The Case of the Sulky Girl by Erle Stanley Gardner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although this is the second Perry Mason novel, it is the first one in which we actually see Mason in a court room. In the first he's almost more hard-boiled PI, than lawyer. This shows us the character in a situation much more familiar. Defending his client and revealing in a stunning surprise the actual culprit/murderer during the trial.

Frances Celene, is a wealthy heiress who initially comes to consult Perry about the terms of her father’s will. Her inheritance is being overseen by her Uncle, who she feels is too strict in his supervision. One of those being that if she marries prior to her twenty-fifth birthday, she will only be given a small annual income and the majority of the estate given to a number of charities already stipulated.

On an evening when she reveals to her uncle that she has already married, Frances and her new husband argue with the man. Within hours he is found bludgeoned to death after making a call to police, apparently about a stolen automobile. It's up to Perry, along with PI Paul Drake, to discover the actual facts of the murder and clear both young people of the crime.

One thing I found confusing is that in this novel we have an Asst. DA Claude Drumm, whereas in the first novel there is a police detective with that last name who even takes a few bucks on the side from Mason to help him with some questions. In the TV series, Detective Steve Drumm is a member of the police, and the Claude Drumm character replaced by Hamilton Burger, who is known by most fans. He was introduced in later novels.

As usual the actual murderer seems to come out of left field, as it often did in the TV series, where a secondary character always breaks down in court to confess. As much fun as the first novel was, it was great actually seeing Perry in action in court.


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