The Case of the Borrowed Brunette by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1946

 

dustjackets.com

Major characters:

Cora Felton, a street brunette

Eva Martell, a street brunette, Cora's roommate

"Aunt" Adelle Winters, their chaperone

Robert Dover Hines, employer of the street brunettes

Helen Reedley, who the brunette impersonates

Arthur Clovis, Helen's man on the side

Orville Reedley, Helen's powerful husband

Daphne Gridley, Orville's girl on the side

Carlotta Tipton, Hines' fiancée

Mae Bagley, rooming house operator

Perry Mason, attorney

Della Street, secretary

Paul Drake, private investigator

Harry Gulling, Assistant District Attorney

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: Attorney Perry Mason is driving along Adams Street and is intrigued by a series of similarly-dressed brunettes, one at each intersection. He stops to inquire of one, Cora Felton, who explains they are applying for a position advertised by a Mr. Robert Hines requiring a brunette of certain appearance. Apparently Hines was doing a drive-by to pick one. Her roommate, Eva Martell, is on another corner, and she is the one selected.

Hines suggests Eva choose a chaperone to ensure this is on the up-and-up, and she selects her long time friend "Aunt" Adelle Winters. Hines sets Eva up in an obviously-occupied apartment, and instructs her on how to - without saying so - "impersonate" a Helen Reedley. A worried Eva consults Mason to learn that posing as another person is not illegal unless it is with intent to defraud.

Mason is still pondering the setup when Eva and Cora find Hines shot in the apartment. Investigation shows that the real Helen Reedley has a domineering high-powered husband, Orville Reedley, and a secret boyfriend, Arthur Clovis. Orville is playing the game, too, with a girl on the side - Daphne Gridley. 

The police trace the murder gun to Adelle, and arrest her and Eva for the murder. Before Eva can be picked up, Mason hides her in a rooming house run by a former client, Mae Bagley; getting him in hot water with Assistant District Attorney Harry Gulling.

Review: A fast-paced read which I divided over two sittings. The setup was interesting, with the brunettes staged along the street. Gardner made a point that this particular street was in-between downtown and outlying areas, where the brunettes would be rather noticeable. 

A lot of time is spent analyzing the garbage can incident, which got a bit tedious after a while. Mason plots a little setup for Gulling, with a prop wallet and a fake perfumed letter - I was looking forward to seeing how that played out, hoping for a courtroom surprise, but that didn't happen.

Hamilton Burger does not appear in this one, and I did miss him and his repartée with Mason. 

Also see this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.