29 JUNE 1956, Page 22

THE CASE OF THE ONE-EYED WITNESS. By Erle Stanley Gardner.

(Heinemann, 12s. 6d.) In a foreword, dedicating his book to a lecturer in forensic medicine he once sat under, Mr. Gardner reveals how 'I have been brought to a realisation that every time an innocent man is convicted it is not only a great tragedy, but the party who is really guilty continues at liberty as a menace to society.' Never mind: the novel itself shows that it doesn't take a deep tb1nker to spin a good yarn. This is Perry Mason, as slick and as much in the police's hair: as ever; and pulling off his climactic court-room surprise, also as ever. Good for the deck- chair, if you skip those dedicatory glimpsei of the obvious.