The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll

Perry Mason, Book 55

By: Erle Stanley Gardner

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Engaged to a dynamic young go-getter on his way up the corporate ladder, secretary Mildred Crest was riding high. Until her prince charming embezzled company funds and skipped town, leaving Mildred with nothing but a ring on her finger and egg on her face. Now all she wants is to start life over again and when a fateful drive leads to the death of a lone hitchhiker, Mildred gets that chance. But this is not the sweet escape she thought it would be when the life she's adopted takes an even darker turn for the worse....Oh the agony of deceit....

©1958 Erle Stanley Gardner. Renewed 1986 Jean Bethel Gardner and Grace Nas (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

One of the Best of Gardner's Openings

This was the most interesting opening to a Perry Mason case that I have yet read. A woman finds out that her fiancé has been embezzling from the company that they both work at and is taking off. She doesn’t know what to do. She starts driving aimlessly and at a gas station, picks up a hitchhiker who is also a woman with some problems on her hands. They talk about running away together and then the hitchhiker does a Thelma and Louise and forces the car they are driving off the road. The hitchhiker is killed, the woman is only bruised. As she gets out of the car, she decides to take the hitchhiker’s identity. Using a match to see by, she accidentally sets the car on fire as she grabs the woman’s purse and walks away. She establishes a new life for herself under the assumed identity (Fern) and then things start falling apart. An insurance investigator figures out what she did and shows her how she can be accused of murdering the other woman and tries to blackmail her. Enter Perry Mason who takes the woman as a client on the strength of a 5 cent retainer. He starts to work on the black mail case, but things quickly get even more complicated.

“Fern” is approached by another woman who is the sister of the man the original Fern was in love with (and possibly pregnant by) and she learns that there are a whole new set of problems over love letters that were in the stolen purse, a payoff, and a second concern over blackmail. And if that isn’t enough, the father of the original “Fern’s” lover enters the picture and he loves to throw his weight around. All of this, mind you, before the mandatory murder case gets introduced.

Gardner really keeps this story jumping and has a closet full of surprises to spring on the reader.

Excellent!

Excellent story. Fast paced. Twists in story throughout. In short, EXCELLENT in every way. Enjoy.

Earl Stanley Gardner

I enjoyed this Perry Mason book, it helped a lot to hear the book and go back to the Perry Mason series. This book gives more clarity to the Perry Mason TV episodes.

fantastic . I sat thru book all at one time.

I really like having audio books. I don't read will on own. Thank you for bringing another aspect to books.