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Cool and Lam #19
Pass the Gravy
There's an insurance policy worth $75,000, which pays double in the event of an accident. So if he's dead I want to establish that fact and collect. Naturally. And if he's alive, then I want a divorce and alimony.
166 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 21, 2018
This entry in the Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series opens when a fifteen-year-old girl comes into the office hoping that the firm will find her missing Uncle Amos. Uncle Amos occasionally goes off on a bender. When he does, he mails his car keys to the girl's mother and when the bender is over, he hitchhikes home, usually catching a ride with a brother Elk. The girl is worried because this time Uncle Amos has been gone for an unusually long time. The girl and her mother depend on Amos for support and her mother needs an operation and things are generally grim.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that Amos is a couple of weeks short of his thirty-fifth birthday, at which time he will inherit a boatload of money unless he has been convicted of a serious crime. In that event, the fortune will be divided among a number of charities.
Despite this terribly sad tale, Bertha kicks the kid out of the office because there's no money in it for the firm. Instead, she sends Donald out to meet with a fairly wealthy woman whose husband has disappeared. The woman is offering the firm a substantial bonus if they can find the husband.
Before meeting the wealthy wife, Donald interviews the poor young girl and her mother and promises to try to find the missing Uncle Amos. He also gives them some money from the firm's expense account to tide them over until Amos reappears. He then talks to the very sexy woman whose husband is missing and who is quick to put the moves on Donald.
Donald discovers that the missing husband and the missing Uncle Amos both sent postcards from the same rural service station just before they disappeared. This "coincidence" is, of course. too much to be believed, and it propels Donald into another very entertaining investigation. As is common in these books, the twists and turns will leave virtually any reader reeling, but it's a fun ride, and this is one of the better books in the series.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that Amos is a couple of weeks short of his thirty-fifth birthday, at which time he will inherit a boatload of money unless he has been convicted of a serious crime. In that event, the fortune will be divided among a number of charities.
Despite this terribly sad tale, Bertha kicks the kid out of the office because there's no money in it for the firm. Instead, she sends Donald out to meet with a fairly wealthy woman whose husband has disappeared. The woman is offering the firm a substantial bonus if they can find the husband.
Before meeting the wealthy wife, Donald interviews the poor young girl and her mother and promises to try to find the missing Uncle Amos. He also gives them some money from the firm's expense account to tide them over until Amos reappears. He then talks to the very sexy woman whose husband is missing and who is quick to put the moves on Donald.
Donald discovers that the missing husband and the missing Uncle Amos both sent postcards from the same rural service station just before they disappeared. This "coincidence" is, of course. too much to be believed, and it propels Donald into another very entertaining investigation. As is common in these books, the twists and turns will leave virtually any reader reeling, but it's a fun ride, and this is one of the better books in the series.
December 13, 2013
"Shape, weight and hate. Bertha Cool always reminded me of a big spool of barbed wire." That is a description by private detective Donald Lam of his partner. For her own part, the ever-blunt and penny-pinching Bertha tells others (and Donald himself, for that matter) that her partner is "a brainy and devious little bastard." They are, of course, both correct.
This book, written by Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair, is much lighter in tone and more humorous than any in his more famous Perry Mason series. It is narrated in the first person by the perspicacious Donald, a disbarred lawyer, and there are no court scene where the unjustly accused is exonerated by a last-minute confession. For all the differences, however, there are similarities -- crisp dialogue and lots of it, sharply drawn characters, pithy descriptions of mid-century America, and an intricate plot that winds toward a conclusion both inevitable and logical.
"Pass the Gravy" starts with two very different missing person cases. Bertha wants Donald to find the missing husband who will bring $$$ into the agency's coffers. Donald, however, is drawn to the knock-kneed flat-chested charity case who wanders into the office looking for poor Uncle Amos. Caught between avarice and empathy, Donald investigates both cases, As he traverses the wasteland between Los Angeles and Reno, the two disparate cases begin to converge, morphing into a single case involving inheritances, fraud, depravity, and murder. By the time Donald finishes talking himself out of yet another jam, justice is served and Bertha is left smiling...quite an achievement, that.
Those mystery fans familiar with only Gardner's Perry Mason novels will be pleasantly surprised by this wry entry in a bright and brilliant series.
This book, written by Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair, is much lighter in tone and more humorous than any in his more famous Perry Mason series. It is narrated in the first person by the perspicacious Donald, a disbarred lawyer, and there are no court scene where the unjustly accused is exonerated by a last-minute confession. For all the differences, however, there are similarities -- crisp dialogue and lots of it, sharply drawn characters, pithy descriptions of mid-century America, and an intricate plot that winds toward a conclusion both inevitable and logical.
"Pass the Gravy" starts with two very different missing person cases. Bertha wants Donald to find the missing husband who will bring $$$ into the agency's coffers. Donald, however, is drawn to the knock-kneed flat-chested charity case who wanders into the office looking for poor Uncle Amos. Caught between avarice and empathy, Donald investigates both cases, As he traverses the wasteland between Los Angeles and Reno, the two disparate cases begin to converge, morphing into a single case involving inheritances, fraud, depravity, and murder. By the time Donald finishes talking himself out of yet another jam, justice is served and Bertha is left smiling...quite an achievement, that.
Those mystery fans familiar with only Gardner's Perry Mason novels will be pleasantly surprised by this wry entry in a bright and brilliant series.
December 25, 2016
Thank heaven for these fast-paced puzzlers with Donald Lam hot on the trail. I guess I've been spoiled as a reader, expecting things always to be interesting and to be eager to turn the pages... but I'll live with that.
This one starts with a "spindly-legged, flat-chested" (Bertha Cool's sneering description) teenage girl who wants Lam & Cool to investigate her missing Uncle Amos. We'll get a story involving the 1950s hysteria about hitchhiking and a little bit about the law of inheritances in California, and of course the man of action, Donald Lam, sorting out the threads in pursuit of justice.
This one starts with a "spindly-legged, flat-chested" (Bertha Cool's sneering description) teenage girl who wants Lam & Cool to investigate her missing Uncle Amos. We'll get a story involving the 1950s hysteria about hitchhiking and a little bit about the law of inheritances in California, and of course the man of action, Donald Lam, sorting out the threads in pursuit of justice.
July 10, 2012
This was probably closer to a 3 1/2, but I'll give any book that reads this fast the benefit of the half.
Another decent Cool and Lam novel. This one stuck fairly close to formula with Donald getting himself in and ultimately out of trouble over a couple of dames. The ending pushed a little farther in to the cozy field than I'd have preferred. But again, Fair makes you want to turn the pages to see where it's all going to end up.
Another decent Cool and Lam novel. This one stuck fairly close to formula with Donald getting himself in and ultimately out of trouble over a couple of dames. The ending pushed a little farther in to the cozy field than I'd have preferred. But again, Fair makes you want to turn the pages to see where it's all going to end up.
November 1, 2016
Bertha Cool says of her partner Donald Lam that he is "like a trapeze performer, whirling around so damned fast nobody can be sure just" what he's doing. This novel is one of his performances.
November 2, 2013
Erle Stanley Gardner (who wrote the Perry Mason books) is writing here under his nom de plume of A.A. Fair which I am coming to understand is his slightly smuttier persona (I mean come on - his pen name is close to the word "affair"). What this book lacks in good writing it makes up for with a combination of campiness and an attempt at being hardboiled which falls delightfully shy of serious. A fine example of this is in the characters' names: the detective agency is owned by Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Really?! I find those names to be almost exactly midway between laughable and tough...ok so the scales tip toward laughable. As for the mystery itself I can't say it's any great shakes but I found I didn't really care since I was so enjoying Gardner (er...I mean Fair) showing his risqué side. Good on ya, Erle.
June 18, 2014
Pulp fiction with a display of acrobatics of a deductive (detective) mind.
Donald Lam is more than just solving a case when he is playing people, taking a pro-bono case without the knowledge of his partner B.Cool.
2 missing person cases land at Cool and Lam both with riders - one officially signed. Both the cases cross path at homicide and all of a sudden Lam is working the press, the police and his partner to solve the puzzle.
A quick read.
Donald Lam is more than just solving a case when he is playing people, taking a pro-bono case without the knowledge of his partner B.Cool.
2 missing person cases land at Cool and Lam both with riders - one officially signed. Both the cases cross path at homicide and all of a sudden Lam is working the press, the police and his partner to solve the puzzle.
A quick read.
July 16, 2017
Pass the Gravy is one of the better volumes in the Cool and Lam series. This is the story of two missing persons cases that intersect with postcards from an isolated gas station. One of the cases is brought to Lam by a 15 year old worried about her missing uncle who is often off on a bender but must play in the straight and narrow to inherit. The other by a seductive siren of a woman who can make men melt by just taking off her gloves or swiveling a hip. She wants to know what happened to her traveling salesman husband last heard from in the company of a buxom blonde hitchhiker. And she is already trying to figure out whether she is a widow with life insurance proceeds or on her way to a good divorce settlement with lots of alimony.
Lam takes the usual vague clues and finds himself traveling back and forth across the Sierras, finding corpses, using lie detectors, and gambling in Reno.
With all the gamblers, hitchhikers, and teases in this one, it has a bit of a pulpy feel. Probably more smoothly plotted than most in this series, it is an easy fast read. But don't read this looking for gunfights, hoods, and car chases, this is more of a twisted puzzle set out for the solving and somehow Gardner (writing as A A Fair) makes it a compelling read.
Lam takes the usual vague clues and finds himself traveling back and forth across the Sierras, finding corpses, using lie detectors, and gambling in Reno.
With all the gamblers, hitchhikers, and teases in this one, it has a bit of a pulpy feel. Probably more smoothly plotted than most in this series, it is an easy fast read. But don't read this looking for gunfights, hoods, and car chases, this is more of a twisted puzzle set out for the solving and somehow Gardner (writing as A A Fair) makes it a compelling read.
April 30, 2017
I was a huge fan of the Perry Mason series as a kid & while I bought most of the Cool/Lam series, I found them to be a little too sophisticated for me at that age & set them aside until recently.
Once again, AAF/ESG strung me along until the big reveal at the end. He was certainly a master of his craft & I will be deeply saddened when I read the last entry in the series. There are a lot of twists & turns in this one, as well as a good bit of travel on Lam's part, taking him into eastern California & western Nevada. It inspired me to look at an atlas, which is never a bad thing.
Lots of snappy dialogue & a quick read, interrupted by a new library book in my case.
Once again, AAF/ESG strung me along until the big reveal at the end. He was certainly a master of his craft & I will be deeply saddened when I read the last entry in the series. There are a lot of twists & turns in this one, as well as a good bit of travel on Lam's part, taking him into eastern California & western Nevada. It inspired me to look at an atlas, which is never a bad thing.
Lots of snappy dialogue & a quick read, interrupted by a new library book in my case.
Read
October 6, 2019Many years ago,I read the adventures of pint- sized Donald Lam and plus sized Bertha Cool,without realizing that A.A.Fair was none other than Erle Stanley Gardener.I liked these books more than the ones featuring his other creation,Perry Mason.Entertaining series with a nice touch of humour.
June 4, 2021
I’ve read more Perry Mason novels than the Donald Lamb and Bertha Cool series written by Erle Stanley Gardner under his pen name of A.A. Fair. Donald Lamb, the smart, young private investigator of the Firm of Cool and Lamb, makes up in brains what he lacks in inches, with a warm heart in addition. The managing partner, Bertha Cool, on the other hand is not only formidable in size but also in her single- minded focus on- hard cash. Donald is just about to follow up on a missing person case, where a young wife is desperately looking for her husband, dead or alive, while Bertha Cool is shooing away a penniless teenage client who has come in for help to find her missing uncle. Donald, soft-hearted as usual, drops the girl back home and helps out the family, promising to trace the uncle. Strangely enough, both missing men were last seen in Carver City. Donald takes off on a laborious hunt with few clues and turns up a body. The grieving widow is informed. In the process, he also locates the missing uncle, and tries to keep him safe. But Uncle Amos is soon arrested for the murder, and all the evidence is against him. How Donald solves the case is a fascinating read, as all clues lead to dead ends.
December 31, 2024
One of the better late Lam and Cool mysteries. A woman is trying to locate a missing husband and a young girl is trying to locate an alcoholic relative. Bertha wants Donald to focus on the missing husband because it will means big bucks for the firm. Donald wants to help the girl. As it turns out the two cases are entwined as the husband is found dead by the side of the road and the alcoholic relative is accused of murder. A couple of good twists as Donald puts everything to rights.
September 8, 2020
Two requests come into the agency, to find men that have both disappeared from the same spot. Bertha is only interested in the one from the wealthy client. Donald's sympathy is aroused by the other. He manages to work on both at the same time and does not let Bertha know. Of course, the stories are intertwined and there are several women that are interested in Donald.
June 14, 2025
I never tire of this series. This story contains many plot twists which are sorted by Donald Lam. Enjoy!
May 11, 2013
Formulaic and convoluted. A inordinate amount of story gets told instead of shown and overall its just very disappointing. One of the weaker Cool and Lam stories.
November 22, 2011
( O cadáver sem rosto )
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews