The Case of the One-Eyed Witness by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1950

 

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About the author: Erle Stanley Gardner (1889 – 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories. The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr. (wikipedia)

Series: Perry Mason #36

Major characters:

Medford D. Carlin, bookbinder and photographer

Arthman D. Fargo, Realtor

Perry Mason, attorney

Della Street, his secretary

Paul Drake, private investigator

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: While dining at a night club, Perry Mason receives a phone call from a woman - declining to give her name - desperate to retain his services. She sends, by messenger, a retainer of $570 and a newspaper clipping. She instructs Mason to show the clipping to bookbinder/photographer Medford D. Carlin, along with the message that "he needs to find a new partner". Mason also has a conversation with the club's cigarette girl, who tells him she is searching for her lost four-year old daughter who had been given up for adoption.

When Mason meets Carlin, Carlin denies knowing anything about it. Mason is skeptical and has Paul Drake watch the house. In the middle of the night, Drake's operative sees a woman enter the house, and shortly afterward the house catches on fire. When the fire is out, Carlin is found dead.

Mason thinks the woman may have been his client. In trying to trace her, he finds realtor Arthman D. Fargo, who could be her husband. Mason poses as a prospective house buyer to interview him, and later finds Fargo dead. 

Review:

The good: I enjoyed when Mason and Della called on Fargo, Mason pretending he was house-hunting with Della posing as his mistress. Mason and Della had some flirtation in which Mason suggested they really get married, but Della talks him out of it!

The bad: This 1950 novel has overtones from World War II and lingering prejudice about the Japanese. Much ado is made about a baby-selling scheme and how people don't want any baby that has any percentage of Japanese blood.

The strange: I think the strange curvy shape on the cover may be a stylized jigsaw puzzle piece, as better seen on this cover: