Another Look: “The Case of the Grinning Gorilla”

Warning: Artistic inspiration drawn from book titles may vary.



Left: The Case of the Grinning Gorilla, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Pocket, 1956), with a cover illustration from Milton Herder. Right: The Case of the Grinning Gorilla, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Great Pan, 1961); cover art by Pat Owen.

I like what author, blogger, and mystery-fiction scholar Curtis Evans wrote in his review of this mid-series Perry Mason outing:

Somehow I never imagined I would come across a Perry Mason mystery where the redoubtable defense attorney gets pursued through an eccentric millionaire's nearly deserted mansion by a killer gorilla. Yet, sure enough, this is just what I found in Erle Stanley Gardner's fortieth—if I counted right—Perry Mason detective novel, The Case of the Grinning Gorilla (1952).

In most American mysteries from the period, the titular “gorilla” would have been some nasty, hulking human bruiser with one ugly mug, who has it down for some reason on our series hero; but, nope, when ESG promises you a gorilla, you get an actual gorilla. And then some! Things get pretty hairy for our Perry, let me tell you.

Also nice is that in the Pocket edition on the left, the gorilla can be spotted only as a reflection in those dark glasses worn by the sunbathing lovely. Because I have not yet read the book, I cannot say for sure what the relationship is between her and a menacing ape, but clearly summertime frolics feature in Gardner’s yarn, as the original U.S. hardcover version features its own scantily clad figure.

A far less appealing photo front for this book can be seen here.