Following
the publication of The Case of the Irate
Witness and Other Stories, Gardner’s estate released two posthumous Perry
Mason novels in 1972 and 1973. The first of these two novels was The Case of the Fenced-in Woman.
While
the book was promoted as a new Perry Mason novel, the book was in fact over a
decade old. The book was originally titled The
Case of the Fenced-Off Women and had been written in 1960. Thayer Hobson
had rejected the book at that time for having too improbable a plot. Gardner
shared correspondence with Helen King, trying to change her mind, but the
decision stood until all of the principals had passed away. The book, while a
completed draft, had not gone through the rigorous editing process Helen King
provided. At times, it is obvious that no one edited the book to reflect the
intervening decade. Word choices and situations provide clues to the actual age
of the book. The three Walter
In
this book, Morley Eden visits Mason to discuss a difficulty with his property.
He had purchased two lots from Loring Carson, who is in the midst of a messy
divorce. Carson assures Eden that he has the deed to both properties, but his
assurances are hollow. In his haste to get a divorce, Carson had the wrong
woman followed. This wrong woman was having an affair, making Carson feel certain
that his wife would settle. The mistake costs him the deed to one of the
properties.
To
get back at the man who has sided with her husband, Mrs. Carson runs barbed
wire through Eden’s new home along the property line, providing Eden with only
half the house. During a press conference on the house with Eden and Mason, the
reporters find the dead body of Loring Carson. Mason has to find a killer while
Eden falls in love with his new neighbor.
