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Cool and Lam #6
Owls Don't Blink
An odd couple of detectives descends on New Orleans to search for a missing heiress in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason.
Bertha Cool is a bulldog of a woman with an attitude to match. Donald Lam is a handsome ex-lawyer who makes up for in brains what he lacks in brawn. Together, they're an unlikely pair of private detectives on a mission to find Roberta Fenn, a missing model and heiress in New Orleans. It's a seemingly simple case of lost and found . . .
Except, Donald can't help but wonder why someone would hire a firm out of Los Angeles instead of one based in the Big Easy. Also, locating Roberta proves surprisingly effortless. Keeping track of her is not. She disappears, leaving a body behind in her apartment. Now Cool and Lam must find Roberta and a killer, before someone makes them disappear as well . . .
"Cool and Lam are an amusing and endearing pair--perfect foils for one another." --Monica Muller, 1001 Nights: The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction
"No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition." --Kirkus Reviews
Bertha Cool is a bulldog of a woman with an attitude to match. Donald Lam is a handsome ex-lawyer who makes up for in brains what he lacks in brawn. Together, they're an unlikely pair of private detectives on a mission to find Roberta Fenn, a missing model and heiress in New Orleans. It's a seemingly simple case of lost and found . . .
Except, Donald can't help but wonder why someone would hire a firm out of Los Angeles instead of one based in the Big Easy. Also, locating Roberta proves surprisingly effortless. Keeping track of her is not. She disappears, leaving a body behind in her apartment. Now Cool and Lam must find Roberta and a killer, before someone makes them disappear as well . . .
"Cool and Lam are an amusing and endearing pair--perfect foils for one another." --Monica Muller, 1001 Nights: The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction
"No one has ever matched Gardner for swift, sure exposition." --Kirkus Reviews
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First published January 1, 1942
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 23, 2017
This entry in the Donald Lam-Bertha Cool series, finds the pair in the French Quarter in New Orleans in 1942. A New York client has hired them to come from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of a missing heiress. Donald is immediately suspicious because the task seems way too easy, and the logical thing for the client to do would have been to simply hire a P.I. in New Orleans to do the job.
Well, as always, Donald is right to be suspicious, and the case immediately blows up into something much larger, involving divorces gone bad, women who may not be what they appear, B-girls in New Orleans night clubs, and ultimately, of course, murder.
And also, as always, Donald skates on very thin ice, one short step ahead of the police, much to the consternation of his partner, the inimitable Mrs. Cool, who spends much of the book blowing her fuse with Donald. Like a lot of these books, the plot is nearly impenetrable, but that hardly matters. It's always fun to watch Donald in action, and it's even more fun watching Bertha lose her cool (pun intended). Another entertaining addition to the series.
Well, as always, Donald is right to be suspicious, and the case immediately blows up into something much larger, involving divorces gone bad, women who may not be what they appear, B-girls in New Orleans night clubs, and ultimately, of course, murder.
And also, as always, Donald skates on very thin ice, one short step ahead of the police, much to the consternation of his partner, the inimitable Mrs. Cool, who spends much of the book blowing her fuse with Donald. Like a lot of these books, the plot is nearly impenetrable, but that hardly matters. It's always fun to watch Donald in action, and it's even more fun watching Bertha lose her cool (pun intended). Another entertaining addition to the series.
December 21, 2018
Donald Lam has become the main player in the agency as, the now slim line, Bertha plays a secondary role, mostly grumbling about how much money that Donald is spending.
In this story he is in New Orleans at the request of a client who wants him to find a particular woman.As expected nothing and nobody is quite what they appear to be and there is an inevitable murder to add to one committed 5 years previously. The intriguing plot is finally brought to a conclusion in a Poirot like fashion at the police HQ on home turf.
A parting shot in the book, set during 1942, is whether Donald is of to the Navy or if Bertha will find a exemption. A good fast pace novel that is typical of the period crime stories.
4stars.
In this story he is in New Orleans at the request of a client who wants him to find a particular woman.As expected nothing and nobody is quite what they appear to be and there is an inevitable murder to add to one committed 5 years previously. The intriguing plot is finally brought to a conclusion in a Poirot like fashion at the police HQ on home turf.
A parting shot in the book, set during 1942, is whether Donald is of to the Navy or if Bertha will find a exemption. A good fast pace novel that is typical of the period crime stories.
4stars.
July 17, 2021
Nekem ez tetszett. Nem öt csillag, de elég jó. Már csak azért is érdekes volt, mert nem tudtam, hogy Gardner másféle krimiket is írt, Perry Masonon kívül. Kár, hogy magyarul nincs több ebből a sorozatból.
December 31, 2015
Fun. It's 1942, and Cool and Lam, based in L.A., are hired by a New York lawyer to find a woman in New Orleans in a suspiciously easy missing person case.
Gardner doesn't get the respect Hammett, Chandler, & Macdonald do. He wrote more than the 3 of them put together, several times over. His prose doesn't shine the way Chandler and Macdonald do at their best. But Gardner's pacing is flawless and his plots every bit as convoluted as Macdonald's, if not more so. They all have different strengths, but in comparing their P.I. characters, Marlowe, Archer, and Lam, Donald Lam is my favorite by far.
I love Macdonald, but Archer's got all the personality of a doorknob, and without his wisecracks, Marlowe wouldn't have much more. I'm not saying Gardner's doing deep characterization here, but Lam stands apart from the typical P.I.
Given that, it may be surprising, but I'm really looking forward to the next volume in this series because Lam won't be in it. As I mentioned, it's 1942, and this volume ends with Lam reporting to his local recruiter's office. Next time Bertha Cool takes the helm. :)
Gardner doesn't get the respect Hammett, Chandler, & Macdonald do. He wrote more than the 3 of them put together, several times over. His prose doesn't shine the way Chandler and Macdonald do at their best. But Gardner's pacing is flawless and his plots every bit as convoluted as Macdonald's, if not more so. They all have different strengths, but in comparing their P.I. characters, Marlowe, Archer, and Lam, Donald Lam is my favorite by far.
I love Macdonald, but Archer's got all the personality of a doorknob, and without his wisecracks, Marlowe wouldn't have much more. I'm not saying Gardner's doing deep characterization here, but Lam stands apart from the typical P.I.
Given that, it may be surprising, but I'm really looking forward to the next volume in this series because Lam won't be in it. As I mentioned, it's 1942, and this volume ends with Lam reporting to his local recruiter's office. Next time Bertha Cool takes the helm. :)
June 10, 2017
Erle Stanley Gardner is best known for his Perry Mason series, but he also wrote the thirty volume Cool and slam series under the pen name AA Fair. For my money, it may even be the better of the two series. Cool and Lam is in the great tradition of private eye series, but features a mismatched Abbott and Costello pair of detectives. Bertha Cool is a loud, ill-mannered, severely overweight, penny-pinching dunderhead and Donald Lam is a slightly built charmer whose powers of deduction are almost unrivaled. It's Lam who always saves the day while Cool provides comic relief.
Owls Don't Blink is one of the earlier books in this series, originally published in 1942. Much of the action takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans and is a rather confusing tale of a missing heiress who has disappeared into the enchanted alleys of New Orleans. Murder, Blsckmail, Deceit, and nightclubs fill out the dance card. It all comes together in the end, but till then you have no idea where this take us going.
Owls Don't Blink is one of the earlier books in this series, originally published in 1942. Much of the action takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans and is a rather confusing tale of a missing heiress who has disappeared into the enchanted alleys of New Orleans. Murder, Blsckmail, Deceit, and nightclubs fill out the dance card. It all comes together in the end, but till then you have no idea where this take us going.
October 17, 2009
A fine example of why this author is so readable. Plain prose, plenty of conversation, plenty of material for thought, a puzzle that starts on page one. Private eye Donald Lam demonstrates his special gift for seeing through the lies of the people who hire him and pulling the truth out of the shambles. The New Orleans setting and the WWII era add to the interest. People ask for "pure coffee" and a 50-cent tip makes a taxi driver your best friend.
June 1, 2014
Would like to re-read. I read sweveral of the entertaining Donald Lam and Bertha Cool mysteries by A. A. Fair who was a pen name for Erle Stanley Gardner, most famour for Perry Mason. Lam and Cool were more entertaining for me because there was a lot of humor as well as well thought out mystery puzzles to figure out. I have to just make a guess as to when I read this one.
September 27, 2023
I bought a hardcover edition as part of a used bookstore haul, thinking I'd found a new-to-me classic mystery author. I was a little disappointed when I realized that A.A. Fair was Earle Stanley Gardner, as I find the Perry Mason novels a bit dry. Much to my surprise, the Cool and Lam adventures are much more lively, even funny. It's nice to find another female Golden Age sleuth in Bertha Cool, as thorny a character as she is. Donald Lam exhibits some of the misogynistic traits of his time, but on the whole is a good guy worth rooting for. Female characters in general have more agency than I'd expect for the era, and this book *might* even pass the Bechdel test! The New Orleans setting was atmospheric and fun, though I was surprised when a character was exhorted to 'drink a New Orleans drink' like 'gin and Seven-UP, gin and Coke, rum and Coke, or Bourbon and Seven-UP.' These typified New Orleans bar culture in 1942?
Gardner's legal training is still evident in both the set-up of the puzzle and the denouement. I was also struck a couple times by how much these excerpts resonate today:
"No one that polite can be sincere about it, and being insincere is just another way of being a damn hypocrite."
"'You can't tell what the Supreme Court's going to do.'
'Don't they follow regular rules?'
I said, 'They used to be bound by precedents. On those matters, we knew what the law was. Now they're changing those old decisions. That throws the whole list out, because you can't tell which ones they'll change and which ones they'll let stand.'
'Isn't that dangerous?'
'It may be good, or it may be bad. It's a condition. We've had a shake-up in the law. Eventually, these new judges will get the law changed around to suit their ideas. Then lawyers will know pretty generally how to advice clients. IN the meantime, there's a lot of guessing.'"
"I don't think you ever really stop to analyze the sort of life you're leading unless you're dissatisfied with it. I like my work. Therefore, I take everything for granted, and don't contrast any sort of life with other kinds."
Gardner's legal training is still evident in both the set-up of the puzzle and the denouement. I was also struck a couple times by how much these excerpts resonate today:
"No one that polite can be sincere about it, and being insincere is just another way of being a damn hypocrite."
"'You can't tell what the Supreme Court's going to do.'
'Don't they follow regular rules?'
I said, 'They used to be bound by precedents. On those matters, we knew what the law was. Now they're changing those old decisions. That throws the whole list out, because you can't tell which ones they'll change and which ones they'll let stand.'
'Isn't that dangerous?'
'It may be good, or it may be bad. It's a condition. We've had a shake-up in the law. Eventually, these new judges will get the law changed around to suit their ideas. Then lawyers will know pretty generally how to advice clients. IN the meantime, there's a lot of guessing.'"
"I don't think you ever really stop to analyze the sort of life you're leading unless you're dissatisfied with it. I like my work. Therefore, I take everything for granted, and don't contrast any sort of life with other kinds."
September 21, 2022
Bertha and Donald hit the Big Easy.
This Cool & Lam mystery was published in 1942. The U.S. had entered WWII, but for most Americans life went on pretty much as normal. Donald Lam is in Florida, finishing up a case that Bertha Cool (reluctantly) admits brought in a nice profit. Then he gets instructions to meet her in New Orleans and to start looking for a young woman named Roberta Fenn. Lam finds the apartment where she lived several years before which was rented under a false name.
Bertha arrives with the client, a large New York lawyer with false teeth. He tries hard to be genial, but when Lam asks who's looking for Roberta Fenn and why, Mr Hale clams up. He has pictures of an attractive brunette, but all he'll say is that HIS client needs to find her to settle an estate.
Bertha is happy with the large retainer and the promise of a bonus if they can locate the girl. Lam finds the story suspicious and wants to learn more before he gives Hale any information. Roberta Fenn is hiding in plain sight and Lam quickly finds her. She's cagey, but a little questioning reveals that she's already acquainted with Hale, but under another name. Does NO ONE use their own name when in New Orleans?
Then a smooth California businessman shows up at Roberta's old apartment. He's looking for HIS wife and the pictures he shows are of a woman who looks like Roberta. They aren't identical twins, but the resemblance is close enough to fool a process server who has only a name and a general description.
Cutler has a pat story about why he needs to find his wife, but it sounds shaky to Lam. He's still trying to figure out the relationship between the two women and why so many people are so desperate to find them.
Hale leaves for New York City and Lam and Bertha go to see Roberta Fenn. But when they arrive at her apartment, there's a dead body and Roberta is nowhere to be found.
The mark of a Cool & Lam mystery is how fast the situation gets really complicated and this one is no exception. Two young women from California are on the run and several men are searching for them, but the stories keep changing. And there's that dead body. Lam puts in some time at a nearby bar, trying to get information out of the woman who lives in Roberta's building and heard the shots. He meets some interesting bar girls, but the lady in question is sticking to the story she gave the police.
Lam is more successful showing that one of the murder suspects never left New Orleans. At that time, airlines weighed boarding passengers. Can you imagine what would happen if they tried that now? The trails keep leading back to California and soon Lam and a murder suspect are winging their way there. And both the NOLA cops and the LA cops are wanting to talk to him.
This is a cleverly plotted mystery. There's plenty of humor as Bertha discovers New Orleans food, which tastes even better with the generous client picking up the tab. Did you know that when your body has taken in all the calories it can process in one day, the rest are write-offs? That's according to the Bertha Cool Diet Plan. Say it for Bertha, she can talk her way out of tight spots that would have stumped Harry Houdini.
This book is a fine, entertaining read and I'd give it four stars except for all the typos. Puzzling, because the other Cool & Lam mysteries appearing in Kindle editions now are well edited. I stuck with it, but if careless typos drive you nuts, better skip this one.
This Cool & Lam mystery was published in 1942. The U.S. had entered WWII, but for most Americans life went on pretty much as normal. Donald Lam is in Florida, finishing up a case that Bertha Cool (reluctantly) admits brought in a nice profit. Then he gets instructions to meet her in New Orleans and to start looking for a young woman named Roberta Fenn. Lam finds the apartment where she lived several years before which was rented under a false name.
Bertha arrives with the client, a large New York lawyer with false teeth. He tries hard to be genial, but when Lam asks who's looking for Roberta Fenn and why, Mr Hale clams up. He has pictures of an attractive brunette, but all he'll say is that HIS client needs to find her to settle an estate.
Bertha is happy with the large retainer and the promise of a bonus if they can locate the girl. Lam finds the story suspicious and wants to learn more before he gives Hale any information. Roberta Fenn is hiding in plain sight and Lam quickly finds her. She's cagey, but a little questioning reveals that she's already acquainted with Hale, but under another name. Does NO ONE use their own name when in New Orleans?
Then a smooth California businessman shows up at Roberta's old apartment. He's looking for HIS wife and the pictures he shows are of a woman who looks like Roberta. They aren't identical twins, but the resemblance is close enough to fool a process server who has only a name and a general description.
Cutler has a pat story about why he needs to find his wife, but it sounds shaky to Lam. He's still trying to figure out the relationship between the two women and why so many people are so desperate to find them.
Hale leaves for New York City and Lam and Bertha go to see Roberta Fenn. But when they arrive at her apartment, there's a dead body and Roberta is nowhere to be found.
The mark of a Cool & Lam mystery is how fast the situation gets really complicated and this one is no exception. Two young women from California are on the run and several men are searching for them, but the stories keep changing. And there's that dead body. Lam puts in some time at a nearby bar, trying to get information out of the woman who lives in Roberta's building and heard the shots. He meets some interesting bar girls, but the lady in question is sticking to the story she gave the police.
Lam is more successful showing that one of the murder suspects never left New Orleans. At that time, airlines weighed boarding passengers. Can you imagine what would happen if they tried that now? The trails keep leading back to California and soon Lam and a murder suspect are winging their way there. And both the NOLA cops and the LA cops are wanting to talk to him.
This is a cleverly plotted mystery. There's plenty of humor as Bertha discovers New Orleans food, which tastes even better with the generous client picking up the tab. Did you know that when your body has taken in all the calories it can process in one day, the rest are write-offs? That's according to the Bertha Cool Diet Plan. Say it for Bertha, she can talk her way out of tight spots that would have stumped Harry Houdini.
This book is a fine, entertaining read and I'd give it four stars except for all the typos. Puzzling, because the other Cool & Lam mysteries appearing in Kindle editions now are well edited. I stuck with it, but if careless typos drive you nuts, better skip this one.
June 5, 2023
I was only familiar with A.A. Fair as one of Earle Stanley Gardner's pen names. But I got this one for a quarter. And wow...was I blown away. Cool and Lam are one great detective team. The writing is crisp, the plot is complicated but completely makes sense. This is quality pulp detective work. Not particularly hard-boiled, but definitely not cozy. A very quick and delightful read.
February 14, 2009
I have an old paperback copy but it's a pretty good mystery. The title is wrong (owls do blink) but it's explained in the course of the story. It's good enough that I'll look for other books about the same detective.
October 10, 2022
Gardner neve roppant ismerősen cseng, viszont eddig még nem jöttem rá, hogy mit is olvashattam volna tőle, így maradok annyiban, hogy semmit.
Nagyon csinos kis krimi volt, némileg túlbonyolítva, mindenféle szálakkal ezerféle irányba, bagalyodás, keveredés, szereplők és eksönök tömkelege, ahogy kell.
Beismerem, hogy jó darabig nem jöttem rá, ki lehet a rossz fiú, ez három dolgot jelenthet: 1. gyenge az elméletem, 2. nem figyeltem oda (utóbbi napokat figyelembe véve ez (is) sanszos – legyünk szerények) vagy 3. nagyon jól meg volt komponálva. Lehet válogatni.
Én annyira, de annyira szeretem, hogy minden krimiben és sorozatban a nyomozó olyan ennivalóan zseniális. Meg öntörvényű. Meg elszállt. Meg egyszerre tizenhúsz helyen van jelen. A memóriája kifogástalan, akárcsak a modora. Vagy az nem ide tartozik? A nők hullanak, mint a legyek, beléje a szerelembe. Szóval egyszerűen csodás. Csodál(koz)om is. Ó, Donald!
Na és ott van Bertha, a félelmetes. Ugyan a regény semmiféle támpontot nem szolgáltatott arra nézvést, hogy mi lenne mellékhősnőnkben oly retteghető, mert én – akárhogy figyeltem – nem tudtam mást felfedezni, mint egy enyhén lökött, folyton zabáló, összefüggéstelenül szóhadonászó és magáról előszeretettel harmadik személyben előadó hölgyeményt. Kétszer lucidusan gondolkozott, ezt el kell ismerni, az egyik az volt, amikor elintézett valamit és a másik akkor volt, amikor elhelyezett valamit valahol. Így, átolvasva saját leírásomat, ez tényleg félelmetes.
Nade. A könyv tetszett, bár nem tudok objektíven értékítélni, merthogy sokfélék a tényezők, kik ebben megakadályoznak: nagyon rég nem olvastam krimit, amit pedig olvastam volna, arról is kiderült, hogy vicc (mondjuk, ez várható volt), de azért elolvastam, de nem volt krimi. Na. Legyek továbbra is szubjektív: nagyon szeretem a baglyokat, ez az aranyigazság pedig roppantmód megtetszett (ti. a címben foglalt). Azt pedig most azért se fogom bevallani, hogy ezért olvastam el a könyvet.
Nagyon csinos kis krimi volt, némileg túlbonyolítva, mindenféle szálakkal ezerféle irányba, bagalyodás, keveredés, szereplők és eksönök tömkelege, ahogy kell.
Beismerem, hogy jó darabig nem jöttem rá, ki lehet a rossz fiú, ez három dolgot jelenthet: 1. gyenge az elméletem, 2. nem figyeltem oda (utóbbi napokat figyelembe véve ez (is) sanszos – legyünk szerények) vagy 3. nagyon jól meg volt komponálva. Lehet válogatni.
Én annyira, de annyira szeretem, hogy minden krimiben és sorozatban a nyomozó olyan ennivalóan zseniális. Meg öntörvényű. Meg elszállt. Meg egyszerre tizenhúsz helyen van jelen. A memóriája kifogástalan, akárcsak a modora. Vagy az nem ide tartozik? A nők hullanak, mint a legyek, beléje a szerelembe. Szóval egyszerűen csodás. Csodál(koz)om is. Ó, Donald!
Na és ott van Bertha, a félelmetes. Ugyan a regény semmiféle támpontot nem szolgáltatott arra nézvést, hogy mi lenne mellékhősnőnkben oly retteghető, mert én – akárhogy figyeltem – nem tudtam mást felfedezni, mint egy enyhén lökött, folyton zabáló, összefüggéstelenül szóhadonászó és magáról előszeretettel harmadik személyben előadó hölgyeményt. Kétszer lucidusan gondolkozott, ezt el kell ismerni, az egyik az volt, amikor elintézett valamit és a másik akkor volt, amikor elhelyezett valamit valahol. Így, átolvasva saját leírásomat, ez tényleg félelmetes.
Nade. A könyv tetszett, bár nem tudok objektíven értékítélni, merthogy sokfélék a tényezők, kik ebben megakadályoznak: nagyon rég nem olvastam krimit, amit pedig olvastam volna, arról is kiderült, hogy vicc (mondjuk, ez várható volt), de azért elolvastam, de nem volt krimi. Na. Legyek továbbra is szubjektív: nagyon szeretem a baglyokat, ez az aranyigazság pedig roppantmód megtetszett (ti. a címben foglalt). Azt pedig most azért se fogom bevallani, hogy ezért olvastam el a könyvet.
April 22, 2019
We find our favorite detective, Donald Lam, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, with America about to enter WWII. He's looking for a specific woman on behalf of a client, with partner Bertha Cool en route to berate him over his expense account and collect the related fee, plus promised enormous bonus, that Donald will no doubt earn.
However, neither the woman, nor the client, is what they seem or say. And because of that duplicity, there are other interested parties in the mix. Donald has no sooner found the woman than there's promptly a murder at her new apartment and and she just as promptly disappears.
Bertha leaves town, ostensibly to reduce expenses and manage their new wartime project - hmmm, could she be plotting to keep Donald out of the war? - while Donald racks up more expenses continuing his investigation. Of immediate interest is the confusion between the woman he is seeking and her new alias. It appears that both names represent real people, and both people have their own fan club....with specific ideas on how long the designated woman should remain alive.
Donald's efforts to track his quarry are entertaining, while the story is complex and well done. I've personally experienced the unrelated twin-ish phenomenon, so that probably helped. I did find Bertha a trifle cartoonish in this one - her character sometimes seems a little one-dimensional to me - but her appearances were minimal so it wasn't too bothersome. And, having spent plenty of time in both the French Quarter and San Francisco, I found the 1940 backgrounds to be an extra bonus. As expected, another good one.
However, neither the woman, nor the client, is what they seem or say. And because of that duplicity, there are other interested parties in the mix. Donald has no sooner found the woman than there's promptly a murder at her new apartment and and she just as promptly disappears.
Bertha leaves town, ostensibly to reduce expenses and manage their new wartime project - hmmm, could she be plotting to keep Donald out of the war? - while Donald racks up more expenses continuing his investigation. Of immediate interest is the confusion between the woman he is seeking and her new alias. It appears that both names represent real people, and both people have their own fan club....with specific ideas on how long the designated woman should remain alive.
Donald's efforts to track his quarry are entertaining, while the story is complex and well done. I've personally experienced the unrelated twin-ish phenomenon, so that probably helped. I did find Bertha a trifle cartoonish in this one - her character sometimes seems a little one-dimensional to me - but her appearances were minimal so it wasn't too bothersome. And, having spent plenty of time in both the French Quarter and San Francisco, I found the 1940 backgrounds to be an extra bonus. As expected, another good one.
December 24, 2020
Another fine pulp featuring P.I.s Bertha Cool and Donald Lam, this time set during WW II with most of the action taking place in New Orleans.
Cool and Lam are hired to find a missing girl, who Lam is able to find during his first day on the job. As usual, when a job is this easy, Donald gets suspicious and Bertha gets mad. Sure enough, a murder leads to the lies and hidden identities & relationships starting to come out, and Donald is off pursuing his own idea of justice.
These plots are always a little too convoluted, and Donald is always a little too smart for his own good. And yes, Bertha is annoying and somewhat one-dimensional. But I still enjoy these for the glimpse into an earlier time, the writing, and the dialogue. Fun even if somewhat repetitive and forgettable.
Cool and Lam are hired to find a missing girl, who Lam is able to find during his first day on the job. As usual, when a job is this easy, Donald gets suspicious and Bertha gets mad. Sure enough, a murder leads to the lies and hidden identities & relationships starting to come out, and Donald is off pursuing his own idea of justice.
These plots are always a little too convoluted, and Donald is always a little too smart for his own good. And yes, Bertha is annoying and somewhat one-dimensional. But I still enjoy these for the glimpse into an earlier time, the writing, and the dialogue. Fun even if somewhat repetitive and forgettable.
April 30, 2023
This is a series written by Erle Stanly Gardner with series characters Donald Lam and Bertha Coal. Interestingly, the book had a plot device also used in the last Perry Mason I read, a Mexican marriage gambit. Bertha is penny pinching, grumpy and kind of thick, but Donald is younger, quicker, and far more clever. I read this one because it was partly set in New Orleans, and the city really hasn't changed that much. The book ends with Donald enlisting in the military. America has recently entered WWII. Because Donald is away, Bertha has to solve the next couple of cases more or less on her own. Which should be interesting.
February 17, 2023
Interestingly, I don't find these early books of Erle Stanley Gardner to be formulaic, but I think the later books must have become so; he wrote so many. The plot here twists and turns in unexpected ways, good characterizations, and the personalities of the two detectives, B. Cool and D. Lam, continue to evolve. Cool title, too, with an interesting meaning. Solid episode in the Cool-Lam saga.
August 7, 2020
Donald and Bertha investigate a missing person in New Orleans. Of course, nothing is straightforward and the missing person investigation leads to a current and a past murder investigation. Alongside all of this, Bertha has launched a plan to keep Donald out of military service.
June 14, 2025
Poor ocr
This book would have been more interesting and easy to read if it had been proofread. As it is there are many unneeded punctuation marks which confuse the context. There are also several mistaken words due to ocr errors.
This book would have been more interesting and easy to read if it had been proofread. As it is there are many unneeded punctuation marks which confuse the context. There are also several mistaken words due to ocr errors.
September 22, 2019
I love these books. They are fun detective stories. Very predictable, very familiar, very comfortable old friends.
May 15, 2023
Donald is the important character, but Bertha was good in this one.
December 20, 2024
Damsels in distress, villains coming and going, murders old and new all come together in this good, if a bit dated, mystery in New Orleans by a master of the genre.
May 3, 2025
Really enjoyed the story. Formatting on this ebook
edition was painful.
edition was painful.
December 23, 2025
Another great Cool & Lam mystery. Fast paced full of twists and turns. I love this series.
August 10, 2019
Bertha Cool and her partner Donald Lam have been hired by an New York attorney to find a person in New Orleans. A simple job, but a little unusual since there are P.I.s in New Orleans that can do the job. Money is money and that is a big motivator for Bertha.
They have a description of the girl but no details as to why the search. They locate the girl and notify the attorney. Job done. Or is it?
Seems just a day after they locate her she disappears again! The attorney asks them to find her again. This time there is more to this job...seems a murder is on the hunt for the girl also. This becomes apparent when Bertha and Donald find a dead man in the girl's apartment. Something isn't looking right and Donald is determined to find out what the true story is. Even if it means keeping her away from the New Orleans and Los Angeles police departments.
A.A. Fair is a pen name for Erle Stanley Gardner. Instead of an attorney it is two P.I.s that solve the case. Written in the 1940s it is a good way to go back in time for a bit.
They have a description of the girl but no details as to why the search. They locate the girl and notify the attorney. Job done. Or is it?
Seems just a day after they locate her she disappears again! The attorney asks them to find her again. This time there is more to this job...seems a murder is on the hunt for the girl also. This becomes apparent when Bertha and Donald find a dead man in the girl's apartment. Something isn't looking right and Donald is determined to find out what the true story is. Even if it means keeping her away from the New Orleans and Los Angeles police departments.
A.A. Fair is a pen name for Erle Stanley Gardner. Instead of an attorney it is two P.I.s that solve the case. Written in the 1940s it is a good way to go back in time for a bit.
February 7, 2023
I love Perry Mason, so I decided to check out another series by Erle Stanley Gardner. I suspect this is source material for the new Perry Mason, which has him as a detective in his youth.
Donald Lam doesn't have much in common with Perry Mason. This story is amazingly convoluted but fun to attempt to figure out. Lam is a young detective and this story is set in 1942. He works for, or is partners with, Bertha Cool, depending on who's telling the story. Bertha is a 50something single woman who has the business sense, but is always several steps behind Lam.
Donald Lam doesn't have much in common with Perry Mason. This story is amazingly convoluted but fun to attempt to figure out. Lam is a young detective and this story is set in 1942. He works for, or is partners with, Bertha Cool, depending on who's telling the story. Bertha is a 50something single woman who has the business sense, but is always several steps behind Lam.
June 20, 2019
I felt old as I was reading the book. The plot didnt seem to unfold until half the book was over and then soon after the mystery was revealed in one paragraph in one of the later chapters. This is my first Gardner. I have no benchmark against his other novels but as far as mystery books go (subject to the considerations attached to age), I found the book rather low on suspense, high on descriptions and moderate on grasping my interest levels. I would highly recommend this book for teens.
Want to read
February 3, 2013I have a better cover. Dell printing (1st) 1961
November 20, 2022
Fast read
Love Lam & Cool books. Always wondered about Lam's induction. Found the many typos annoying but could figure them out.
Love Lam & Cool books. Always wondered about Lam's induction. Found the many typos annoying but could figure them out.
October 25, 2010
Having fun rereading some of my older books. This one was a great reread.
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