August Read/2

Title: The Case of the Demure Defendant
Author: Gardner, Erle Stanley
Genre: Mystery
Book Review by P. Mann VINE VOICE from amazon.com
"A young woman under the influence of the "truth" serum sodium pentathol confesses to her doctor that she poisoned the older man in whose house she had been living. After the man's death, she says, she threw the bottle containing the poison into a lake. The doctor, armed with this information and a recording of the session, consults Perry Mason, bringing the famous lawyer into the case.

The police have no knowledge that anyone has been murdered. The possible victim's cause of death was put down to natural causes years before when he died. Now, though, the police get wind of the confession, and Mason finds himself racing against time to determine whether a crime has been committed at all. He goes to the lake and succeeds in finding a bottle that, thankfully, does not contain poison. Apparently, the case is at an end. The "confession," he thinks, was just a product of the woman's imagination and guilty conscience. However, just when Mason thinks he can rest easy, the police recover a second bottle.

Now, not only is Mason's client back in hot water, but Mason himself is also facing legal trouble. The police, it seems, suspect Mason of having planted the first bottle."
My Read:
After I closed the book last night one word by Perry Mason was running in my head as I tried to close my eyes and sleep. The word is "Overlooked." It was repeated more than once by the famous lawyer at the very last chapter. Here is one quote from the lawyer: "There's one other alternative," Mason said," and I think you have all overlooked the significant thing in Newburn's testimony which was to the effect that when his wife slipped out toward the dining room, there was no one in sight, that she couldn't find Nadine or Cap'n Huge, that the double boiler containing the chocolate was on the stove, all melted, and-"..."He told us he was in the dining room all the time, washing windows." "Jackson Newburn didn't see him."-page 153-154
In real life, how many did we overlook things to miss important messages? At least, after reflection as I closed the book, I found myself victim of overlooking stuff. It's something to ponder over for me.
Good read.