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Cool and Lam #1.5
The Knife Slipped
Lost for more than 75 years, The Knife Slipped was meant to be the second book in the series, but shelved when Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to “talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people.” But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities—however shocking for 1939—shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists. Donald Lam has never been cooler—not even when played by Frank Sinatra on the U.S. Steel Hour of Mystery in 1946. Bertha Cool has never been tougher. And Erle Stanley Gardner has never been better.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2016
267 people are currently reading
1077 people want to read
About the author
Erle Stanley Gardner
1,354 books819 followersErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories who also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
Innovative and restless in his nature, he was bored by the routine of legal practice, the only part of which he enjoyed was trial work and the development of trial strategy. In his spare time, he began to write for pulp magazines, which also fostered the early careers of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. He created many different series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a "gentleman thief" in the tradition of Raffles, and Ken Corning, a crusading lawyer who was the archetype of his most successful creation, the fictional lawyer and crime-solver Perry Mason, about whom he wrote more than eighty novels. With the success of Perry Mason, he gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines, eventually withdrawing from the medium entirely, except for non-fiction articles on travel, Western history, and forensic science.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erle_Sta...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
December 7, 2016
This is the second novel in the Donald Lam-Bertha Cool series, which was written by "A.A. Fair," a pseudonym for Erle Stanley Gardner, who is much better known, of course, for his series featuring the lawyer, Perry Mason.
Or, at least it was intended to be the second novel in the series. When Gardner turned the book into his publisher, they refused it, arguing that the book's approach to adultery and sex exceeded the limits of good taste. In the book, Bertha insists that virtually every man cheats on his wife--that it's the nature of the beast--and that an intelligent wife will simply accommodate herself to the fact and not get bent out of shape about it. But it's probably not an idea that a large number of people would have endorsed in that day and age.
Then there's the sex. At one point, Donald escorts a shapely young blonde home in the agency's car. As they sit outside the woman's apartment house, Donald reports that, "She didn't try to stop me in anything I did....She let my hands wander around the outside of her clothes, caressing her curves. I had a feeling she'd given me the key to the city, but I didn't try any doors that I thought she'd prefer to keep locked." Apparently pretty racy stuff, for 1939!
Gardner apparently never attempted to revise the book to make it more suitable for publication; he just moved on to other projects, which included twenty-nine books in the Lam-Cool series. But the Erle Stanley Gardner Trust has finally resurrected the book and the folks at Hard Case Crime have now published it, only seventy-seven years late, apparently concluding that the reading public will now be able to handle it without fainting in shock.
It's clear that Gardner is still feeling his way along here. Donald Lam is still only a junior operative in the firm and the character is still taking shape. Bertha Cool's character is already more firmly fixed--a big, tough, no-nonsense woman who squeezes every nickle until it bleeds and who believes that her firm exists solely to make money as opposed to pursuing justice, And if she has to bend a few rules along the way, that's perfectly fine.
The story opens, as they often do, when a new client appears at the office with a seemingly simple request. A woman comes in with her daughter; they believe that the daughter's husband is cheating, and they want the firm to investigate. Bertha wheedles as much money as she can out of the mother in the way of a fee and then sends Donald out to shadow the husband and get the evidence.
And, as always happens, of course, this seemingly innocuous case will morph into something much more sinister and dangerous. There will be a murder, naturally, and the case involves a lot of municipal corruption, which was a staple of pulp crime novels during this era. Through it all, Donald will struggle to survive and to solve the case, while Bertha plays all the angles in an effort to maximize her profit. It's a lot of fun and will appeal principally to fans who already know of and enjoy the series, which now rounds out at thirty books. It's nice to have this one in the collection.
Or, at least it was intended to be the second novel in the series. When Gardner turned the book into his publisher, they refused it, arguing that the book's approach to adultery and sex exceeded the limits of good taste. In the book, Bertha insists that virtually every man cheats on his wife--that it's the nature of the beast--and that an intelligent wife will simply accommodate herself to the fact and not get bent out of shape about it. But it's probably not an idea that a large number of people would have endorsed in that day and age.
Then there's the sex. At one point, Donald escorts a shapely young blonde home in the agency's car. As they sit outside the woman's apartment house, Donald reports that, "She didn't try to stop me in anything I did....She let my hands wander around the outside of her clothes, caressing her curves. I had a feeling she'd given me the key to the city, but I didn't try any doors that I thought she'd prefer to keep locked." Apparently pretty racy stuff, for 1939!
Gardner apparently never attempted to revise the book to make it more suitable for publication; he just moved on to other projects, which included twenty-nine books in the Lam-Cool series. But the Erle Stanley Gardner Trust has finally resurrected the book and the folks at Hard Case Crime have now published it, only seventy-seven years late, apparently concluding that the reading public will now be able to handle it without fainting in shock.
It's clear that Gardner is still feeling his way along here. Donald Lam is still only a junior operative in the firm and the character is still taking shape. Bertha Cool's character is already more firmly fixed--a big, tough, no-nonsense woman who squeezes every nickle until it bleeds and who believes that her firm exists solely to make money as opposed to pursuing justice, And if she has to bend a few rules along the way, that's perfectly fine.
The story opens, as they often do, when a new client appears at the office with a seemingly simple request. A woman comes in with her daughter; they believe that the daughter's husband is cheating, and they want the firm to investigate. Bertha wheedles as much money as she can out of the mother in the way of a fee and then sends Donald out to shadow the husband and get the evidence.
And, as always happens, of course, this seemingly innocuous case will morph into something much more sinister and dangerous. There will be a murder, naturally, and the case involves a lot of municipal corruption, which was a staple of pulp crime novels during this era. Through it all, Donald will struggle to survive and to solve the case, while Bertha plays all the angles in an effort to maximize her profit. It's a lot of fun and will appeal principally to fans who already know of and enjoy the series, which now rounds out at thirty books. It's nice to have this one in the collection.
March 1, 2019
“The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones.”
----Cheryl Hughes
Erle Stanley Gardner, an American lawyer and author, writing under the pen name of A.A. Fair for his sassy detective series, Cool and Lam. A hidden gem have been discovered after almost a decade with Gardner's book called, The Knife Slipped which was never published due to scandalous story line that revolves around two detective duo, one being the sassiest queen of her investigation agency and the other being her part time detective whom she loved to dominate with her orders, who find themselves muddled in a cheating man's deadly lies and his fateful murder.
Synopsis:
THE LOST DETECTIVE NOVEL
BY THE CREATOR OF PERRY MASON!
At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, and world famous as the creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason. Gardner also created the hard-boiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels published between 1939 and 1970—and one that’s never been published until now.
Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the series but got shelved when Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to "talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people." But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities —however shocking for 1939—shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists.
Donald Lam has never been cooler—not even when played by Frank Sinatra on the U.S. Steel Hour of Mystery in 1946. Bertha Cool has never been tougher. And Erle Stanley Gardner has never been better.
A mere job of spying on a cheating husband turns deadly and dangerous for not just the sassiest detective in town, Bertha Cool but also for her part-time employee, Donald, when the cheating husband is murdered by the supposedly suspect, Ruth Marr, who entangles herself romantically with Cool's agency's fella, Donald on his mission to find out about the cheating husband's mistress. Soon, Donald is caught in a crossroads where he has to choose between truth and narrative being crafted out by some politically powerful men and women of this town. Even Bertha with a smart mouth, too is caught in a seedy game of life and death. Who was this man whom Donald was following? And should he believe that his new lady love, Ruth is a complete saint?
A typical pulp fiction with its own limitations, but has a lot of eye-raising moments and dialogues that for the 40's readers was too hot to handle for. But after almost a decade, racy dialogues and graphic details of sex is easily digested and accepted by the readers. Not only that, during the 40's it was not at all cool that women leading ahead of men and dominating them, so that's that! So many factors, that pushed this intriguing as well as straight forward book out of publication. But, we readers are glad that we found this book, as this book, is an eye-opener on how a man thought that women can also dominate over men professionally.
The writing style of the author is really something laced with spicy dialogues and a money-minded heroine with a blunt mouth, infused with some raunchy sex scenes and promiscuous descriptions of a woman's body. No doubt the book questioned the editors even before it got a chance to see the light of publication. The characters are finely developed with with enough history and lights on their past that will help the readers to build a connection with them. The pace is really fast engulfed with loads of twists and turns here and there.
The mystery, on the other hand, is not so compelling enough to keep the readers hooked, but Bertha Cool really stole the damn show. And oh that, chemistry between Donald and Bertha is so palpable which will keep the readers frantically rooting for these two characters till the very end. Although not a page-turner but gripping enough to love this book for its feminist heroine. Feminism during the 40's was an alien concept, but somehow the author etched out a woman-centric detective novel in that era.
A scandal worthy novel filled with blood, murder, mayhem, sex and drama by our darling heroine, Bertha Cool.
Verdict: Worth a read!
Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers from Bloomsbury India for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
----Cheryl Hughes
Erle Stanley Gardner, an American lawyer and author, writing under the pen name of A.A. Fair for his sassy detective series, Cool and Lam. A hidden gem have been discovered after almost a decade with Gardner's book called, The Knife Slipped which was never published due to scandalous story line that revolves around two detective duo, one being the sassiest queen of her investigation agency and the other being her part time detective whom she loved to dominate with her orders, who find themselves muddled in a cheating man's deadly lies and his fateful murder.
Synopsis:
THE LOST DETECTIVE NOVEL
BY THE CREATOR OF PERRY MASON!
At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, and world famous as the creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason. Gardner also created the hard-boiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels published between 1939 and 1970—and one that’s never been published until now.
Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the series but got shelved when Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to "talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people." But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities —however shocking for 1939—shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists.
Donald Lam has never been cooler—not even when played by Frank Sinatra on the U.S. Steel Hour of Mystery in 1946. Bertha Cool has never been tougher. And Erle Stanley Gardner has never been better.
A mere job of spying on a cheating husband turns deadly and dangerous for not just the sassiest detective in town, Bertha Cool but also for her part-time employee, Donald, when the cheating husband is murdered by the supposedly suspect, Ruth Marr, who entangles herself romantically with Cool's agency's fella, Donald on his mission to find out about the cheating husband's mistress. Soon, Donald is caught in a crossroads where he has to choose between truth and narrative being crafted out by some politically powerful men and women of this town. Even Bertha with a smart mouth, too is caught in a seedy game of life and death. Who was this man whom Donald was following? And should he believe that his new lady love, Ruth is a complete saint?
A typical pulp fiction with its own limitations, but has a lot of eye-raising moments and dialogues that for the 40's readers was too hot to handle for. But after almost a decade, racy dialogues and graphic details of sex is easily digested and accepted by the readers. Not only that, during the 40's it was not at all cool that women leading ahead of men and dominating them, so that's that! So many factors, that pushed this intriguing as well as straight forward book out of publication. But, we readers are glad that we found this book, as this book, is an eye-opener on how a man thought that women can also dominate over men professionally.
The writing style of the author is really something laced with spicy dialogues and a money-minded heroine with a blunt mouth, infused with some raunchy sex scenes and promiscuous descriptions of a woman's body. No doubt the book questioned the editors even before it got a chance to see the light of publication. The characters are finely developed with with enough history and lights on their past that will help the readers to build a connection with them. The pace is really fast engulfed with loads of twists and turns here and there.
The mystery, on the other hand, is not so compelling enough to keep the readers hooked, but Bertha Cool really stole the damn show. And oh that, chemistry between Donald and Bertha is so palpable which will keep the readers frantically rooting for these two characters till the very end. Although not a page-turner but gripping enough to love this book for its feminist heroine. Feminism during the 40's was an alien concept, but somehow the author etched out a woman-centric detective novel in that era.
A scandal worthy novel filled with blood, murder, mayhem, sex and drama by our darling heroine, Bertha Cool.
Verdict: Worth a read!
Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers from Bloomsbury India for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
May 14, 2020
The Knife Slipped is a terrific piece of pulp detective fiction. Erle Stanley Gardner is best known as the creator attorney Perry Mason, whose exploits filled eighty novels and graced radio and television for decades. Gardner is not as well known for the other series he authored, the Cool and Lam mysteries. There are thirty novels in this series, published between 1939 and 1970 (with The Knife Slipped, having been written in 1939 as the second novel in the series, but never having made it into publication at the time).
Bertha Cool and Donald Lam are a mismatched pair of odd couple detectives and the series is quite fun to read. Cool is featured as a cheapskate, cynical, hard-talking, heavyset woman. The best description of her ever is found early in the The Knife Slipped: “Bertha didn’t waddle when she walked. She didn’t stride. She was big, and she jiggled, but she was hard as nails, physically and mentally. She flowed across the office with the rippling effortless progress of a cylinder of jelly sliding off a tilted plate.” What a description! Lam is her counterpoint. He is a slightly built, smaller gentleman, who is always getting beaten in fights with hoods, but he is clever, intuitively seems to figure things out, and has a certain charm with women. As noted in the Afterword to this novel, Cool is a bit more clever and thoughtful in this novel. In other novels in the series, Cool is more than a bit dense and Lam is credited with all the cleverness. Here, she seems, at times, to be like a mother hen, taking Lam under her wing and showing him the ropes: “someone has to tell you the facts of life, if you’re going to be worth a damn in this business. I may as well be the one.”
The Knife Slipped was one of those lost novels, never published in Gardner’s lifetime, discovered and finally published by Hard Case Crime. It is a joy to read to anyone who dives into stacks of old-fashioned pulp novels. It is written with a great sense of humor, such as the description of Cool: “As for money itself, she hung onto it like a barnacle caressing the side of a battleship.” The book is filled with nefarious figures, mysterious blonde bombshells, and innocent country girls who suddenly find themselves in the cold, hard city. There are bodies thrown about and murder weapons tossed about as well as frame-ups and corruption and malfeasance. But, what really makes this novel work me is the narrative voice used for Donald Lam and the pulpy descriptions. The client is described here as a “hatchet-faced battle ax with high cheekbones, big, black eyes with dark pouches underneath, a mouth which was a straight gash across her face, a nose like the prow of a battleship.” And the blonde bombshell, “Her voice was the kind that made ripples run up and down a man’s backbone. It was one of those seductive voices that came as a cooing caress to the masculine eardrum.”
For those used to more modern-era detective fiction, the novel might appear a bit dated. It was, after all, written some seventy-six years ago in a very different world. But for those of us who can never get enough of pulp detective fiction, this is just what the doctor ordered.
Bertha Cool and Donald Lam are a mismatched pair of odd couple detectives and the series is quite fun to read. Cool is featured as a cheapskate, cynical, hard-talking, heavyset woman. The best description of her ever is found early in the The Knife Slipped: “Bertha didn’t waddle when she walked. She didn’t stride. She was big, and she jiggled, but she was hard as nails, physically and mentally. She flowed across the office with the rippling effortless progress of a cylinder of jelly sliding off a tilted plate.” What a description! Lam is her counterpoint. He is a slightly built, smaller gentleman, who is always getting beaten in fights with hoods, but he is clever, intuitively seems to figure things out, and has a certain charm with women. As noted in the Afterword to this novel, Cool is a bit more clever and thoughtful in this novel. In other novels in the series, Cool is more than a bit dense and Lam is credited with all the cleverness. Here, she seems, at times, to be like a mother hen, taking Lam under her wing and showing him the ropes: “someone has to tell you the facts of life, if you’re going to be worth a damn in this business. I may as well be the one.”
The Knife Slipped was one of those lost novels, never published in Gardner’s lifetime, discovered and finally published by Hard Case Crime. It is a joy to read to anyone who dives into stacks of old-fashioned pulp novels. It is written with a great sense of humor, such as the description of Cool: “As for money itself, she hung onto it like a barnacle caressing the side of a battleship.” The book is filled with nefarious figures, mysterious blonde bombshells, and innocent country girls who suddenly find themselves in the cold, hard city. There are bodies thrown about and murder weapons tossed about as well as frame-ups and corruption and malfeasance. But, what really makes this novel work me is the narrative voice used for Donald Lam and the pulpy descriptions. The client is described here as a “hatchet-faced battle ax with high cheekbones, big, black eyes with dark pouches underneath, a mouth which was a straight gash across her face, a nose like the prow of a battleship.” And the blonde bombshell, “Her voice was the kind that made ripples run up and down a man’s backbone. It was one of those seductive voices that came as a cooing caress to the masculine eardrum.”
For those used to more modern-era detective fiction, the novel might appear a bit dated. It was, after all, written some seventy-six years ago in a very different world. But for those of us who can never get enough of pulp detective fiction, this is just what the doctor ordered.
April 5, 2019
Entertaining, fun mystery is from the creator of Perry Mason. Bertha Cool and her sidekick Donald Lam are original private eyes. I may read a few more of the 29 title in the series.
March 23, 2025
Bertha Cool said amiably, "Now just sit back and relax, Donald. Don't strain yourself with a lot of unnecessary effort. You just leave this bitch to me."I was quite taken with the initial entry in this Erle Stanley Gardner (writing as A.A. Fair) series and wrote a glowing review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
As I implied, the series - right out of the gate - was looking like a great panacea for those saddened by the fact that Raymond Chandler wrote too few novels. The Cool and Lam landscape seemed to provide a similar combo of snark and action. I was sold.
So far, I still am.
In the paperback's brief but cogent afterword by Russell Atwood, we're told that 'The Knife Slipped' was intended to be the first book's follow-up but was rejected for publication. As a result, the manuscript went MIA for roughly 75 years (!), until Hard Case Crime published it in 2016.
In the meantime, undaunted, Gardner went on with the series, turning it into a rather successful one (with a total of 30 books, including 'TKS').
Atwood not only reveals that Gardner actually preferred his 'Cool and Lam' series over his insanely popular Perry Mason industry but, in explaining the novel's long-delayed appearance, he assures us that the decision to publish had nothing to do with just making an extra buck off of the Gardner legacy or trying to pawn off an inferior work that could still have Gardner's name on it.
Instead, 'TKS' is seen as a fascinating 'alternate route' that the author took before settling into what would define the series' formula.
In truth, however, 'TKS' is not all that different from 'The Bigger They Come', aside from some character shading for detective agency owner Bertha and her operative Donald. Like 'TBTC', 'TKS' starts out as one relatively 'innocuous' thing, then morphs to another - again, something somewhat darker. And violent.
As you would expect, just about everyone here is described in noir terms:
He was a big-framed man, stoop-shouldered, somewhere in the early sixties with a great shock of white hair. His lips were thick but the actual line of his mouth when his lips came together was a straight gash across his face. His eyes smoldered with an inner fire that his face didn't show.After a few similar descriptions, you could begin to wonder if that many people could appear that cartoonish - or if cynical Donald's worldview leans to the stuff of cheap melodrama. But then, when it's the company you keep...
It's also humorous being reminded that Donald Lam has a definite weakness for shady but seductive damsels in distress. The one here is called on to adopt a fairly hilarious fake French accent (thus, giving the novel a welcome whiff of screwball comedy).
Ultimately, 'TKS' proves itself to be just as solid and satisfying - and wacky - as its predecessor.
December 12, 2016
Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Zane Grey and Erle Stanley Gardner are the top four authors on my "DO NOT EVER F#@& With" List. There are some others, but these are the four major authors that I suggest people read when they are contemplating writing their own novel.
And YET there is always some moron of an editor that wants to come along and ruin an author's hard work by saying something stupid like "Well, The Stand is too long and nobody wants to read that much Stephen King." Or "Mr. Grey, you can't discuss rape in a western." "Mr. Heinlein, you need to cut A Stranger in a Strange Land down some and change other parts or your readers will hate it."
The Knife Slipped is that rare gem second novel that just makes the series more enjoyable and accessible. Once again the editors screwed the public for years by refusing to publish it until now.
YouTube has the failed pilot with an introduction by Erle Stanley Gardner just type in Cool & Lam Pilot.
And YET there is always some moron of an editor that wants to come along and ruin an author's hard work by saying something stupid like "Well, The Stand is too long and nobody wants to read that much Stephen King." Or "Mr. Grey, you can't discuss rape in a western." "Mr. Heinlein, you need to cut A Stranger in a Strange Land down some and change other parts or your readers will hate it."
The Knife Slipped is that rare gem second novel that just makes the series more enjoyable and accessible. Once again the editors screwed the public for years by refusing to publish it until now.
YouTube has the failed pilot with an introduction by Erle Stanley Gardner just type in Cool & Lam Pilot.
June 28, 2018
I've read that mostly because I was curious about Erle Stanley Gardner, the man behind Perry Mason and I was... both impressed and bored.
Let me explain: while the mystery aspect of THE KNIFE SLIPPED was the blandest, run-of-the-mill plot you can imagine (no wonder why Gardner's publisher refused it), I thought Donald Lam and Bertha Cool were...welp, different. Progressive for its time. It was fun reading a woman boss around the male protagonist for two hundred page. Enough for me to try the actual second book of the series. The one that got published.
Wee'll see where it goes.
Let me explain: while the mystery aspect of THE KNIFE SLIPPED was the blandest, run-of-the-mill plot you can imagine (no wonder why Gardner's publisher refused it), I thought Donald Lam and Bertha Cool were...welp, different. Progressive for its time. It was fun reading a woman boss around the male protagonist for two hundred page. Enough for me to try the actual second book of the series. The one that got published.
Wee'll see where it goes.
July 19, 2019
This book is like no other book I've ever read. Top notch mystery from a master wordsmith. B. Cool on D. Lam tell me thats not genius on a insane level. a tale about a disgraced lawyer turned gum shoe Donald Lam working for the shrewd lewd big boned butter loving Bertha Cool. I love this story because the gum shoe makes a ton of mistakes. Lam is so imperfect you can't help cheering for the guy. He is not physically intimidating but he is smart resourceful and decisive and kinda diabolical.
September 16, 2019
While not as good as the last Cool and Lam novel I read, it was an exciting book to read. The character of Donald Lam holds it together. Cool's character on the other hand is too much of a Con artist and her consistent use of the word "lover" gets annoying for me. I am glad that that is changed in the future novels.
December 27, 2016
Hard Case Crime has once again unearthed another lost vintage mystery treasure--and it's a doozy! By 1939, wildly prolific mystery novelist Erle Stanley Gardner had published 15 Perry Mason novels in seven years. He started a new series under the pseudonym A.A. Fair, featuring the quarreling and sardonic detective team of Bertha Cool (immense, penny-pinching and foul-mouthed) and Donald Lam (smaller, brainy and prone to getting beat up). Gardner's publisher thought his proposed second book in the series, THE KNIFE SLIPPED, was too shocking for the times and turned it down. Seventy-seven years later, it's finally in print--and it's worth the wait.
Fans of Gardner's straightforward and terse Perry Mason mysteries are in for a surprise and treat with the abundance of breezy and sarcastic humor found in THE KNIFE SLIPPED. Like his Mason novels, THE KNIFE SLIPPED is both fast moving and intricately plotted, but Lam's first-person narration allows much more freedom for Chandleresque descriptions and smart remarks. "I like loose clothes, loose company, and loose talk, and to hell with people who don't," declares Cool. The duo is hired to trail a philandering husband, but immediately after they discover he's leading a double life, he's murdered. With a crime scene crowded with suspects, including trigger-happy mobsters and shifty cops, it's up to the duo from the B. Cool Detective Agency to figure out whodunit.
This vintage hardboiled mystery has plenty of sass and energy, with intricate plotting and a delightful parade of suspects. THE KNIFE SLIPPED is a treat that no mystery fan will want to miss.
Finally in print after 77 years, this fast-paced, tart-tongued mystery features detectives Cool and Lam.
Fans of Gardner's straightforward and terse Perry Mason mysteries are in for a surprise and treat with the abundance of breezy and sarcastic humor found in THE KNIFE SLIPPED. Like his Mason novels, THE KNIFE SLIPPED is both fast moving and intricately plotted, but Lam's first-person narration allows much more freedom for Chandleresque descriptions and smart remarks. "I like loose clothes, loose company, and loose talk, and to hell with people who don't," declares Cool. The duo is hired to trail a philandering husband, but immediately after they discover he's leading a double life, he's murdered. With a crime scene crowded with suspects, including trigger-happy mobsters and shifty cops, it's up to the duo from the B. Cool Detective Agency to figure out whodunit.
This vintage hardboiled mystery has plenty of sass and energy, with intricate plotting and a delightful parade of suspects. THE KNIFE SLIPPED is a treat that no mystery fan will want to miss.
Finally in print after 77 years, this fast-paced, tart-tongued mystery features detectives Cool and Lam.
July 4, 2017
In a very short statement on a prior Erle Stanley Gardner ( A.A. Fair) novel I stated that I was not a fan of the writer and that this statement made me a minority in pulp novel fans. This novel has made me want to take another long look at Gardner's works. This "lost " work is excellent. It is clearly not a run of the mill pulp. It was intended to be the second of the Bertha Cool/ Donald Lamb series but for whatever reason Gardner's publisher rejected it. Glad that Hard Case Crime resurrected it.
While Bertha Cool is not a "likable" character, I do like her however as a sleazy protagonist. In this novel she is actually more of a detective than in subsequent novels in the series. The Donald Lamb character is more a detective in training than in the other novels. The novel also does not really conclude with the unmasking of the "killer" as with other murder mysteries of the era, but leaves the solution open to some interpretation. Yet it works and the story moves briskly. As I said, it's time for me to take another look at Gardner's works, since he is one of the icons of the era.
While Bertha Cool is not a "likable" character, I do like her however as a sleazy protagonist. In this novel she is actually more of a detective than in subsequent novels in the series. The Donald Lamb character is more a detective in training than in the other novels. The novel also does not really conclude with the unmasking of the "killer" as with other murder mysteries of the era, but leaves the solution open to some interpretation. Yet it works and the story moves briskly. As I said, it's time for me to take another look at Gardner's works, since he is one of the icons of the era.
January 5, 2020
One of the things Hard Case Crime does as a publisher that I absolutely love: they find lost or forgotten novels by some pretty big names and make sure they see the light of day. Gore Vidal, James M Cain, Roger Zelazny, and Donald Westlake have all had the HCC "treatment" and so has Erle Stanley Gardner. Gardner is most famous as the creator of Perry Mason, but he also wrote an entirely unrelated series under the pen name of A A Fair. These feature Donald Lam and Bertha Cool and they are quite a set of characters. The Knife Slipped was originally rejected by Gardner's publisher-rather than retool it he shoved it in a drawer and wrote an entirely different book. Thanks to the efforts of Hard Case Crime we get to be treated to a "new" work by Gardner.
Constant Reader we all know that sometimes something remains unpublished because of a simple reason-that something is just plain bad. I am happy to report that is not the case in The Knife Slipped. My personal feeling is that Bertha Cool was just too competent and the publisher did not want a mystery in which a woman proved so much more capable than a man, even if she was the owner/operator of the B. Cool Detective Agency. In later books the shoe is on the other foot and Lam is the smooth operator. Working authors do have to conform to the desires of their publishers on occasion.
Constant Reader we all know that sometimes something remains unpublished because of a simple reason-that something is just plain bad. I am happy to report that is not the case in The Knife Slipped. My personal feeling is that Bertha Cool was just too competent and the publisher did not want a mystery in which a woman proved so much more capable than a man, even if she was the owner/operator of the B. Cool Detective Agency. In later books the shoe is on the other foot and Lam is the smooth operator. Working authors do have to conform to the desires of their publishers on occasion.
June 30, 2018
3.5 rounded up? It took me a while to get through this one so I don't feel like it's all fresh in my mind for a review. That's not on the book though, I did enjoy it, just been super distracted lately and my attention span has been pathetic.
So this would have been written around 1939 and it shows in the treatment of the female characters. It was intended to be the second Cool and Lam book, but it was rejected by the publisher and stuck in a drawer or whatever until it's recent publication. After reading it, I have to say I think it was good that it was rejected, not because it was terrible, but it feels like the series, which I like very much would have gone in a different direction had this been accepted.
Lam, in the other books, is currently my absolute favorite detective character. In contrast to the more common hardboiled tough guy, or the wounded, jaded, but dogged detectives you usually see, Lam is generally the loser in any physical confrontation, but despite that he goes out and puts himself in danger for his clients and isn't all glum and cynical about it. He overcomes his physical disadvantages with brains. He has a touch of amorality, he's willing to twist the rules to the breaking point, but usually isn't blatantly on the make or out for his own benefit.
Here there's just something missing with him that I can't entirely put my finger on, and it was disappointing from that perspective.
On the other hand, this might be Bertha at her best. It could be very easy to see Bertha as a negative characterization, she's heavy and greedy, amoral, and definitely not as sharp as Lam most of the time. But... she's also strong, independent, and blunt. She doesn't take shit from anyone and you get the sense, at least in her better outings, that if she got motivated to she could take down anyone who dared to go up against her. She's awesome, and this is definitely her at her strongest and sharpest. She's usually more in the background, being Lam's boss more than partner, but when she's on page here she's great. Bizarrely, in the first of the two later books where she's the focus, Lam being away for WWII, she seems much less imposing than she is here. :/
The plot of this one was not the greatest. It was ok I guess, but the ending was quite a letdown and I'd say this is more an interesting contrast for someone who's read more of the series than anything else.
So this would have been written around 1939 and it shows in the treatment of the female characters. It was intended to be the second Cool and Lam book, but it was rejected by the publisher and stuck in a drawer or whatever until it's recent publication. After reading it, I have to say I think it was good that it was rejected, not because it was terrible, but it feels like the series, which I like very much would have gone in a different direction had this been accepted.
Lam, in the other books, is currently my absolute favorite detective character. In contrast to the more common hardboiled tough guy, or the wounded, jaded, but dogged detectives you usually see, Lam is generally the loser in any physical confrontation, but despite that he goes out and puts himself in danger for his clients and isn't all glum and cynical about it. He overcomes his physical disadvantages with brains. He has a touch of amorality, he's willing to twist the rules to the breaking point, but usually isn't blatantly on the make or out for his own benefit.
Here there's just something missing with him that I can't entirely put my finger on, and it was disappointing from that perspective.
On the other hand, this might be Bertha at her best. It could be very easy to see Bertha as a negative characterization, she's heavy and greedy, amoral, and definitely not as sharp as Lam most of the time. But... she's also strong, independent, and blunt. She doesn't take shit from anyone and you get the sense, at least in her better outings, that if she got motivated to she could take down anyone who dared to go up against her. She's awesome, and this is definitely her at her strongest and sharpest. She's usually more in the background, being Lam's boss more than partner, but when she's on page here she's great. Bizarrely, in the first of the two later books where she's the focus, Lam being away for WWII, she seems much less imposing than she is here. :/
The plot of this one was not the greatest. It was ok I guess, but the ending was quite a letdown and I'd say this is more an interesting contrast for someone who's read more of the series than anything else.
November 5, 2024
I chose this writer because he created Perry Mason, which came up in a conversation with my mother-in-law and her boyfriend, who still watch Perry Mason nearly every night on some local cable channel that shows reruns of old TV shows. I was shocked to learn that Erle Stanley Gardner was the top selling American author of the 20th century until his death, what the heck?!? I thought that had to be inaccurate but have verified it was true, the guy wrote boatloads of books under the pen name A.A. Fair, And so glad I stumbled on him and this book in particular, a really fun noir/pulp fiction piece from 1940. It was supposed to be the second book in the series of the duo named Bertha Cool, a tough talking, sexy talking oversized woman, not so much fat as built like a defensive tackle in the NFL, and an undersized grunt named Donald, to whom she continually refers to as lover, or my love, or darling, even though there is clearly zero romantic connection between the two.
There were 29 books written featuring these two, and this particular book was supposed to be the second in the series but was squelched by the publisher because it was thought too racy and Bertha too bossy and too much in control for that era, so the book was lost in the files somewhere until found and published in the last couple decades.
I repeat, it is a fun read, what starts as a job for investigating a suspected cheating husband by Bertha Cool’s detective agency turns into all kinds of murder and mayhem, with Donald being alternately seduced by a gossamer robe wearing femme fatale and beaten up by the bad guys. I will definitely read more of this series.
There were 29 books written featuring these two, and this particular book was supposed to be the second in the series but was squelched by the publisher because it was thought too racy and Bertha too bossy and too much in control for that era, so the book was lost in the files somewhere until found and published in the last couple decades.
I repeat, it is a fun read, what starts as a job for investigating a suspected cheating husband by Bertha Cool’s detective agency turns into all kinds of murder and mayhem, with Donald being alternately seduced by a gossamer robe wearing femme fatale and beaten up by the bad guys. I will definitely read more of this series.
August 6, 2020
This was supposed to be the second book in the Cool & Lam detective series, but Gardner’s publisher rejected it. Instead of revising it, Gardner laid it aside and wrote a new book. This book was never published in Gardner’s lifetime and was finally published as the “lost” Cool & Lam novel in 2018. It is interesting that it was rejected because it is my favorite one, so far, and a much more complex novel than some of the others. Donald Lam is a young man, relatively new to the agency and new to the detective business. He is not yet a partner in the agency; he is a hired man. He makes mistakes that a more seasoned detective would not make. The biggest difference in this novel, and the reason I like it the best, is because Bertha Cool has a much more deeply developed character here, to the point that she is quite interesting. Unlike in many of the other novels, she is actually a better detective than Lam. She admits that Lam is “a brainy little runt,” and he reasons out some scenarios that she does not think of, but then she is the one who pieces together the best way to handle the information. Plus, her personality is much more broad (pun intended). I found her fascinating.
October 21, 2019
Old detective stories are truly one of a kind. They provide suspense, wit, and a little romance to keep the reader occupied with the plot.
A case comes to Bertha Cools Agency to find out if a man is cheating on his wife. What ensues is attempted blackmail, murder, foolery, and an attempted cover-up. As I was reading, the descriptive images were going steadily through my mind. The author took the time to convey the scenarios to the reader. The main character's are reversed in their strengths. Bertha is a very formidable woman. She doesn't waste time, direct, has a sailors mouth, and has very little, if any, fear at all. Her investigator, Donald Lam, is the complete opposite. He's short, quiet, and gets beat up more than he wins. Together, they are a great alliance.
This pair will keep you turning pages.
A case comes to Bertha Cools Agency to find out if a man is cheating on his wife. What ensues is attempted blackmail, murder, foolery, and an attempted cover-up. As I was reading, the descriptive images were going steadily through my mind. The author took the time to convey the scenarios to the reader. The main character's are reversed in their strengths. Bertha is a very formidable woman. She doesn't waste time, direct, has a sailors mouth, and has very little, if any, fear at all. Her investigator, Donald Lam, is the complete opposite. He's short, quiet, and gets beat up more than he wins. Together, they are a great alliance.
This pair will keep you turning pages.
November 6, 2023
I recently read "Turn on the Heat," the actual second book in the Cool and Lam series and found this novel, the rejected second book in the series, to be quite a bit better. I loved the interactions in this one between Bertha, who seems to hold her own in the investigative parts of the mystery and the not so cocksure Don. The story stays fairly grounded and doesn't go off the rails like some of the others in the series. Overall a very enjoyable lost noir from 1939.
August 29, 2018
This an early "lost" Gardner Cool and Lam novel. Hired to follow a cheating husband the pair soon stumbles into corruption and murder. Lam becomes accused of the murder and attempts are made on his life. Vintage Earle Stanley Gardner and a good mystery read.
October 18, 2018
On the heels of reading two heavy historical/political tomes I had to read something lighter. This fit the bill. It's Erle Stanley Gardner writing as A.A. Fair and this particular book was supposed to be the second in the series but was rejected by the publisher at the time and was just published recently. A.A. Fair struck me as having a different feel from ESG. I'm sure intentionally. This struck me as more in Chandler/Hammett vein. Very noir. I enjoyed it a lot and this series will go into rotation. As always when writing a review about a book in a series and especially in the private eye, mystery mode I'm not going to go into plot specifics and probably won't write reviews for each book. If anyone wants to discuss plot points please feel free to do so in a comment.
July 5, 2023
The novel that almost wasn't. The Knife Slipped was written in 1939, but not until published 2016. This was the proposed second book in Gardner's lesser known Cool and Lam series, but allegedly rejected by the publisher (to be replaced by Turn on the Heat -- Gardner preferred to replace rather than repair). If it had been published it would've been under the pseudonym A.A. Fair as were the other 29 books in the series. The story begins with a client confronted with an unfaithful husband and spirals wildly from there. The best parts of the book are the interplay between the large and comfortable in her own body Bertha Cool and her small but clever associate Donald Lam. A woman immune to body-shaming was probably unique in 1939: "I like loose clothes, loose company, and loose talk, and to hell with the people who don't." The slight Lam also went against the grain, not fitting the hard-boiled, tough guy detective ethos then popular. Lam is feisty with a temper but rarely lands a punch and spends much of the time recovering from his most recent beating. He's no Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. Bertha is tougher and tends to win her contests. I saw nothing that would make a publisher refuse this novel. It's got a little sex but not much, especially considering it's from an author as successful as Erle Stanley Gardner. It's odd that none of the series events occurring here were incorporated in the next official installment, as this very much fits the continuum of the series. Bertha guides and directs, Lam does the legwork and uses his brains, falling in love easily much to Bertha's dismay. The previously unpublished The Knife Slipped is better than its replacement. [3½★]
January 11, 2018
Recommended—Entertaining. Quick read. Really liked the character of Bertha Cool.
I'm craving a big slice of vanilla cake with lots of frosting now. And hotcakes with five pats of butter, and syrup. And coffee with cream—not that watered-down half-and-half, but thick, yellow, whipping cream. And cigarettes. Lots and lots of deep inhales of relaxing cigarettes.
It wasn't very memorable, but great entertainment. Loved this snapshot of 1939.
I'm craving a big slice of vanilla cake with lots of frosting now. And hotcakes with five pats of butter, and syrup. And coffee with cream—not that watered-down half-and-half, but thick, yellow, whipping cream. And cigarettes. Lots and lots of deep inhales of relaxing cigarettes.
It wasn't very memorable, but great entertainment. Loved this snapshot of 1939.
June 17, 2017
I LOVED this! Donald Lam and Bertha Cool kept my interest throughout and I low-key want to BE Bertha Cool, who is exactly the type of woman you'd picture with a name like that. A big mountain of a female, as cool as a cucumber and tough as steel!
I'll be looking for more of this duo to keep my summer hardboiled!
I'll be looking for more of this duo to keep my summer hardboiled!
April 6, 2025
It was supposed to be the second in the series of detective dramas featuring the prodigious Bertha Cool and the bantam-like Donald Lam, but William Morrow in its sexist wisdom felt the language coming from a world-wise woman was too salty. They probably thought the hints she brought up about her past and the casual promiscuity implied (but in Greek tradition never brought overtly on-stage) was too racy. As a result, Erle Stanley Gardner of Perry Mason fame set aside the manuscript for The Knife Slipped, to have been published under his nom de plume of A. A. Fair, and started work on another book.
Charles Ardai, founder and publisher of Hard Case Crime, makes it a practice to find unfinished and unpublished manuscripts by established authors. He also puts many out-of-print novels of the noir, mystery, thriller genre back into circulation. As a result, he delivers a great boon to those of us who enjoy colorful, fast-moving, atmospheric stories from an earlier age (as well as some of the more modern novels he has published in homage to that era) and have had to confine our consumption of same to musty library books, estate sales, and “previously owned” bookstores.
In the case of The Knife Slipped, Ardai has done us an additional service by asking Russell Atwood (former editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and mystery novelist himself) to write the end notes/afterword. Atwood is incredibly perceptive, noting how publication of this novel might have changed the characterization of the two detectives and the overall trajectory of the series. In particular, Atwood notes how Bertha shows an empathic and generous moment in the novel’s denouement. In most of this book and the series as a whole, this formidable owner of the detective agency has an almost Jack Benny schtick going on. An agency car, which one can almost hear coughing and chugging like the Maxwell voiced by Mel Blanc on the old radio program, causes a disruption in the case. As a result, she spends unexpectedly (but driving a rather hard bargain) as she replaces it. One can understand that, but not entirely the event at the conclusion. Atwood also calls readers attention to the way Gardner (aka Fair) researched things in which he was interested for the purpose of including them as elements in his novels. There’s nothing entirely unusual in that, but it’s beautiful when you see it come into fruition such as the scam with the silk pieces in this novel.
The Knife Slipped begins with a “divorce” case. That is, the investigation begins with a simple job to tail a suspect husband and get the goods on his infidelity. As one might expect, this surveillance turns into both a bigger caper and a murder. Bertha and Donald have some disagreements about how to handle the case when Bertha decides she wants a slice of cake (knowing Bertha, both figuratively and literally) for herself. Things don’t work out as Bertha expected so that she explains to Donald that she tried to slice that “cake” but the ”knife slipped.” That was rather a different etiology for the title than I expected, but it was both worth a snicker as I read it and worth discovering the implications as I continued reading.
I may be in the minority, but I have found that I enjoy these Cool and Lam novels even more than the Perry Mason stories (both books and television episodes). If you like detective stories from the era where cars still had running boards, I highly recommend these novels. Once again, fans of the genre owe Ardai a debt of gratitude.
NOTE: It is doubly ironic that I discovered these novels as a result of Charles’ efforts. When I was working as paperback buyer at the University Bookstore of the University of Southern California in 1970, we received a fistful of special order requests for the books of A. A. Fair. I didn’t know what the customer was talking about until my boss told me that it was the pen name of Erle Stanley Gardner. I tried to get the books in, but the hardbound copies were long since out of print and the Dell paperbacks were so far backlisted that I was only able to scrounge up one or two for the customer. With typical college student snobbery, I looked down my nose at the customer (figuratively and internally, not overtly) and wondered what kind of low-brow wanted these books. I was only slightly embarrassed to discover that it was one of the professors in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. Now, I’m a retired professor and I read them.
Charles Ardai, founder and publisher of Hard Case Crime, makes it a practice to find unfinished and unpublished manuscripts by established authors. He also puts many out-of-print novels of the noir, mystery, thriller genre back into circulation. As a result, he delivers a great boon to those of us who enjoy colorful, fast-moving, atmospheric stories from an earlier age (as well as some of the more modern novels he has published in homage to that era) and have had to confine our consumption of same to musty library books, estate sales, and “previously owned” bookstores.
In the case of The Knife Slipped, Ardai has done us an additional service by asking Russell Atwood (former editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and mystery novelist himself) to write the end notes/afterword. Atwood is incredibly perceptive, noting how publication of this novel might have changed the characterization of the two detectives and the overall trajectory of the series. In particular, Atwood notes how Bertha shows an empathic and generous moment in the novel’s denouement. In most of this book and the series as a whole, this formidable owner of the detective agency has an almost Jack Benny schtick going on. An agency car, which one can almost hear coughing and chugging like the Maxwell voiced by Mel Blanc on the old radio program, causes a disruption in the case. As a result, she spends unexpectedly (but driving a rather hard bargain) as she replaces it. One can understand that, but not entirely the event at the conclusion. Atwood also calls readers attention to the way Gardner (aka Fair) researched things in which he was interested for the purpose of including them as elements in his novels. There’s nothing entirely unusual in that, but it’s beautiful when you see it come into fruition such as the scam with the silk pieces in this novel.
The Knife Slipped begins with a “divorce” case. That is, the investigation begins with a simple job to tail a suspect husband and get the goods on his infidelity. As one might expect, this surveillance turns into both a bigger caper and a murder. Bertha and Donald have some disagreements about how to handle the case when Bertha decides she wants a slice of cake (knowing Bertha, both figuratively and literally) for herself. Things don’t work out as Bertha expected so that she explains to Donald that she tried to slice that “cake” but the ”knife slipped.” That was rather a different etiology for the title than I expected, but it was both worth a snicker as I read it and worth discovering the implications as I continued reading.
I may be in the minority, but I have found that I enjoy these Cool and Lam novels even more than the Perry Mason stories (both books and television episodes). If you like detective stories from the era where cars still had running boards, I highly recommend these novels. Once again, fans of the genre owe Ardai a debt of gratitude.
NOTE: It is doubly ironic that I discovered these novels as a result of Charles’ efforts. When I was working as paperback buyer at the University Bookstore of the University of Southern California in 1970, we received a fistful of special order requests for the books of A. A. Fair. I didn’t know what the customer was talking about until my boss told me that it was the pen name of Erle Stanley Gardner. I tried to get the books in, but the hardbound copies were long since out of print and the Dell paperbacks were so far backlisted that I was only able to scrounge up one or two for the customer. With typical college student snobbery, I looked down my nose at the customer (figuratively and internally, not overtly) and wondered what kind of low-brow wanted these books. I was only slightly embarrassed to discover that it was one of the professors in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. Now, I’m a retired professor and I read them.
July 27, 2020
I cannot give this book enough praise! Intended to be the second novel in the adventures of Cool & Lam, it was rejected by the publisher and thought lost until its publication in 2019. There's a four paged Afterword that discusses how this novel is very different from the other 39 novels that the characters are in, but I absolutely loved every page of this story set in 1939 (which would have been its year of publication).
Donald Lam is a disbarred attorney who works for Bertha Cool, owner of B. Cool, Investigations. He's hired to watch a husband to see if the man is unfaithful. He's more than unfaithful, he's involved in some very sketchy dealings involving assumed names, different cars, the police, and the fire department. What starts as a simple look into possible infidelity soon has Lam on the run and Cool making a terrible mistake when she tries to cut herself a piece of pie into the action and "the knife slipped."
I love stories that start with seemingly small incidents and they blow up into huge affairs with monstrous repercussions. Lam is not a hard boiled detective: he's small, can't fight or shoot, and when hit he's knocked out. However, he's got a good eye for details and goes with his gut. Unfortunately he follows his heart, too, leading to trouble. Cool is a big woman who takes no gruff from anyone, calling people a bitch because that's what she believes them to be. She's smart, but she's also mindful of Lam's weaknesses and constantly reminds him that if he lies to her, she'll cut him loose. She's all about making money, because that's what it takes to survive in the world. The plot takes some terrific twists that had me cheering and gasping all the way to the end.
This was written by Erle Stanley Gardner? I've only read one Perry Mason tale and enjoyed it, but this story written under the pseudonym A.A. Flair was incredible. I've got to track down the further exploits of this incredible pair of detectives.
Donald Lam is a disbarred attorney who works for Bertha Cool, owner of B. Cool, Investigations. He's hired to watch a husband to see if the man is unfaithful. He's more than unfaithful, he's involved in some very sketchy dealings involving assumed names, different cars, the police, and the fire department. What starts as a simple look into possible infidelity soon has Lam on the run and Cool making a terrible mistake when she tries to cut herself a piece of pie into the action and "the knife slipped."
I love stories that start with seemingly small incidents and they blow up into huge affairs with monstrous repercussions. Lam is not a hard boiled detective: he's small, can't fight or shoot, and when hit he's knocked out. However, he's got a good eye for details and goes with his gut. Unfortunately he follows his heart, too, leading to trouble. Cool is a big woman who takes no gruff from anyone, calling people a bitch because that's what she believes them to be. She's smart, but she's also mindful of Lam's weaknesses and constantly reminds him that if he lies to her, she'll cut him loose. She's all about making money, because that's what it takes to survive in the world. The plot takes some terrific twists that had me cheering and gasping all the way to the end.
This was written by Erle Stanley Gardner? I've only read one Perry Mason tale and enjoyed it, but this story written under the pseudonym A.A. Flair was incredible. I've got to track down the further exploits of this incredible pair of detectives.
January 29, 2020
I loved this book and I love Hard Case Crime books. Donald Lam the detective was a cool guy. It seem he was just an average joe doing his best in a detective job. I laugh at some of the things he did. His boss Bertha Cool seems like a woman you don't want to double cross. He told it like it was and didn't care how it made you feel. She was always looking to make a buck and didn't want to be cheated out of any. I would love to met Ruth Marr. She seems like she is a hot chick and I bet just like Donald, I would fall in love with her as fast as a rollercoaster can go.
April 10, 2018
The lost Cool and Lam novel. Bertha Cool runs a detective agency and Donald Lam is her runt of a detective. Hard boiled noir from the creator of Perry Mason. Lam is involved in a divorce case which turns into murder.
January 23, 2019
In his spare time ESG wrote a series of 30 or so hard-boiled private detective novels. Paul Drake would not approve: Donald Lam falls for a prime suspect, hides the presumed murder weapon, conceals information from his boss, and more. In fact, this particular novel was rejected by Gardner's publisher for being too outre! It only recently saw the light of day thanks to the folks at Hard Case Crime. It was thoroughly enjoyable and provides a nice counterpoint to the more strait-laced Perry Mason (but of course, even he is a lot rougher in the novels than in CBS's version).
December 9, 2022
Will certainly miss this Bertha Cool in the other books of this series.
May 9, 2024
Cool and Lam are a very odd mix of characters. If you haven't read these novels, you've missed some fun stuff.
This one was intended by Mr. Fair (Actually Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason) to be the second in this LONG RUNNING series of detective novels. However, the publisher rejected it because they felt that Bertha Cool was much too crude, dishonest, and greedy. They felt that she cussed too much (and the author did tone her down a bit.
This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as some of the others in the series. The note at the end telling how it came to be "lost" was a bonus.
This one was intended by Mr. Fair (Actually Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason) to be the second in this LONG RUNNING series of detective novels. However, the publisher rejected it because they felt that Bertha Cool was much too crude, dishonest, and greedy. They felt that she cussed too much (and the author did tone her down a bit.
This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as some of the others in the series. The note at the end telling how it came to be "lost" was a bonus.
July 4, 2021
Been a long while since I've read an old mystery. The language and slang is really different then modern day detective stories but it was a very good read.
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