Cool and Lam

Cool and Lam is the fictional American private detective firm that is the center of a series of detective novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner using the pen name of A. A. Fair.

Bertha Cool

In the first book about her, The Bigger They Come (1939; British: Lam to the Slaughter), Bertha Cool is said to have opened her own detective agency in 1936 after her husband Henry died. She's described in various terms as overweight, and uncaring about her weight—in the first novel, Donald Lam estimates her weight at 220 pounds. At the beginning of Spill the Jackpot! (1941) we learn that she had flu and pneumonia, and lost a great deal of weight, down to 160 pounds, and in many later novels her weight is given as 165 pounds. She has white hair and "greedy piggish eyes". All novels agree that she's extremely avaricious and miserly. Her favourite expletive is "Fry me for an oyster!". In the opening chapter of the first novel, she hires Donald Lam, a small (5' 6" tall/125 pounds) and extremely ingenious disbarred lawyer who later becomes a full partner in her business, and the duo appears in more than two dozen books.

Donald Lam

Donald Lam is a fictional American detective created by Erle Stanley Gardner under his pen name A. A. Fair. Hughes in her biography of Gardner stated that "Erle said over and again that if Donald Lam, "that cocky little bastard," had a model, it was Corney, [Cornwell Jackson--Gardner's Hollywood agent]. ^[1] Donald Lam begins his adventures as the employee of Bertha Cool, a stout widow in her 60s who started a detective agency in 1936. In Double or Quits, he upgrades his involvement in her agency to a partnership.

Donald Lam, as a detective, is in stark contrast to the fictional hard-boiled types of his era. Donald is about 5'6", weighs 130 pounds soaking wet, and gets beat up quite frequently (while he does get into several fistfights, he loses all but one—a single fistfight against an insurance investigator in Double or Quits). His primary weapon is his brain. In the first book (The Bigger They Come) Donald tells Bertha that he gets even with people with his mind. He shows that frequently in his cases.

The early history of Donald Lam is murky, though there are several clues in the first novel, The Bigger They Come. He is known to have been a lawyer who had his license to practice law suspended for a year for advising a gangster that there was a way to commit a murder in such a way nobody could do anything about it. The theory was put to the test in the book, and stood up in court. While he got his license back, he was destitute and answering ads for jobs that were "fishy." Bertha hired him, and made money on him ever since. However, Bertha also uncovered Donald's past, including his real name, something that was never revealed. He apparently considers that a false start to his life. However, his legal training was invaluable in later books, when he advised lawyers, or his clients in trials during Beware the Curves and All Grass Isn't Green.

Donald eventually became such a moneymaker for Bertha that she relented when he put the pressure on her for a full partnership in Double or Quits. In a case involving double indemnity in the event of death by accidental means, Donald knew the legal difference between it and accidental death. Solving the case nearly cost Donald his own life, but he did find the proof to get the money, as murder was held to be a death by accidental means.

In Owls Don't Blink Donald leaves the agency at the end to enlist in the Navy during World War II. Two books were written during the time Donald was serving his country; Bats Fly at Dusk and Cats Prowl at Night. In Bats Fly at Dusk, Bertha takes a case brought to her by a blind man. Donald was able to correspond via telegraph, and gave her solid advice, much of which Bertha rejected. However, she finally quit the case at the end, only to find that Donald, on a military pass, flew down and solved it for her. The second, Cats Prowl at Night put Bertha in a case that kept getting worse for her. She eventually came up with a single clue that led her to the solution, but showed she wasn't Donald's equal in such situations. Donald returns to Los Angeles after being discharged from the Navy in Give 'em the Axe.

He always steadfastly stands behind clients, even if they haven't given him all the needed information, or even if he doesn't like them personally. He works by his own sense of honor and loyalty, giving fair treatment to those who treat him well, and not caring about those who treat him poorly. His antics frequently frustrate Bertha, but in the end they line her pockets, and she ultimately forgives him. He is frequently seen to become romantically involved with beautiful women connected with his cases, but by the next novel they are forgotten.

Donald Lam is dedicated to his ideals of justice. It may not always be the legal or moral definition of justice (in Beware the Curves Lam accepts without comment the invalid conviction of a man for rape charges, because he knew the man was actually guilty of murder), but his unique sense of justice seems fit the crime in his opinion.

Bibliography

The series consists of the following 29 books:^[2]

• The Bigger They Come (1939)
• Turn on the Heat (1940)
• Gold Comes in Bricks (1940)
• Spill the Jackpot (1941)
• Double or Quits (1941) "The mysterious death of a client forces Donald Lam and Bertha Cool into a legal battle with an insurance company over double indemnity, a game of wits with a trio of fortune hunters, and a search for missing jewelry, while constantly avoiding the clutches of the police."^[3]
• Owls Don't Blink (1942)
• Bats Fly at Dusk (1942) This is the first novel for Sgt. Frank Sellers.
• Cats Prowl at Night (1943)
• Give 'em the Ax (1944)
• Crows Can't Count (1946)
• Fools Die on Friday (1947) Donald Lam tries to put 'psychological handcuffs' on a potential poisoner, but things don't work out the way he planned. Raymond Chandler wrote to Gardner in 1948 "'Fools Die on Friday' is about the best of the series since the first two. Perhaps since the very first." ^[4]
• Bedrooms Have Windows (1949)
• Top of the Heap (1952) (available in the Hard Case Crime series)
• Some Women Won't Wait (1953)
• Beware the Curves (1956)
• You can Die Laughing (1957)
• Some Slips don't Show (1957)
• The Count of Nine (1958)
• Pass the Gravy (1959)
• Kept Women Can't Quit (1960)
• Bachelors Get Lonely (1961)
• Shills Can't Cash Chips (1961)
• Try Anything Once (1962)
• Fish or Cut Bait (1963)
• Up for Grabs (1964)
• Cut Thin to Win (1965)
• Widows Wear Weeds (1966)
• Traps Need Fresh Bait (1967)
• All Grass isn't Green (1970)

Television

A 30-minute pilot program called "Cool and Lam" was made in 1958 but never became a series. Billy Pearson was cast as Donald Lam and Benay Venuta as Bertha Cool. The pilot was loosely based on Turn On The Heat. One feature of interest is that, a few minutes after the start of the program, Erle Stanley Gardner is shown on the set of Perry Mason's office. He speaks directly to the viewer, introducing the characters, and talking about his pleasure in the casting and his hopes that the pilot will become a series. It is uncertain whether this pilot was ever broadcast and, if so, whether this segment featuring Gardner would have been included, since it pushed the running time of the program to the 30-minute mark and did not allow for commercials.

References

1. ^ Hughes, The Case of the Real Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner, New York, Morrow, 1978 p.227
2. ^ Erle Stanley Gardner: A Checklist by E.H. Mundell, Kent State University Press.
3. ^ Roseman, Mill et al. Detectionary. New York: Overlook Press, 1971. ISBN 0-87951-041-2
4. ^ Hughes, Case of the Real Perry Mason: Erle Stanley Gardner, Morrow, New York, 1978, p 209.