Top Of The Heap – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

Six years after introducing readers to defense attorney Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner, under the alias of A.A. Fair, began the Cool and Lam series, about a private detective firm in Los Angeles.  The 13th installment in the series, Top of the Heap, was reprinted as part of the Hard Case Crime series of books.  Having enjoyed my previous experience with the line, and seeing a name I recognized, I decided to take a leap of faith and see what Mr. Gardner had to offer to a 21st century readership.

This installment of the series focuses on Donald Lam, the junior detective at the agency, and moves him out of LA for the most part, which, from what I can tell online, was a departure for the series.  The firm takes on a case to provide a banker’s son with an alibi, and Lam, after following the leads that seemingly have been left for him to find, decides to investigate further, leaving him on the outs with both his partner and the SFPD.  What he finds, however, is a murder mystery, stock fraud, and gangster business all tied together in strange ways.

I found the tale to be pretty enjoyable, especially taking into account that it was written in 1952.  The harboiled detective speak takes a little getting used to, but it wasn’t long until I was taken away to a far away time, one which resembles the Los Angeles that James Ellroy employs so frequently.  This is the only entry of the series that was reprinted, so odds are that I won’t be revisiting the Cool and Lam crew, but if I happen to come across another of Gardner’s novels, I would certianly give it a look.