Erle Stanley Gardner
The Case Of The Sunbather's Diary

First US hardback published by William Morrow, 1955. First UK hardback published by William Heinemann 1961, first UK paperback published by Pan in 1963, Mayflower paperback published in UK 1971.

I have fond memories of the Perry Mason TV shows, broadcast regularly from the late 1950s onwards. A criminal defence attorney, Perry Mason always won his case, invariably by a dramatic revelation in the courtroom. To achieve this - and defeat his bitter rival District Attorney Hamilton Burger - Perry Mason had to go way beyond mere interviews with his client and burrowing deep into law reports to find obscure precedents. Instead, he behaved like a chief investigator, detecting merrily away along with his trusty secretary Della Street and an army of private eyes headed by Paul Drake.

Despite my youthful familiarity with Perry Mason, I had never read one of the books until a snippet of description alerted me to this particular The Case Of The ... offering. It was a surprise to find the lawyer described as athletic, given that, even pre-Ironside, Raymond Burr was definitely large rather than muscular. It was also intriguing to find that Gardner was capable of setting out his plots at full novel length, with plenty of twists and turns, and a lot of attention to detail. This particular plot concerns the whereabouts of almost half-a-million dollars stolen from a bank. Was it an inside job? Was the right man convicted? Why should the prisoner's daughter be so awash with spending money if she isn't involved in some way? All of which is brought to Perry Mason's notice when he gets an intriguing telephone call. As the book's blurb puts it "A beautiful girl, robbed of everything but her sun tan.". Most embarrassing for the young lady, but chivalrous Mr Mason gets Della Street to sort out the covering-up rather than offering to do it himself. As you can read in the extract, Arlene Duvall was enjoying some solo naturism, as was her habit, when all her worldly possessions were taken away. Except that the book actually makes it clear that she had a "light wrap" available, so she wasn't quite as naked as implied by the blurb. No matter, this would be just as unsuitable for wandering around as a birthday suit.

While I enjoyed this book, I don't feel tempted to search out other Perry Mason stories. But if you like this sort of thing, take a look at Richard Prather's Strip For Murder - also written in 1955, and set in California.

Ratings:

Nudity	Naturist nudity	A good read?

Last updated 2004 April 24.
 
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