The Case of the Lavender Lipstick

One other reviewer has criticized this episode, implying that it's mediocre or unexceptional. I respectfully disagree with his assessment, and I likewise respectfully suggest that he does not recognize or understand the formula for the Perry Mason series. This episode follows that formula, and it does so quite well. It even includes several atypical twists, such as the history starting 25 years earlier, the use of a steam room, the trick to keep a witness in town and to serve him with a subpoena, and the tagging of Paul Drake as a witness for the prosecution and his absence from the courtroom when the assistant district attorney was about to call Paul to the stand. The story and its branches are interesting, and the solution by Perry is well done and well presented.

Once again, a demure, quiet, unassuming brunette is in the defendant's chair. She is a scientist who becomes the scapegoat for a company that is reeling because secret formulas are being leaked. The plot is pretty pedestrian, certainly, but there are enough twists and turns to keep us guessing. Also, once again, we don't get any inkling of what is going to happen to about six others who committed various crimes in the process leading up to the murder.