Point Books In Favor Of Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26)
| Original Title: | Cut Thin to Win |
| ISBN: | 2702427650 (ISBN13: 9782702427651) |
| Series: | Cool and Lam #26 |
| Characters: | Bertha Cool, Donald Lam |
A.A. Fair
Audiobook | Pages: 154 pages Rating: 3.88 | 91 Users | 12 Reviews
Explanation As Books Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26)
The twenty-seventh entry in A. A. Fair's (Erle Stanley Gardner's) Donald Lam-Bertha Cool series is one of the better books in the series. It opens with something of a twist in that a potential client comes into the office with a case that Donald wants to take and Bertha doesn't. Usually, the reverse is true.The client, Clayton Dawson, is the assistant to the manager of a re-debenture discount security company (whatever in the world that is). Dawson has a daughter with a wild side. He presents the detectives with a scrap of cloth. Someone, he says, might claim that the scrap of cloth was found stuck in the undercarriage of a car which people might falsely claim his daughter was driving while under the influence. The car, which he insists his daughter was not driving might have been involved in a hit-and-run accident with the woman who was wearing the dress.
Dawson would like to see his daughter clear of the mess and, without saying so directly, he wants Donald to find the victim of the hit and run and make a settlement that would prevent his daughter from facing any criminal charges. Bertha is nervous as hell because this would be skating right up against the edge of the law and could cost the firm its license. Donald, though, very skillfully walks Dawson through the interview, ascertaining what the client wants without coming right out and saying it. Over Bertha's objections, he takes the case.
As is always the case with the books in this series, nothing is as it originally seems, and in taking the case, Donald opens up a huge can of worms. The plot is especially clever and interesting and is one of the few in the series that the reader can actually follow. The fun in reading these books is watching Donald in action, particularly in regard to his relationship with his partner. Like some of Gardner's Perry Mason novels, the plots are generally so convoluted that they make no sense at all, even when Donald lays it all out in the end. That is not the case here, and this book demonstrates that near the end of what was a very long run, Gardner was still capable of returning to his top form.
Details About Books Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26)
| Title | : | Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26) |
| Author | : | A.A. Fair |
| Book Format | : | Audiobook |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 154 pages |
| Published | : | 1997 by Librairie des Champs-Elysées (first published 1965) |
| Categories | : | Mystery. Fiction. Detective |
Rating About Books Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26)
Ratings: 3.88 From 91 Users | 12 ReviewsNotice About Books Au Petit Poil (Cool and Lam #26)
I've been reading the Cool and Lam mysteries for a while now and, although all enjoyable beyond a doubt, this one really did it for me. I was sucked into the plot and the trials and tribulations of Donald Lam to a degree I had not experienced before. While these books love to have you second-guessing yourself until Lam pulls the "here's what happened" trick out of his hat, this on in particular had so many twists and turns I often found myself wondering what he was actually trying to accomplish.A man, Clayton Dawson, comes to Donald Lam and Bertha Cool to do some investigating work for him. He claims his daughter, who is wild and unmanageable, was involved in a hit and run. She was inebriated and hit an older woman with her car but drove off.Dawson wants to protect his daughter and his own reputation by seeing if they can keep the episode out of the newspapers and to offer the victim (who survived with minor injuries) a settlement that would keep her from going to court and causing
A.A. Fair is a pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner.
The first Lam and Cool detective novel I've read and the intrigue and woven nature of the characters kept me interested enough to fly through this. Looking forward to reading more in the series!
One of the later books in this series dating from 1965. Bit puzzled that Sellers is a sergeant though he was a captain in earlier books but maybe the LAPD restructured or maybe he did something wrong in a book I missed. Anyway a good read if not one of the better books in this series. Donald Lam is as charming as ever,
Cut Thin to Win is indicative of the period, the 1960s in Gardner's writing. The plots are a bit thinner than before, and many of the devices have been used before. Overall, a good book in the series though, just not as good.
0 Comments