herself as Janice Wainwright, a confidential secretary to Morley Theilman, who has been instructed to deliver the luggage to a storage and mail the key to a mysterious name. Suspecting the blackmail, she asks if she could legally see what is inside of it. Mason forgets all about the next appointment and helps her drop off the alleged blackmail money trying to outsmart the opponent.
We get to know the police from other department than homicide. The usual mixture of plot twists, love interests, mystery.
It's all about women. Their characters may not be as prominent, but it's easy to notice the slight change.We meet female version of Lt. Tragg and also a female dynamic lawyer of Nevada who is to save Mason's ass where he has no legal power and is so dynamite:
"I know a woman attorney here who has more on the ball than most of the men I know of. She's sheer dynamite and she has enough sex appeal so that she can put her stuff across with the police where a man would fall on his face. "
There's finally a little tension between Mason and Della when he comments how splendid she looks, but she's a working girl too involve in the case to pay him much attention.
We learn about the murder and go directly to trial (~50%). So it had to be spectacular to impress them. There's no walking around with. The tactics and court drama is splendid and made me finish reading it with eye wide open. I really enjoy it, but I love all E.S.Gardner's novels.
The story begins in Mason’s office. When Della persuades him to squeeze an intriguing girl in who stopped by the office. She is very beautiful, as always, but tries to make herself look unattractive, which naturally, is quite the opposite of what regular clients do. She also carries with her a suitcase watching it with great care at all times and asks for an advice regarding opening the suitcase. She introduces herself as Janice Wainwright, a confidential secretary to Morley Theilman, who has been instructed to deliver the luggage to a storage and mail the key to a mysterious name. Suspecting the blackmail, she asks if she could legally see what is inside of it. Mason forgets all about the next appointment and helps her drop off the alleged blackmail money trying to outsmart the opponent.
We get to know the police from other department than homicide. The usual mixture of plot twists, love interests, mystery.
It's all about women. Their characters may not be as prominent, but it's easy to notice the slight change.We meet female version of Lt. Tragg and also a female dynamic lawyer of Nevada who is to save Mason's ass where he has no legal power and is so dynamite:
"I know a woman attorney here who has more on the ball than most of the men I know of. She's sheer dynamite and she has enough sex appeal so that she can put her stuff across with the police where a man would fall on his face. "
There's finally a little tension between Mason and Della when he comments how splendid she looks, but she's a working girl too involve in the case to pay him much attention.
We learn about the murder and go directly to trial (~50%). So it had to be spectacular to impress them. There's no walking around with. The tactics and court drama is splendid and made me finish reading it with eye wide open. I really enjoy it, but I love all E.S.Gardner's novels.
November 30, 2023
Janice Wainwright adında bir kadın Mason'a başvurur ve yardım ister. Elinde kilitli bir çanta vardır ve açıp açamayacağını sorar. Çanta patronu Morley Theilman'a aittir. A. B. Vidal adında biri tarafından şantaja maruz kaldığını düşünür. Mason işi kabul eder ve çantayı açarlar. Para dolu çantadan bir kısmını alıp diktafon yardımıyla seri numaralarını kaydederler. Della ile giden Janice anahtarı posta ile gönderir. Ama ertesi gün çanta yoktur. Biri erken davranıp çantayı çoktan almıştır. Morley eski karısı Carlotta işe boşanınca bir sürü para ve hisse vermiş, sonra da Day Dawns ile evlenmiştir. O da bir mektupta şüphelenir. Sonra Janice kaybolur. Morley de ortağı Cole B. Troy ile görüştükten sonra kaybolmuştur. Cole B. Troy evden çıkan Morley'i izlerken bir kadının onu takip ettiğini söyler. Paul Drake Janice'i Las Vegas'ta bulur. Orada Janice ve Carlotta ile görüşen Mason işi anlar. Morley karısının hisselerini almak için şantaja uğruyor gibi görünmüştür. Ama bu sırada Teğmen Tragg ve Las Vegas ğoSophia gelir ve Janice tutuklanır. Çünkü Morley öldürülmüştür. Olay yerindeki araba izleri Janice'e aittir. Para kayıptır. Mektuplar için gazete ve makas alırken görünmüştür. Hamilton Burger ise bu sefer Mason'ı alt edeceği için mutludur. Morley'in ölüm saati tam belirlenemez, çünkü doktor ateş ölçmeyi unutmuştur. Ayrıca evin önünde de bir hortum bağlıdır. Acaba bunlar Mason'a yetecek midir? Katil kimdir ve cinayeti neden işlemiştir? Hisselerin bu işteki rolü nedir? Las Vegas şoföründen çıkan seri nolu para nasıl gelmiştir? Mason müvekkilini kurtarabilecek midir? Keyifle soluksuz okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2024
If I were to rate the books in this series based on Gardners writing about female characters, they would all be 1 star. He has women characters describe how women are supposed to be attentive to their looks and figures - if they trap a husband and then gain a little weight, why, the man can’t be blamed for dumping her. Even if she maintains herself properly, a man can’t be expected to be faithful - it’s just biology. In this book a woman makes herself frumpy and “ugly” by wearing glasses and putting on lipstick incorrectly. Without that, she’s a raving beauty with, of course, a fabulous figure.
Putting all that aside - or allowing that it’s just the way he’s going to write - this one has excellent courtroom maneuvering by Perry Mason. The mystery is pretty good and there are no duplicate guns or women.
Hamilton Burger is so bad he’s charged with prosecutorial misconduct. As always, it’s amazing that he still has a job
Putting all that aside - or allowing that it’s just the way he’s going to write - this one has excellent courtroom maneuvering by Perry Mason. The mystery is pretty good and there are no duplicate guns or women.
Hamilton Burger is so bad he’s charged with prosecutorial misconduct. As always, it’s amazing that he still has a job
July 20, 2025
This is one clever story where you believe in the defendent, Perry doesn't for a very long time. And when finally the cloud seems so dark that no light could pass through them, Perry opens them up for the Sun.
I also say this again, How did Hamilton Burger managed to keep his position as DA after so many blunders in the past and in this case, the biggest of the blunders; waving the opening argument. His strategy for rest of the case is also extremely poor, and to not think that Perry had already argued he could wave next time was lack of plannig and vision.
Anyways, this is one very entertaining novel. Loved the end of it.
I also say this again, How did Hamilton Burger managed to keep his position as DA after so many blunders in the past and in this case, the biggest of the blunders; waving the opening argument. His strategy for rest of the case is also extremely poor, and to not think that Perry had already argued he could wave next time was lack of plannig and vision.
Anyways, this is one very entertaining novel. Loved the end of it.
May 27, 2020
A bit more of a hard-boiled mystery than I usually think of Perry Mason— leans a little more toward Marlowe than Ironside. Still, I could totally hear the characters in the voices from the original TV show. I always liked Della Street.
The plot is pretty clever in the context of the time, and I didn’t get who the murderer was until almost the end.
The plot is pretty clever in the context of the time, and I didn’t get who the murderer was until almost the end.
March 7, 2022
Is it dated? Yes. A bit formulaic? Yep. If you're looking for something modern or ground-breaking, the book is probably not for you.
But if you enjoy Perry Mason stories, you'll enjoy this one as well. It's well written, and fun to follow Mr. Mason's thought process as he fights to exonerate his client and uncover what really happened.
But if you enjoy Perry Mason stories, you'll enjoy this one as well. It's well written, and fun to follow Mr. Mason's thought process as he fights to exonerate his client and uncover what really happened.
December 2, 2025
Some excellent plot complexities, from a backmail drop off detail I hadn't seen before, to a prosecution screwup involving a thunderstorm and tire tracks. The provenance of a twenty-dollar bill was a beautiful touch. As usual, Perry's client looks to be a shoo-in for the gas chamber before Perry turns it all around at the very end.
October 18, 2018
I was pleasantly surprised this 1960 first edition was a good whodunit. Having read most of the 82 Stanley Gardner Perry Mason books and all written before 1960, the characters are set in stone, but trying to figure out the actual plot is usually very challenging.
May 9, 2023
I've never watched the original series, so I was picturing the HBO actors while reading. Pacing well off a bit toward the end, when the long courtroom scenes started, but I enjoyed reading ad Perry worked his courtroom magic
December 1, 2017
My first Perry Mason book to read. No need for the TV show to hire a screenwriter, this book could have gone directly to screen. Definitely a fun period piece.
May 26, 2018
I enjoy reading Perry Masons and this was no different. I will say I think there was too much court time for this one and the repeating drives me a little crazy sometimes.
January 11, 2021
Another twisty-turning plat where Mason appears stuck in defending a murder suspect and pulls it out in the last seconds.
November 9, 2021
I loved this book. Now I need to watch the episode of the TV show made based on it so I can compare...and try to find the first 62 books!
April 6, 2024
Bello come sempre. Anche se devo dire che forse è stato più corto rispetto ad altri.
July 6, 2025
Despite an impressive amount of flirting with Della, Perry is able to solve another challenging caper.
December 18, 2025
A top-notch Perry Mason case (PM#63; 1960) featuring all the regulars in a finely wrought mystery, including a pissed-off district attorney.
August 19, 2016
Stars: 4 / 5
Recommendation: For everyone who have fetish for courtroom drama, this is the lawyer's case files that one would definitely want to read.
The Case of the Shapely Shadow is the 63rd installment of the Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner published in October of 1960. The case deals with the usual mystery with his client and the court room drama that follows for Perry Mason.
The plot begins with a plan Jane type of girl, Janice Wainwright, comes to Perry Mason with an ethical problem for which she is looking for a solution. She is working as a secretary for one Morley Theilman, a real-estate broker. Her boss asks her to deliver a suitcase, that she thinks is full of bills, in a locker at the Union Depot. She believes that Mr. Theilman is being blackmailed and she want to be certain that she can open the suitcase and confirm her suspicions, yet not get in trouble with law. Her only proof was a torn piece of letter supposedly mailed by A. B. Vidal to Morley L. Theilman with a single line: GET MONEY. INSTRUCTIONS ON TELEPHONE. FAILURE WILL BE FATAL. Mason sorts out the ethical dilemma and opens the case for her and finds money indeed. He and his secretary Miss Della Street, make a note of some of the numbers on the note, then he sends Janice and Della away to take care of the errand as instructed by Morley.
As always, his sharp brain processes the entire thing in various angles, seeing it in future steps for every angle, he gets intrigued more than needed as he believes there is more to the story. He takes help of services of Paul Drake's Drake Detective Agency and sets on to find who Morley Theilman was and everything surrounding him. Little does he know that a simple thing like that would land him a case that would not only end in murder but also gets him a subpoena to appear in front of the grand jury. But he doesn’t waver a bit and deftly thwacks away all the attempts of the District Attorney in indicting his client, Janice Wainwright. Who was blackmailing Morley? Was Janice really in love with him? Was it his ex-wife Carlotta Theilman? Or his current wife Agnes Theilman, who was an ex-showgirl in Vegas? What was the reason for the murder? What tricks lay under that suit of his that Perry Mason comes out unscathed again? Who was the shapely shadow who followed Morley Theilman the night he was murdered? Questions that can only be answered if you read the book.
Erle Stanely Gardner, a master at spinning court room dramas, has done it again with this book. However in this plot the case originally is handled by Manlove P. Ruskin, one of Hamilton Burger's best trial deputies, but later on for a brief period of time Hamilton Burger also steps in. Does it matter for Perry who is at the prosecutor's end? I guess not. Since he still thwarts them the same way he does anyone else. Another excellent read to keep your mind active.
Spoiler Alerts:
1. This book was made into an episode of the TV series Perry Mason two years after it was written. Although the episode is based on the book, there are quite a few dissimilarities between them.
2. In the TV episode however, Hamilton Burger is the only one who prosecutes the case.
3. Perry Mason also gets an assistant, David Gideon, in the episode. He first appears in The Case of the Posthumous Painter (originally aired in 1961. Although none of the episodes that David appeared on were based off any book written by Erle Stanley Gardner except this one. In the book though there is NO David Gideon.
4. Henry Battle, is introduced as brother of first Mrs. Theilman in the episode, although doesn’t exist in the book.
5. Unearthing that Agnes Theilman's maiden name was Agnes Vidal is done by Perry Mason in the book while in the episode Hamilton Burger does so.
6. Link to the video of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv1GE...
Recommendation: For everyone who have fetish for courtroom drama, this is the lawyer's case files that one would definitely want to read.
The Case of the Shapely Shadow is the 63rd installment of the Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner published in October of 1960. The case deals with the usual mystery with his client and the court room drama that follows for Perry Mason.
The plot begins with a plan Jane type of girl, Janice Wainwright, comes to Perry Mason with an ethical problem for which she is looking for a solution. She is working as a secretary for one Morley Theilman, a real-estate broker. Her boss asks her to deliver a suitcase, that she thinks is full of bills, in a locker at the Union Depot. She believes that Mr. Theilman is being blackmailed and she want to be certain that she can open the suitcase and confirm her suspicions, yet not get in trouble with law. Her only proof was a torn piece of letter supposedly mailed by A. B. Vidal to Morley L. Theilman with a single line: GET MONEY. INSTRUCTIONS ON TELEPHONE. FAILURE WILL BE FATAL. Mason sorts out the ethical dilemma and opens the case for her and finds money indeed. He and his secretary Miss Della Street, make a note of some of the numbers on the note, then he sends Janice and Della away to take care of the errand as instructed by Morley.
As always, his sharp brain processes the entire thing in various angles, seeing it in future steps for every angle, he gets intrigued more than needed as he believes there is more to the story. He takes help of services of Paul Drake's Drake Detective Agency and sets on to find who Morley Theilman was and everything surrounding him. Little does he know that a simple thing like that would land him a case that would not only end in murder but also gets him a subpoena to appear in front of the grand jury. But he doesn’t waver a bit and deftly thwacks away all the attempts of the District Attorney in indicting his client, Janice Wainwright. Who was blackmailing Morley? Was Janice really in love with him? Was it his ex-wife Carlotta Theilman? Or his current wife Agnes Theilman, who was an ex-showgirl in Vegas? What was the reason for the murder? What tricks lay under that suit of his that Perry Mason comes out unscathed again? Who was the shapely shadow who followed Morley Theilman the night he was murdered? Questions that can only be answered if you read the book.
Erle Stanely Gardner, a master at spinning court room dramas, has done it again with this book. However in this plot the case originally is handled by Manlove P. Ruskin, one of Hamilton Burger's best trial deputies, but later on for a brief period of time Hamilton Burger also steps in. Does it matter for Perry who is at the prosecutor's end? I guess not. Since he still thwarts them the same way he does anyone else. Another excellent read to keep your mind active.
Spoiler Alerts:
1. This book was made into an episode of the TV series Perry Mason two years after it was written. Although the episode is based on the book, there are quite a few dissimilarities between them.
2. In the TV episode however, Hamilton Burger is the only one who prosecutes the case.
3. Perry Mason also gets an assistant, David Gideon, in the episode. He first appears in The Case of the Posthumous Painter (originally aired in 1961. Although none of the episodes that David appeared on were based off any book written by Erle Stanley Gardner except this one. In the book though there is NO David Gideon.
4. Henry Battle, is introduced as brother of first Mrs. Theilman in the episode, although doesn’t exist in the book.
5. Unearthing that Agnes Theilman's maiden name was Agnes Vidal is done by Perry Mason in the book while in the episode Hamilton Burger does so.
6. Link to the video of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv1GE...
May 28, 2016
Whoa, this one actually goes to a jury trial! Most of the time, Mason gets his client acquitted during the preliminary hearing. But other things are as usual. Mason engages in some courtroom tricks, Paul Drake thinks, for once, that Perry's client is guilty, and Hamilton Burger gets humiliated (how does this guy continue to be the District Attorney, when he can't seem to win a case and seems to lose his temper at the drop of a hat?) Also as usual, the mystery is next to impossible to solve (I'm glad I didn't try, it would have given me a headache) but the story was still fun to read.
October 14, 2011
This case involves a blackmail plot, beautiful women and of course a murder. The only clue Perry has to work with is his client caught a glimpse of a woman's shadow on the sidewalk when he looked out a window. How Perry Mason, the detective Paul Drake and his secretary Della Street eventually solves the identity of the shadow is an example of the logic a good lawyer seems to have. An easy and fun read.
January 4, 2014
My first book of the new year! Have not ready any Perry Mason books for a while, although I have been collecting them for some time. A really good mystery, with lots of plot twists and turns. Perry Mason was one of my favorite shows as a kid-can picture the characters as I am reading. Perhaps this is the reason I love mysteries. Good historical read as well, showing court and police procedures of the early 60's, and how to track down leads with no internet!!
June 22, 2016
Simply one of the best Perry Mason novels about courtroom tactics. Through the use of rules of procedure Mason is able to get his client acquitted. The amusing thing is that the vital clue could have been introduced by Mason as he presented his case. Mason, as we have seen many times, prefers the dramatic touch. The truth about what happened wasn't a big surprise although the actual killer wasn't obvious to me. Nevertheless, an excellent courtroom drama.
May 7, 2023
The Case of the Shapley Shadow starts with a woman secretary consulting Perry Mason about a possible blackmail payout. So simple, of course, it’s a Perry Mason case. The courtroom scenes are well written and intense. The ending is very satisfying.
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