Book Review: The Case of the Negligent Nymph (1949)

Due partly to the holidays, it took me longer to read this particular Perry Mason book than it normally does and, to be honest, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get through it. I finally finished it last night and, overall, thought it was a good read.

I think the thing I liked best about this book was the fact I was never quite sure Dorothy Fenner was wrongfully accused. Yes, Mason practically stripped searched her to confirm she hadn't stolen anything from Alder's property the first time. But, once he was murdered, there was an awful lot of evidence, including an eye witness who saw her in the room, pointing toward her guilt.

On top of it, unlike many other murder mysteries I've read, there didn't even seem to be another potential suspect. This is the type of book that would normally have a business partner or relative that would stand out. Instead, Fenner seemed to be the only one with both motive and opportunity to kill him.

Mason's courtroom maneuvering was also very memorable. I loved how he had absolutely no way to prove his client's innocence or even give the jury any sort of reasonable doubt but still managed to keep the prosecutor off his game and stall long enough for things to start looking better for his client.

As part of that, I found myself wondering why he was so obsessed with Alder's dog. I suspected he knew something he wasn't revealing but, at the same time, it seemed almost as though his questions were related to his overall stall tactic. And, given he didn't even have any evidence that worked in his client's favor until a last-second visit to the crime scene, I'm still not totally convinced it wasn't originally the latter and he was just pretending he had a plan.

I thought this book was an intriguing murder mystery and it only became better when it looked as though Mason was on the verge of potentially losing the case because his client blatantly lied to him. If you get an opportunity to read this, I would recommend doing so.

My Grade: A