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Cool and Lam #22
Shills Can't Cash Chips
From Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner - during his life, the best-selling American author of all time -- comes a lost classic of detective fiction featuring private eyes Donald Lam (once played by Frank Sinatra!) and Bertha Cool.
Has Donald Lam gone to the dark side? From the world-famous creator of "Perry Mason," Erle Stanley Gardner - at his death the best-selling American writer of all time - comes another baffling case for the Cool & Lam detective agency: SHILLS CAN'T CASH CHIPS. Return to the 1960s as a simple insurance investigation into a car accident puts Bertha Cool and Donald Lam on the trail of murder - and Donald hip-deep in danger when he poses as an ex-con to infiltrate a criminal gang. It's Gardner's twistiest caper ever, and a fitting capper to Hard Case Crime's revival of this classic (and long unavailable) detective series.
Has Donald Lam gone to the dark side? From the world-famous creator of "Perry Mason," Erle Stanley Gardner - at his death the best-selling American writer of all time - comes another baffling case for the Cool & Lam detective agency: SHILLS CAN'T CASH CHIPS. Return to the 1960s as a simple insurance investigation into a car accident puts Bertha Cool and Donald Lam on the trail of murder - and Donald hip-deep in danger when he poses as an ex-con to infiltrate a criminal gang. It's Gardner's twistiest caper ever, and a fitting capper to Hard Case Crime's revival of this classic (and long unavailable) detective series.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1961
76 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
August 8, 2018
The twenty-third novel in the Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series tracks very closely to the pattern that has now been well-established through the first twenty-two. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that there are now very few surprises in store for anyone who's read several of the books in the series.
As always, a client comes into the agency's offices to retain their services. As is usually the pattern, Bertha will believe that the new client is a step up from the problem clients that the agency so often sees. She has already convinced herself and will attempt to convince her partner, Donald, that this is the case that will put the firm on the road to respectability and will keep them out of all the trouble in which they usually find themselves.
And, as always of course, she will be dead wrong.
In this case, the client is the representative of a large insurance company. One of their clients has been in an automobile accident. There is no doubt that the client is at fault; he rear-ended the other car and has admitted responsibility. The other driver, though--the victim--seems to have disappeared. The insurance company would like Cool & Lam to find her so that the case can be settled.
Donald and any other sensible person wonders why the company simply doesn't use its own investigators for this job, but Bertha can only see the dollar signs involved. The firm takes the case and almost immediately, of course, it blows up in their face. Everybody is lying; blackmail, murder and a variety of other offenses are involved, and only Donald Lam can sort it all out. Or at least we hope so; otherwise he's going to be left in very serious trouble, if he's not left seriously dead.
As I suggested above, anyone who has read a few of these novels knows exactly what there getting when they pick up another. This is a fun read, as good as most in the series, and it won't disappoint the fans of Cool & Lam.
As always, a client comes into the agency's offices to retain their services. As is usually the pattern, Bertha will believe that the new client is a step up from the problem clients that the agency so often sees. She has already convinced herself and will attempt to convince her partner, Donald, that this is the case that will put the firm on the road to respectability and will keep them out of all the trouble in which they usually find themselves.
And, as always of course, she will be dead wrong.
In this case, the client is the representative of a large insurance company. One of their clients has been in an automobile accident. There is no doubt that the client is at fault; he rear-ended the other car and has admitted responsibility. The other driver, though--the victim--seems to have disappeared. The insurance company would like Cool & Lam to find her so that the case can be settled.
Donald and any other sensible person wonders why the company simply doesn't use its own investigators for this job, but Bertha can only see the dollar signs involved. The firm takes the case and almost immediately, of course, it blows up in their face. Everybody is lying; blackmail, murder and a variety of other offenses are involved, and only Donald Lam can sort it all out. Or at least we hope so; otherwise he's going to be left in very serious trouble, if he's not left seriously dead.
As I suggested above, anyone who has read a few of these novels knows exactly what there getting when they pick up another. This is a fun read, as good as most in the series, and it won't disappoint the fans of Cool & Lam.
May 14, 2020
When Donald Lam and Bertha Cool take on a case, you know it's never quite what the client says the case is. There's always something a bit twisted about it. Despite that, Lam quickly sinks his teeth into whatever is brought their way and works it until something begins to make sense. You know when you open the book, it may begin with a simple traffic accident but it will not end there. Cool and Lam mysteries are clever puzzles where the different layers of an onion are peeled back one by one. Compelling reads but not filled with car chases, shootouts and the like.
April 6, 2022
Grifters Can't Cash In
Review of the Hard Case Crime paperback (2020) reissue of the William Morrow & Co. hardcover original (1961)
[2.5 rounded up]
The title Shills Can't Cash Chips didn't seem to have anything to do with the plot which instead of being related to some kind of casino scam was instead about the investigation of a possible insurance scam which turns into a murder mystery.
Despite featuring a quirky detective agency duo, this didn't make any great impression in terms of plot or hardboiled dialogue, let alone getting anywhere close to the cynical poetical expressions of Raymond Chandler and his Philip Marlowe (somehow Cool's signature line of "Fry me for an oyster" doesn't quite ring true for the hardboiled genre). Pint sized 5'3" Donald Lam operates without a gun and is apparently frequently beat up and the more formidable Bertha Cool has to ride to the rescue when fisticuffs are required. Despite thinking he has the case figured out early, Lam instead needs an 11th hour surprise alternative to bring a solution to the situation.
Cover image of the original 1961 William Morrow and Co. hardcover. Image sourced from Goodreads.
This is #22 in the Bertha Cool and Donald Lam Detective Agency series by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) (also famous for the Perry Mason Lawyer series) originally published under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair. Hard Case Crime has reissued 4 of the original books (#2, #13, #18, #22) and one posthumous "lost" original (squeezed in now as #1.5, the original proposed 2nd book as it was rejected by the publishers and thought lost until 2016, some lists add it at the end as #30). The back cover synopsis describes #22 as "a fitting conclusion to Hard Case Crime's revival of this classic (and long unavailable) detective series", so presumably they have finished selecting what they considered the best of the series for reissue.
I picked up Shills Can't Cash Chips while looking for Gardner's Perry Mason novels which also appear to be hard to locate these days. This was part of my ongoing investigation of the hardboiled and noir genre and of the Golden Age of Crime novels and writers.
Trivia and Links
This edition of Shills Can't Cash Chips is part of the Hard Case Crime (2004-) series of reprints, new commissions and posthumous publications of the pulp and noir crime genre founded by authors Charles Ardai and Max Phillips. GR's Listopia is not complete (as of April 2022) and the most current lists of publication can be found at Wikipedia or the Publisher's own Official Site.
There is a Wikipedia entry for the Cool and Lam series which includes brief plot synopses for all 30 books which you can read here.
Review of the Hard Case Crime paperback (2020) reissue of the William Morrow & Co. hardcover original (1961)
[2.5 rounded up]
The title Shills Can't Cash Chips didn't seem to have anything to do with the plot which instead of being related to some kind of casino scam was instead about the investigation of a possible insurance scam which turns into a murder mystery.
Despite featuring a quirky detective agency duo, this didn't make any great impression in terms of plot or hardboiled dialogue, let alone getting anywhere close to the cynical poetical expressions of Raymond Chandler and his Philip Marlowe (somehow Cool's signature line of "Fry me for an oyster" doesn't quite ring true for the hardboiled genre). Pint sized 5'3" Donald Lam operates without a gun and is apparently frequently beat up and the more formidable Bertha Cool has to ride to the rescue when fisticuffs are required. Despite thinking he has the case figured out early, Lam instead needs an 11th hour surprise alternative to bring a solution to the situation.
Cover image of the original 1961 William Morrow and Co. hardcover. Image sourced from Goodreads.
This is #22 in the Bertha Cool and Donald Lam Detective Agency series by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) (also famous for the Perry Mason Lawyer series) originally published under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair. Hard Case Crime has reissued 4 of the original books (#2, #13, #18, #22) and one posthumous "lost" original (squeezed in now as #1.5, the original proposed 2nd book as it was rejected by the publishers and thought lost until 2016, some lists add it at the end as #30). The back cover synopsis describes #22 as "a fitting conclusion to Hard Case Crime's revival of this classic (and long unavailable) detective series", so presumably they have finished selecting what they considered the best of the series for reissue.
I picked up Shills Can't Cash Chips while looking for Gardner's Perry Mason novels which also appear to be hard to locate these days. This was part of my ongoing investigation of the hardboiled and noir genre and of the Golden Age of Crime novels and writers.
Trivia and Links
This edition of Shills Can't Cash Chips is part of the Hard Case Crime (2004-) series of reprints, new commissions and posthumous publications of the pulp and noir crime genre founded by authors Charles Ardai and Max Phillips. GR's Listopia is not complete (as of April 2022) and the most current lists of publication can be found at Wikipedia or the Publisher's own Official Site.
There is a Wikipedia entry for the Cool and Lam series which includes brief plot synopses for all 30 books which you can read here.
November 29, 2020
At the time of his death in 1970, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of all time. This was due in large part to his Perry Mason novels, which fueled a long-running television series as well as a number of made-for-TV movies, which in turn renewed interest in the books, and so on. In fact, HBO recently wrapped up the first season of “Perry Mason,” which is (loosely) based on the novels. Gardner was a workhorse whose quantity often matched the quality of his output. At times he would type until his fingers bled, at which point he would stop working long enough to bandage up the injured member and gamely plunge right into his latest project.
Perry Mason was not Gardner’s only creation. He also wrote a well-known series under the pseudonym “A. A. Fair” involving a private investigation agency run by tightfisted owner Bertha Cool and independent-minded investigator Donald Lam. The Cool & Lam books were extremely popular in their own right. Hard Case Crime has released four of the many novels from this series over the past several years and is ending the reprint project with a fifth entry, SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS. It is among the best of the lot and more than worth your time and money.
Cool and Lam are polar opposites. Cool can squeeze a nickel until the buffalo chokes, while Lam is more concerned with solving whatever case he has been assigned to work on and dancing as close to (and beyond) the edge of legalities while doing so. He is a quietly lovable rogue, a hybrid of Mike Hammer without the fisticuffs and Perry Mason without the ethics.
As the book opens, Cool is worried about the firm’s reputation and is hoping to attract a higher class of client. So when an insurance company approaches the agency for an investigation, the overture seems like the answer to his prayers, even if it hardly stirs Lam’s blood. It’s a basic accident case. The insured is accused of rear-ending a young woman whose car was stopped in traffic, and she has filed a claim for damages as the result of a soft-tissue injury known as “whiplash.” The gentleman readily admits fault, so the only issue is the severity of the injury and how much money will be needed to resolve it.
Lam is tasked with shadowing the injured party to document her activities so the insurance company can determine if she is really as limited as she claims to be. She turns out to be an attractive young woman who suddenly goes missing. Lam has to locate her before he can do the job he has been hired to do, and along the way finds himself doing what he does best: engaging in subterfuge to arrive at the truth, or something like that. As those familiar with the series and the genre might expect, there is more involved here than an automobile accident and injuries --- a lot more, actually --- but it appears that Lam might have gotten himself into so much trouble this time that truth will not win out by story’s end.
SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS was initially published in 1963, so don’t expect Lam to solve the case using cell phones and internet databases. That said, it is amazing how well this novel holds up from beginning to end, thanks in large part to Gardner’s plotting, characterization and occasional snappy dialogue. It is much more than a curiosity piece or an acquisition for Hard Case Crime completists. It is a sterling example of how the job of writing private-eye fiction is properly performed by a master of the genre.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Perry Mason was not Gardner’s only creation. He also wrote a well-known series under the pseudonym “A. A. Fair” involving a private investigation agency run by tightfisted owner Bertha Cool and independent-minded investigator Donald Lam. The Cool & Lam books were extremely popular in their own right. Hard Case Crime has released four of the many novels from this series over the past several years and is ending the reprint project with a fifth entry, SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS. It is among the best of the lot and more than worth your time and money.
Cool and Lam are polar opposites. Cool can squeeze a nickel until the buffalo chokes, while Lam is more concerned with solving whatever case he has been assigned to work on and dancing as close to (and beyond) the edge of legalities while doing so. He is a quietly lovable rogue, a hybrid of Mike Hammer without the fisticuffs and Perry Mason without the ethics.
As the book opens, Cool is worried about the firm’s reputation and is hoping to attract a higher class of client. So when an insurance company approaches the agency for an investigation, the overture seems like the answer to his prayers, even if it hardly stirs Lam’s blood. It’s a basic accident case. The insured is accused of rear-ending a young woman whose car was stopped in traffic, and she has filed a claim for damages as the result of a soft-tissue injury known as “whiplash.” The gentleman readily admits fault, so the only issue is the severity of the injury and how much money will be needed to resolve it.
Lam is tasked with shadowing the injured party to document her activities so the insurance company can determine if she is really as limited as she claims to be. She turns out to be an attractive young woman who suddenly goes missing. Lam has to locate her before he can do the job he has been hired to do, and along the way finds himself doing what he does best: engaging in subterfuge to arrive at the truth, or something like that. As those familiar with the series and the genre might expect, there is more involved here than an automobile accident and injuries --- a lot more, actually --- but it appears that Lam might have gotten himself into so much trouble this time that truth will not win out by story’s end.
SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS was initially published in 1963, so don’t expect Lam to solve the case using cell phones and internet databases. That said, it is amazing how well this novel holds up from beginning to end, thanks in large part to Gardner’s plotting, characterization and occasional snappy dialogue. It is much more than a curiosity piece or an acquisition for Hard Case Crime completists. It is a sterling example of how the job of writing private-eye fiction is properly performed by a master of the genre.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
August 21, 2020
We regular readers of the escapades of private investigator Donald Lam depend on him to jump right into the middle of whatever sordid situation gets brought to the Cool & Lam agency by its feckless prevaricating clients. In Shills Can't Cash Chips, he does not disappoint. It's a quick read with plenty of action and fulfills the form.
I remember as a kid, the title puzzled me, and I had to ask what "shills" were. At this point it puzzles me because I can't quite connect it to the events of the story.
I remember as a kid, the title puzzled me, and I had to ask what "shills" were. At this point it puzzles me because I can't quite connect it to the events of the story.
Read
December 22, 2018William & Morrow, 1961 hardback from library
Ugh.
Started out with comical quips between the primary characters, but from the start the new insurance company client was suspect. I had no interest in finishing this book. Really, truly corny stuff and just not for me. Back it goes. Long cold walk.
Ugh.
Started out with comical quips between the primary characters, but from the start the new insurance company client was suspect. I had no interest in finishing this book. Really, truly corny stuff and just not for me. Back it goes. Long cold walk.
January 30, 2024
I'm definitely reading more Cool & Lam!
What a great couple of characters.
What a great couple of characters.
October 21, 2022
Accidents WILL happen.
It's 1961 and traffic in Southern California isn't as horrific as it is now, but cars didn't have as many safety features, either. No seat belts. No air bags. And no headrests to prevent whiplash. So when a rushed businessman rear-ends a pretty blonde and she claims to be suffering from whiplash, his insurance company has to take notice, even if they suspect she's a con artist.
Why does a large insurance company with its own investigators want Cool & Lam to find the blonde (who's disappeared) and uncover any information they can use against her? Street-smart disbarred-lawyer-turned-P.I. Donald Lam smells a rat. Bertha Cool smells her favorite scent -money. This is the kind of "classy", low-risk business she dreams of and she's not budging. So Lam goes in search of the missing blonde's best friend. Never ashamed to lie to a liar, he creates a new persona for himself. And both the hard-boiled young woman and her hot-tempered boyfriend are interested.
As Lam expects, the "simple" car wreck is just the tip of the iceberg and soon there's a body in the trunk of his own car and his old frenemy police Sgt Frank Seller says Lam is Suspect #1. Lam wiggles out, of course. Remember Sherlock Holmes' scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about crimes? Lam's devoted secretary Elsie has been compiling files of recent crimes and Lam uses them to piece together a complicated story of real wrecks and fake wrecks and a crime far more serious than either.
This story looks back to what some people think of as "the good old days" but they weren't so innocent, after all. Carter Holgate is a tall, fast-talking land developer and land development has never been a squeaky clean business. A born salesman, Holgate uses his charm, his ruthlessness, and his knowledge of human nature to make big money quickly. Then as now, sex sells and Holgate fills his office with beautiful dames who aren't afraid to show a little leg to dazzle a potential customer into signing on the dotted line.
Younger readers will be amazed that there was ever a time when adult women were so coy, but (trust me) it's a realistic look at the early '60's. Smart businessmen were adding women to their staffs and not all girls wanted to marry right out of school, but their hard work and good looks seldom translated into big salaries. Many of the female characters live at Miramar Apartments, with reasonable rents and nearby parking. But having a man in your apartment after midnight can get a tenant tossed out. The proprieties are still being observed.
I always enjoy the irascible Frank Sellers and his crush on buxom Bertha Cool, but the other two cops in this book are even more interesting. Captain Andover's job investigating traffic crimes seems tame, but sometimes a simple wreck covers up a lot of dirt. Police Chief Montegue Dale heads up a small town force and is part-cop-part-politician. He's in trouble with his Commissioners for an unsolved wreck of his own and when Lam shows up offering a possible solution, he's more than willing to play ball.
Bertha is as fine and funny as always. Her usual expression of astonished disgust ("Well, fry me for an oyster!") is joined by the equally colorful "Well, dice me for a carrot!" Bertha is a big girl and food is never far from her thoughts.
Fans of Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason series will have to prepare themselves for a different set of characters and shadier way of doing business. But Perry himself (in an early book) isn't above posing as an electrician to gain entry into a house and get information that can help his client. No longer able to practice law, Donald Lam must drop his scruples and earn his fees any way he can. And Bertha never had any scruples to begin with. The cops may not be allowed to rough up female suspects to get them to confess, but Bertha is perfectly willing to pitch in. Besides, she can't have Donald Lam behind bars. He does all the footwork.
This series wasn't printed in the huge quantities of the Perry Mason books and old paperbacks are hard to find. I think it's worth the effort and I'm happy to see some of them (including this one) showing up in Kindle editions. If you like Gardner's books, you should try one of the Cool & Lam series. They're great reading.
It's 1961 and traffic in Southern California isn't as horrific as it is now, but cars didn't have as many safety features, either. No seat belts. No air bags. And no headrests to prevent whiplash. So when a rushed businessman rear-ends a pretty blonde and she claims to be suffering from whiplash, his insurance company has to take notice, even if they suspect she's a con artist.
Why does a large insurance company with its own investigators want Cool & Lam to find the blonde (who's disappeared) and uncover any information they can use against her? Street-smart disbarred-lawyer-turned-P.I. Donald Lam smells a rat. Bertha Cool smells her favorite scent -money. This is the kind of "classy", low-risk business she dreams of and she's not budging. So Lam goes in search of the missing blonde's best friend. Never ashamed to lie to a liar, he creates a new persona for himself. And both the hard-boiled young woman and her hot-tempered boyfriend are interested.
As Lam expects, the "simple" car wreck is just the tip of the iceberg and soon there's a body in the trunk of his own car and his old frenemy police Sgt Frank Seller says Lam is Suspect #1. Lam wiggles out, of course. Remember Sherlock Holmes' scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about crimes? Lam's devoted secretary Elsie has been compiling files of recent crimes and Lam uses them to piece together a complicated story of real wrecks and fake wrecks and a crime far more serious than either.
This story looks back to what some people think of as "the good old days" but they weren't so innocent, after all. Carter Holgate is a tall, fast-talking land developer and land development has never been a squeaky clean business. A born salesman, Holgate uses his charm, his ruthlessness, and his knowledge of human nature to make big money quickly. Then as now, sex sells and Holgate fills his office with beautiful dames who aren't afraid to show a little leg to dazzle a potential customer into signing on the dotted line.
Younger readers will be amazed that there was ever a time when adult women were so coy, but (trust me) it's a realistic look at the early '60's. Smart businessmen were adding women to their staffs and not all girls wanted to marry right out of school, but their hard work and good looks seldom translated into big salaries. Many of the female characters live at Miramar Apartments, with reasonable rents and nearby parking. But having a man in your apartment after midnight can get a tenant tossed out. The proprieties are still being observed.
I always enjoy the irascible Frank Sellers and his crush on buxom Bertha Cool, but the other two cops in this book are even more interesting. Captain Andover's job investigating traffic crimes seems tame, but sometimes a simple wreck covers up a lot of dirt. Police Chief Montegue Dale heads up a small town force and is part-cop-part-politician. He's in trouble with his Commissioners for an unsolved wreck of his own and when Lam shows up offering a possible solution, he's more than willing to play ball.
Bertha is as fine and funny as always. Her usual expression of astonished disgust ("Well, fry me for an oyster!") is joined by the equally colorful "Well, dice me for a carrot!" Bertha is a big girl and food is never far from her thoughts.
Fans of Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason series will have to prepare themselves for a different set of characters and shadier way of doing business. But Perry himself (in an early book) isn't above posing as an electrician to gain entry into a house and get information that can help his client. No longer able to practice law, Donald Lam must drop his scruples and earn his fees any way he can. And Bertha never had any scruples to begin with. The cops may not be allowed to rough up female suspects to get them to confess, but Bertha is perfectly willing to pitch in. Besides, she can't have Donald Lam behind bars. He does all the footwork.
This series wasn't printed in the huge quantities of the Perry Mason books and old paperbacks are hard to find. I think it's worth the effort and I'm happy to see some of them (including this one) showing up in Kindle editions. If you like Gardner's books, you should try one of the Cool & Lam series. They're great reading.
March 14, 2021
In reading the introduction for this book, it sounds like Hard case Crime is publishing their last Cool and Lam, Erle Stanley Gardner novel. I am sad but they went out with a sweet story. All the Cool and Lam books are fun tight reads. You feel like you are in as neck deep as Donald Lam in whatever case is thrown his way by his bulldog of a partner, Bertha Cool. They story runs at a fairly breakneck pace and is fun and an easy read. I love the characters. I love the story. I love the tough guy dialogue. Is it a book of the past, yes but man it is good. If you want a very good Hard Case Crime story then read any of the five Erle Stanley Gardner novels as they are all fun.
September 23, 2020
The story was kind of blah, there was no atmosphere, no mood. It was a bland detective novel. There was plenty of misogyny though, to the point of being almost comedic in the first third of the book. Nothing else in the book was particularly noteworthy and the central mystery hinged on insurance fraud so again, blah. Overall, I'm not angry I read it nor am I glad I did. It was just meh.
February 17, 2021
A fun, breezy, and very fast entry in the Cool and Lam private eye series. Like all of Garner's novels, the narrative primarily relies on dialogue. The plot--a traffic accident, a hit and run, and ultimately a murder--is almost whimsical, but still effective. Overall, it is an entertaining crime novel with a touch of humor and enough twists to keep it interesting.
January 28, 2021
He spun a good yarn.
December 26, 2019
Shills Can’t Cash Chips is a typical title originating out of a Depression-era style of writing made famous by Erle Stanley Gardner, in this case using the pen name A.A. Fair. Gardner, the creator of crime-solving attorney Perry Mason and the most prolific of American writers at the time of his death in 1970, had produced yet another Donald Lam-Bertha Cool detective novel (number 23). The book was first published by William Morrow in 1961, even as the famous Perry Mason series ran on television. The widely reprinted Pocket Book paperback followed two years later.
Cool and Lam was a Los Angeles detective agency that always took oddball cases which yielded a nice paycheck but ran them afoul of the law, notably cigar-chewing Sergeant Frank Sellers of the LA Police. Lam, a short, witty, and clever private detective is the brains of the operation. Gruff, hard-nosed Bertha Cool, a waddling case of squeezed dynamite, runs the business. In the world of Hollywood-type fiction, Lam thrives on his knack for attracting beautiful women, his ability to reason out a puzzling crime, and his risk-taking to solve it.
In this book Cool and Lam grab an apparently solid case of a traffic accident where the driver who caused it, a well-heeled real estate broker, admits liability, but, they find, to a different accident than the one reported. Sexy and alluring women, a phony insurance claim, a secret investigation by another detective agency, and more than one murder finally lead the intrepid Donald Lam to uncover the truth, thanks to be a hand from his loving secretary, Elsie Brand, and to Montague Dale, the police chief of Colinda, a fictional suburb of LA. For fans of Earle Stanley Gardner, or in particular, of Lam and Cool, this is another entertaining read.
Cool and Lam was a Los Angeles detective agency that always took oddball cases which yielded a nice paycheck but ran them afoul of the law, notably cigar-chewing Sergeant Frank Sellers of the LA Police. Lam, a short, witty, and clever private detective is the brains of the operation. Gruff, hard-nosed Bertha Cool, a waddling case of squeezed dynamite, runs the business. In the world of Hollywood-type fiction, Lam thrives on his knack for attracting beautiful women, his ability to reason out a puzzling crime, and his risk-taking to solve it.
In this book Cool and Lam grab an apparently solid case of a traffic accident where the driver who caused it, a well-heeled real estate broker, admits liability, but, they find, to a different accident than the one reported. Sexy and alluring women, a phony insurance claim, a secret investigation by another detective agency, and more than one murder finally lead the intrepid Donald Lam to uncover the truth, thanks to be a hand from his loving secretary, Elsie Brand, and to Montague Dale, the police chief of Colinda, a fictional suburb of LA. For fans of Earle Stanley Gardner, or in particular, of Lam and Cool, this is another entertaining read.
March 17, 2021
Another Lam and Cool detective mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner, using the pen name A.A. Fair, from 1961. The main characters are supposed to be Donald Lam and Bertha Cool, but as usual Bertha does nothing but complain and screech in the background, looking out for her money.
This time the agency takes on a straightforward insurance case - the client admits fault in an auto accident, the insurance agency is going to have to pay up, but something doesn't smell right. Enter Donald Lam, pint-size private eye and lady's man. Donald gets forced into perjury, claiming to have witnessed the accident. But when competing factions are asking for witnesses, the victim disappears, the accident timelines get all messed up, and a shady real estate developer gets murdered and stuffed into Lam's car, the simple insurance case turns out to be quite complicated for Detective Lam.
The most interesting part of these stories to me is always trying to figure out what Lam is going to do, and I'm pretty much always wrong. Cool is useless and one-dimensional, the women in the story are portrayed as helpless or vixens, and the plots are pretty formulaic. But Lam is the one that always does something unexpected, and that's what makes me smile and pick up another adventure.
This time the agency takes on a straightforward insurance case - the client admits fault in an auto accident, the insurance agency is going to have to pay up, but something doesn't smell right. Enter Donald Lam, pint-size private eye and lady's man. Donald gets forced into perjury, claiming to have witnessed the accident. But when competing factions are asking for witnesses, the victim disappears, the accident timelines get all messed up, and a shady real estate developer gets murdered and stuffed into Lam's car, the simple insurance case turns out to be quite complicated for Detective Lam.
The most interesting part of these stories to me is always trying to figure out what Lam is going to do, and I'm pretty much always wrong. Cool is useless and one-dimensional, the women in the story are portrayed as helpless or vixens, and the plots are pretty formulaic. But Lam is the one that always does something unexpected, and that's what makes me smile and pick up another adventure.
February 21, 2023
“The sergeant had a message for me?” I said.
“Two words,” he said. “Drop dead.”
Yeah, I am way cool with Cool & Lam.
I always love Hard Case Crimes because they are absolutely so easy to dip in and out of. So easy in fact that you can up and finish them over a freaking weekend and not even mean to. That’s always a wonderful feeling.
But yeah! These are fun as hell. Bertha Cool is a brassy, hard-knuckled office manager. Donald Lam is a wiry, ultra horny dork. Together, they form the weirdest insurance investigation company of all time! And every case they take on is always more than it seems.
It’s always so entertaining to remember that all these crime/pulp fiction guys had thriving side careers where they just wrote wacky ass, broadly comedic mysteries. And much like the Westlakes and McDonalds ESG inspired, they are usually pointedly sexy too! I’m so used to the austere, occasionally poetic Gardner so to get one that’s got all that same power but attuned to something even broader and sultry. So super fun!
I could read these forever. I hope I can get some more of these reprints eventually.
“Two words,” he said. “Drop dead.”
Yeah, I am way cool with Cool & Lam.
I always love Hard Case Crimes because they are absolutely so easy to dip in and out of. So easy in fact that you can up and finish them over a freaking weekend and not even mean to. That’s always a wonderful feeling.
But yeah! These are fun as hell. Bertha Cool is a brassy, hard-knuckled office manager. Donald Lam is a wiry, ultra horny dork. Together, they form the weirdest insurance investigation company of all time! And every case they take on is always more than it seems.
It’s always so entertaining to remember that all these crime/pulp fiction guys had thriving side careers where they just wrote wacky ass, broadly comedic mysteries. And much like the Westlakes and McDonalds ESG inspired, they are usually pointedly sexy too! I’m so used to the austere, occasionally poetic Gardner so to get one that’s got all that same power but attuned to something even broader and sultry. So super fun!
I could read these forever. I hope I can get some more of these reprints eventually.
September 10, 2021
Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the famous Perry Mason novels, also wrote several novels about the investigative firm of Cool & Lam under the name, A. A. Fair. After years of being out of print, they have been republished.
Shills Can’t Cash Chips is one of the Cool & Lam novels. Lam is a lady’s man, and Cool is his rough-talking, impatient female partner.
Cool & Lam are called on to investigate a simple car accident, but as they press the eyewitnesses – even Lam, who pretends to be one – their stories don’t hang together. So, they go to dangerous lengths to prove that the car accident was meant to cover up something much bigger.
This is not Perry Mason and Della Street, but it is a highly enjoyable story that any Erle Stanley Gardner fan should enjoy.
[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
Shills Can’t Cash Chips is one of the Cool & Lam novels. Lam is a lady’s man, and Cool is his rough-talking, impatient female partner.
Cool & Lam are called on to investigate a simple car accident, but as they press the eyewitnesses – even Lam, who pretends to be one – their stories don’t hang together. So, they go to dangerous lengths to prove that the car accident was meant to cover up something much bigger.
This is not Perry Mason and Della Street, but it is a highly enjoyable story that any Erle Stanley Gardner fan should enjoy.
[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
January 9, 2023
Shills Can’t Cash Chips, Erle Stanley Gardner, writing as A.A. Fair [Hard Case Crime, 1961].
Donald Lam—of the Lam & Cool Detective Agency, is hired to investigate a possible case of insurance fraud; a young woman who suffered neck injuries after her car was rear ended. The case proves less straight forward than anticipated as Lam discovers the accident may have been staged to cover up worse crimes.
***
Erle Stanley Gardner at one time was the world’s bestselling writer. The creator of the Perry Mason series, his books inspired feature films from Warner Brothers, a long running CBS series with Raymond Burr, and now an HBO series. Shills Can’t Cash Chips, along with other Lam and Cool titles are back in print for the first time in decades thanks to the independent efforts of Hard Case Crime and American Mystery Classics/Penzler Books.
Donald Lam—of the Lam & Cool Detective Agency, is hired to investigate a possible case of insurance fraud; a young woman who suffered neck injuries after her car was rear ended. The case proves less straight forward than anticipated as Lam discovers the accident may have been staged to cover up worse crimes.
***
Erle Stanley Gardner at one time was the world’s bestselling writer. The creator of the Perry Mason series, his books inspired feature films from Warner Brothers, a long running CBS series with Raymond Burr, and now an HBO series. Shills Can’t Cash Chips, along with other Lam and Cool titles are back in print for the first time in decades thanks to the independent efforts of Hard Case Crime and American Mystery Classics/Penzler Books.
November 26, 2021
A.A. Fair was just one of a number of names that Earl Stanly Gardner wrote under. He sold a lot of books in his lifetime, Gardner lives from 1889 to 1970. The characters in Shills Can't Cash Chips was one of thirty or so books about the Cool and Lam Detective Agency. Rather formulaic and predictable though I didn't guess the who-done-it at all. Cool and Lam are retained to investigate a possible insurance fraud and find other things. Lots of tough talking men and seductive acting women in this story. It is clearly from another time and doesn't compare well with other mystery writers.
January 7, 2023
The author is the creator of Perry Mason, therefore this 1961 novel is mostly cheesy. Much of the dialogue rehashes information - mostly lame puzzle pieces that try to keep this case interesting. Not much in the way of grit or violence if you're looking for something with a darker edge to it. I'm not sure how, but there was enough underlying tension and guessing to keep me turning pages. The occasional sexual teasing also kept me holding out for a greater payoff, but overall, this story is pretty tame. The cover and title are deceptive in representing what is actually in the story.
May 4, 2017
My time with the Cool & Lam Detective Agency grows ever shorter. It is interesting to see Elsie Brand evolving and growing as a character while Bertha remains kind of one-dimensional as a foil to Donald. Once again, the plot was full of twists & turns, but some things never change. I say that in reference to having recently read Hiaasen's "Razor Girl", which had similar plot points. On to the next one!
December 10, 2023
Another good read in the series! Lam and Cool start investigating a car accident that pretty quickly turns into a murder case! And again, real estate subdivisions are involved, like a previous book in the series. It moves at a good pace but does get a bit convoluted with the car accidents intertwining. By the end, "cool"-er heads prevail, and Lam and Cool come out with their account paid in full!
"The sergeant had a message for me?" I asked.
"Two words," he said. "Drop dead."
"The sergeant had a message for me?" I asked.
"Two words," he said. "Drop dead."
July 29, 2018
This book was a lot of run to read. There's no way you could have had a chance to solve the case before the end as new, significant details are brought in throughout the story. However, if you just give yourself up to the flow of the stor and the situations Donald Lam finds himself in (and how he gets out of them), it's a great read for the genre! I highly recommend.
July 24, 2022
Lam -the pint-sized detective and Cool - the heavy set lady in charge. Another case of twists and turns that will daze and confuse even the characters until the end. Erle Stanley Gardner's detective stories that would be good Mason and Drake episodes -- OH Yeah -- they were often used on Perry Mason.
August 9, 2024
Don't let the pseudonym fool you. The author is Erle Stanley Gardner of Perry Mason fame. Even though the writing is outdated, the story is entertaining throughout the book. This is certainly pulp fiction at its best. There are many twists and turns in the story. The women in the story are intelligent and break the stereotypes of women in the early 1960s. The fem fatale characters at their best. Enjoy.
August 6, 2025
The story needs more Bertha Cool
A classic well plotted Gardner private eye investigation pulp novel. Each of the characters was enjoyable and added to the story. The twists at the end were well thought out and gave the story a solid pay off. A bit slow in the beginning but overall enjoyable.
A classic well plotted Gardner private eye investigation pulp novel. Each of the characters was enjoyable and added to the story. The twists at the end were well thought out and gave the story a solid pay off. A bit slow in the beginning but overall enjoyable.
February 28, 2022
"Slight" doesn't even begin to cover this story of a clever PI and the faintly absurd insurance scam he's swept up in, especially the ending. On the other hand, I read the whole thing in a night so, really, that speaks for itself.
March 18, 2023
murder bank robbery and insurance fraud. this is all good stuff but it was boring. thre were endless times when characters repeated information that was already said. this felt like a case of a brief story stuffed up to be longer. It was not a fun read.
October 13, 2018
Very amusing. I like the Cool and Lam series. The characters are slick and amusing. And the farms are always grand.
December 25, 2020
not for me
February 16, 2022
Fun and quick read!!!!
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