Shills Can’t Cash Chips – Erle Stanley Gardner

Originally published in 1963, Shills Can’t Cash Chips was the 22nd installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the 5th republished by Hard Case Crime.  When Cool and Lam are hired for a seemingly legitimate job to help investigate an insurance claim, things take a turn and Lam finds himself wanted for murder.  In order to clear his name, Lam must figure out the secret of the car accident at the center of the insurance claim and how all of the different players tie together.

These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  Reprinting episodes from this series still appears to be a yearly event, so I look forward to the next installment sometime next year.