If we can trust online translations (which we probably can’t), this 1963 Dutch edition of Erle Stanley Gardner’s 1961 Perry Mason novel The Case Of The Singing Skirt reads “The Girl’s Secret In Leotard”. Well, that’s what I got, anyway. Which might make sense since the model in Dutch photographer Philip Mechanicus’ cover photo doesn’t appear to be wearing a skirt at all. To be fair, many U.S. paperback editions of Gardner’s Perry Mason novels showcased peculiarly steamy covers for their wildly successful mysery/courtroom potboilers. This one? A low-rent California gambling den’s cigarette girl and aspiring songstress who witnesses a gambling debt payoff winds up pinned with a murder rap…Perry Mason to the rescue.
I love Erle Stanley Gardner, especially his Perry Mason stories. I’ve seen the episode on TV that this book is used for. BTW I hate the new Perry Mason reboot in HBO. I know it’s not what you blog is about but I just had to say it.
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I haven’t seen the new HBO Perry Mason, but plan to look for it. Sometimes the trick with these revisionist reboots is just to forget the source material and watch the project on its own merits. My guess is that Hollywood often snatches pop culture icons for the value of the title and nothing else. I haven’t seen The Case Of The Singing Skirt TV episode, but Mason reruns are on nightly on one of the oldies cable channels, so I’m bound to catch it at some point.
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