My favorite Erle Stanley Gardner series…
Erle Stanley Gardner is the super-famous author of more than 80 Perry Mason mysteries, which, in addition to being best-selling books in their own right, were also spun off into a long-running TV series and several movies. Few people, however, are aware that he also wrote almost 30 titles in another series, using the pen name AA Fair, and featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam as partners in the Cool & Lam Detective Agency. I remember reading several of the Cool & Lam books in paperback a few decades ago (!!!), and back then, I liked them even more than the Perry Mason books. So I was happy to receive an advance review copy of the new e-book edition of Shills Can’t Cash Chips, and looked forward to seeing if I would still enjoy the series. And I did!
Shills Can’t Cash Chips is about 3/4 of the way through the series, and the relationship between Donald and Bertha is already well-developed, as is their relationship with LAPD Sergeant Sellers. One of the main reasons I liked this series more than the Perry Mason series was Donald’s snarky/quick wit, and that’s still on full display in this book, whether he’s hot-wiring his own car to get close to a potential witness (a gorgeous dame, of course), or wise-cracking that “…a fight means two people have alternate objectives and they resort to violence to protect their positions.” Another reason I liked this series was Bertha’s over-the-top miserliness and pugnaciousness, also on full display here, as when Bertha says she’s going to make Sergeant Sellers pay half the taxi fare if he wants to ride along with Donald back from the airport.
Under all the fun and familiar personalities, though, there’s also a nice noir-ish mystery going on. Clearly something is “off” when the Cool & Lam Agency is asked to investigate an insurance claim, starting with why the insurance company isn’t investigating things itself. But, in Bertha’s quest for “respectable work”, and also, of course, work that will pay well, she takes the case, and we’re off…
Like most of the Cool & Lam books, this is a quick read, but still packed with enough action, and enough twists and turns, to keep me guessing until nearly the end. Unusually for me, I did pick up on one key plot wrinkle early on, but still couldn’t figure out what to do with it, so it didn’t matter in the end! My only minor beef was that I did have to suspend just a bit of annoyance at the casual sexism of the early 1960s, but that was wasn’t too hard to do, and really there’s not a whole lot of point in trying to hold a nearly 50-year old book to modern standards.
All-in-all, I liked this book a lot, and, having now been reminded of the Cool & Lam series, I’ll be keeping an eye out for more titles to become available in e-book. Please keep in mind that I try to fight star-flation a little bit, so I keep a 5-star rating for maybe one in thirty or forty books that I read. So my 4-star rating for Shills Can’t Cash Chips is a solid recommendation and means that I think it’s well worth reading. And again, my thanks to Hard Case Crime/Edelweiss for the review copy.
Buy: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Kobo US | Kobo UK | Kobo Canada
The Knife Slipped is an early Cool and Lam book by Erle Stanley Gardner. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CWYTJRG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-knife-slipped
Bats Fly at Dusk is the seventh in the Bertha Cool/Donald Lam series. It’s on sale right now for $0.99 in the US, and it’s discountable at Kobo (!!!), where coupon code Partners22 for 40% off is still working as of this morning, and brings the price down to $0.60 – or even less if you have a Kobo VIP membership as well.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VRR528V
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bats-fly-at-dusk-1
Open Road/Mysterious Press seem to have recently gotten the rights to a bunch of Bertha Cool/Donald Lam books, and have been putting them on sale from time to time, but I just now noticed…
Right now, the third in the series, Gold Comes in Bricks, is $1.99 in the US, and it’s discountable at Kobo. I like both Gardner’s Perry Mason series, and the Cool/Lam series, but I think I have to give a slight edge to the Cool/Lam books – their partnership is a lot of fun, and less jarring in modern times than Mason’s with Della Street.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS3BCDV
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/gold-comes-in-bricks-1
Two Bertha Cool/Donald Lam books are $2.99 right now in the US, but they’ve both been less in the not-too-distant past. So, up to you if you want to be patient or not! I’ll post them here when I see them. Note that they are both discountable at Kobo US, and coupon code “Partners22” is still working for 40% off – its only limitation is that it only works on one book per checkout cart, so if you want more than one book, you have to checkout multiple times.
Bats Fly at Dusk
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VRR528V
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bats-fly-at-dusk-1
Cats Prowl at Night
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS6GCLG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cats-prowl-at-night-1
Double or Quits is the fifth in the Bertha Cool/Donald Lam series. It’s $1.99 right now at Kindle US, unfortunately not matched at Kobo US, at least as of now.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSJRC3S
Gold Comes in Bricks, is $1.99 again in the US, and it’s still discountable at Kobo, where coupon code “Partners22” is still working for 40% off, at least as of this morning. The links three comments up are still good…
Two Bertha Cool/Donald Lam books are $1.99 right now in the US, both about 1/4 of the way through the series. And they are both discountable at Kobo US (coupon code “Partners22” is still working for 40% off).
Owls Don’t Blink, #6
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSLTJDK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/owls-don-t-blink-1
Bats Fly at Dusk, #7
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VRR528V
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bats-fly-at-dusk-1
Spill the Jackpot is the fourth Cool/Lam book. It’s $1.99 in the US and discountable at Kobo US – remember coupon code “Partners22” !!!
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSBTQRH
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/spill-the-jackpot-1
An e-book version of the August 1945 Detective Novel Magazine, sold by Radio Archives, is on sale for $1.99. And why do we care? Because it contains the complete e-book version of Give ‘Em The Ax by AA Fair, which is the pen name originally used by Erle Stanley Gardner when writing the Cool/Lam series. This is the ninth book in the series. Here’s the link: https://www.radioarchives.com/Detective_Novel_Magazine_eBook_August_1945_p/re420.htm
And there are a couple of bonus short stories in the magazine:
The Brass Pomeranian, by Norman A. Daniels
The mystery of a phony amnesia victim, a metal dog and a strange corpse.
The Pouter Pigeon Murder, by Ted Coughlan
A little bird tells Judge Wayne Wright about a grim crime.
Oh, and thanks to @GARussell at the MobileRead forums for the find!
Spill the Jackpot is $1.99 in the US again – and discountable at Kobo US. The links two comments up are still good.
Cats Prowl at Nightis $1.99 at Kindle US right now, which is a bit better than last time. But sadly, it’s not on sale at Kobo US this time..
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS6GCLG
The third and fourth Cool/Lam books are $1.99 again at Kindle US, but sadly not on sale this time at Kobo US.
Gold Comes in Bricks, #3
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS3BCDV
Spill the Jackpot, #4
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSBTQRH
Cats Prowl at Night is $1.99 at Kindle US again right now, and also at Kobo US, where it’s discountable.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS6GCLG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cats-prowl-at-night-1
Two Cool/Lam books are $1.99 each right now in the US again, and discountable at Kobo US…
Spill the Jackpot, #4
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSBTQRH
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/spill-the-jackpot-1
Cats Prowl at Night, #8
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VS6GCLG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cats-prowl-at-night-1
Double or Quits is $1.99 again at Kindle US, but unfortunately again not matched at Kobo US, at least as of now.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VSJRC3S