Private detective Donald Lam is hired by Sandra Birks to serve divorce papers to her husband, a deadly gangster hiding from the police

THE LOST DETECTIVE NOVEL BY THE CREATOR OF PERRY MASON! At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, and world famous as the creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason. Gardner also created the hardboiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels published between 1939 and 1970—and one that’s never been published until now. Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the series but got shelved when Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to "talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people." But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities—however shocking for 1939—shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists. Donald Lam has never been cooler—not even when played by Frank Sinatra on the U.S. Steel Hour of Mystery in 1946. Bertha Cool has never been tougher. And Erle Stanley Gardner has never been better. First publication ever! Erle Stanley Gardner is one of the most popular American authors of all time, with over 100 million books sold Brand new cover painting by Robert McGinnis of modern-day pin-up icon Dita von Teese Brand new afterword by former Ellery Queen editor Russell Atwood about Gardner, Cool & Lam, and THE KNIFE SLIPPED

A CLASSIC COOL AND LAM NOVEL FROM THE CREATOR OF PERRY MASON, ERLE STANLEY GARDNER HBO series Perry Mason airs June 2020 starring Matthew Rhys in the titular role. Erle Stanley Gardner was not just the creator of PERRY MASON – at the time of his death, he was the best-selling American author of all time, with hundreds of millions of books in print. Among those books were the 29 cases of the brash, irresistible detective team of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Last year, Hard Case Crime brought out the first new Cool and Lam novel in decades, THE KNIFE SLIPPED, lost for 77 years after Gardner’s publisher refused it. Now, we’re bringing you the book Gardner wrote to replace it, often considered the best in the TURN ON THE HEAT. Hired by a mysterious “Mr. Smith” to find a woman who vanished 21 years earlier, Donald Lam finds himself facing a sadistic cop, a desperate showgirl, a duplicitous client, and one very dogged (and beautiful) newspaper reporter – while Bertha Cool’s attempts to cut herself in on this lucrative opportunity land them both hip-deep in murder…

(A book in the Donald Lam and Bertha Cool series)

The diminutive detective and his bulldog of a boss head to Las Vegas to find a runaway bride in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason. Donald Lam and Bertha Cool make for a couple of unlikely detectives. Donald is a charming ex-lawyer in his thirties who may lack brawn but makes up for it in brains. Bertha, meanwhile, is a fifty-something-year-old widow who won't take lip from anyone. She certainly won't let a bout of illness keep her down. After a stay at the sanitarium, she and Donald are off to Las Vegas for their latest case. Who needs rest? Mr. Whitewell needs Donald and Bertha to find his son's fianc�e and learn why she abruptly left town. Donald quickly gets to work with just a mysterious letter as his only lead. Soon he uncovers a scheme to swindle casinos, along with a brutal murder. Now he must determine what's going on before someone ensures he's the next member of the agency to have a long hospital stay—or worse. "The best American writer, of course, is Erle Stanley Gardner." —Evelyn Waugh "Gardner has a way of moving the story forward that is almost a lost art: great stretches of dialogue alternate with lively chunks of exposition, and the two work together perfectly, without sacrificing momentum." —Booklist

Dr. Hilton Devarest was a whiz at curing patients, but his private life was sick, sick, sick. He lived with a wife who was as warped as she was repulsive, a secretary who enjoyed fun and games with the doctor every morning before breakfast, a niece who believed nice girls finished nowhere, and a nephew whose only means of support was making women happy. Donal Lam and Bertha Cool got involved with the not-so-good doctor when he hired them to find some stolen jewels. But soon they were in the fight of their lives against a killer who thought murder was the best medicine, and was out to treat them to an overdose of death ...

The sixth Donald Lam/Bertha Cool novel.

Private detective Bertha Cool is hired by a blind man to find a girl hit by a car, a young woman who had been employed by the wealthy, eccentric Harlow Milders, who had recently died under suspicious circumstances

By the time he went to Cool and Lam for help, his luck had turned from bad to worse. The woman he was supposed to be playing around with had turned up dead, his old mistress was being sought as a suspect.

Donald Lam returns from the Navy to Bertha Cool, a new client and an axe murder

Vintage paperback

Hardcover; Good +; Very rare copy. Orange boards with black printing on the spine. Slight rubbing along back of spine and corners. One number has been written on the top corner of the inside page. No other marks or tears in the book. Donald Lam and Bertha Cool mystery. This is a very nice first edition.

A Bertha Cool - Donald Lam mystery in which a shadowing job turns to a murder investigation

Detective Donald Lam is hired by the last man to see the girlfriend of a notorious gangster alive, a case that leads Donald to a lucrative mining scam, an illegal casino, and a double homicide. Reprint.

Hardcover; Very Good; Light yellow boards with black printing on the spine. Spine is tight, there are no tears in the book. A number is written on the top of the first page, no other marks in book. Bertha Cool and Donald Lam

Donald Lam and his partner, Bertha Cool, private detectives, are hired by a mysterious client to investigate Karl Carver Endicott, but the first thing they learn is that Endicott has been murdered

Great detective novel by the author of Perry Mason novels

One morning Barclay Fisher awakes in the apartment of a beautiful woman. He is threatened with blackmail - and he is pretty sure his wife will never understand. Hence his pitiful appeal to Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Bertha smells money, and Donald heads for San Francisco. There he has quite a time with the glamorous 'other woman', a disconcerting and hilarious encounter with modern art, and a very nasty turn when he finds the body.

From the world-famous creator of "Perry Mason," Erle Stanley Gardner comes another baffling case for the Cool & Lam detective agency 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: THE COUNT OF 9. Return to the 1950s as Bertha Cool and Donald Lam investigate an impossible murder in a double-locked room...the theft of two precious jade-and ruby Buddhas...and the intertwined fates of a globetrotting explorer, a neglected wife, and a beautiful nude art model. Will Donald go down for the count - or will he come up with a solution by the count of 9...?

There's an insurance policy worth $75,000, which pays double in the event of an accident. So if he's dead I want to establish that fact and collect. Naturally. And if he's alive, then I want a divorce and alimony.

Hardcover; Good; Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Red boards with black printing on the spine. No DJ but otherwise very nice condition.

"Bertha laid down the law - no more of Donald's desperate gambles that had him skirting prison walls! The Cool-Lam Agency was going back to a safe, sane business. with solid, substantial, citizens like Montrose L. Carson for clients. All Carson wanted was the name of the person in his office who was passing on confidential information to business rival Herbert Jason Dowling..The complexion of the case changed, however, when Dowling was found murdered at the Swim and Tan Motel - the same motel where two Peeping Tom incidents had been reported. And oly Donald, with his affinity for long shots and playing tag with the police, would have thought of baiting a trap for a murderer with the liveliest, most irrepressible stripper ever to hit the boards."

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 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. It’s Gardner’s twistiest caper ever.

Bertha Coolin ja Donald Lamin etsivätoimistoon saapui nolo ja kauhistunut asiakas, Carleton Allen, jolla tuntui olevan kaikkea: rahaa, vaimo, pelottava appiukko ja huolia. Carleton Allen oli ollut harhateillä: hän oli tavannut hemaisevan vaaleaverikön ja viettänyt tämän kanssa viikonlopun motellissa. Ja eräs mies oli samana yönä murhattu samassa motellissa. Nyt poliisi tutki asiaa, Carletonin seikkailu tulisi väistämättömästi ilmi, häntä uhkari tuho, hän tarvitsi apua. Bertha haistoi rahan hajun, ja Donald pantiin asialle. Ennen pitkää Donald huomasi nielaisseensa koukun, joka veti häntä yhä lähemmäksi kersantti Sellersin raivokasta hahmoa. Tarvittiin Donaldin koko nokkeluus, ennen kuin Bertha pääsi laskemaan kahisevia dollareita. A. A. Fairin verraton yksityisetsiväpali on tässä romaanissa jälleen loistovedossa.

220 pp.

One in the Bertha Cool/Donald Lam series. A.A. Fair is a pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner.

{ 15.34 x 23.59 cms} Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2015 with the help of original edition published long back [1891]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - English-German, - Volume 4, Pages 194. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.} Complete Cut thin to win Volume 4 1891 A. A. Fair

Widows Wear Weeds, A.A. Fair Donald Lam and Elsie Brand are on a coffee break when Nicholas Baffin joins them and asks for help because of blackmail. Does paying off a blackmailer work? Lam meets Starman Calvert, gets the photo negatives and a receipt for the money (a confession), and leaves. But when he tries to deliver the goods a new mystery develops! Nicholas Baffin thanks Lam & Cool by giving them a free meal, and they invite Sergeant Frank Sellers. Gratitude, or for another reason? We soon find an unexpected development at the dinner party, with a chance for scandal. Will an eyewitness use his imagination for details his eyes never saw? Donald Lam is in a predicament. Lam begins his detective work in Chapter 9, and finds the credit card slip for Mrs. Starman Calvert and car license. It tells how a small-town girl like Connie Alford could be lured to Hollywood through a contest created by a promoter for merchandising. In Chapter 10 Lam is told that the dinner was planned to allow for hidden photography, and this witness is scared. Lam then meets with newspaperman Colin Ellis, who is very well informed, but can't print it all without proof (Chapter 12). Chapter 14 tells how witness statements can be arranged to create the desired story. Lam continues his investigation, and takes some pictures to recreate the events around the time of the murder, showing the waitress who found the victim. This leads him and Sergeant Sellers to re-question Baffin and get the information that basically solves the murder, and exposes the wider scandal of campaign contributions to legislators. This fast-moving story is like the best of the Cases of Perry Mason, and an implicit critique of society. It uses the building of an apartment house as a clock to date a photograph. Was Los Angeles undergoing rapid expansion at that time?

"I want to dissolve our partnership," said Donald Lam to Bertha Cool. "What have I done now?" she protested. "God knows I've put up with your shenanigans..." "It isn't what you've done," Lam told her, "it's what I've done." "What have you done?" "I've got in a jam where I'm going to lose my license." "You sound as if you've been talking to the police." "They've been talking with me," said Donald. "I see," Bertha said; and then added after a moment, "I'ma cantankerous old bitch, but I don't leave a partner on a sinking ship. Now, use that noggin of yours to get this thing straightened out."

All that glitters isn't gold. A rich man sends Donald Lam looking for a man - when he really wants to find a woman. A minor missing persons case turns out to be a major one. And a pleasure boat on pontoons serves as a smuggler's ship on wheels. This is a job for detectives who know their fact from fiction, and Bertha Cool and Donald Lam are pitted against people who know too well that all grass isn't green.