"Unlike the usual Perry Mason stories which usually start with a distraght person approaching Mason for help, this book starts with the story of an attractive secretary in California, engaged to the most eligible bachelor in town. But something goes wrong, and her fiance confesses to having embezzled funds in the company where he worked. Humiliated and hurt, she just wants to run away.
She packs up and leaves, and on the way picks up a hitchhiker. The car meets with an accident and the hitchhiker is killed. Mildred sees the opportunity to start life afresh, and assumes the identity of the hitchhiker; Fern Driscoll. Soon, an insurance investigator smells a rat and attempts to blackmail her. This is when Mildred approaches Perry Mason for help, as Fern Driscoll. Before anything much can be done, the insurance investigator is stabbed.
The circumstancial evidence seems to point entirely at Mildred, and she seems to be guilty of two murders; the Fern Driscoll, and the blackmailer. The book deals with the misinterpretation of circumstantial evidence, and the lack of authenticity in eyewitness evidence. The courtroom scenes are very good."
Ashwita, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of The Case of the Footloose Doll
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 50% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- very upbeat
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
Kind of investigator
- skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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