Tag / A.A. Fair

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Prolific Authors – 14 Books

4Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the author I’ve read 14 times, down one from two years ago.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, six entries of the series have been released.

Fools Die On Friday – Erle Stanley Gardner

Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, six of those books have also been republished, all of which I read between 2020 and 2022.  In addition to those, I’ve stumbled across a few other editions over the years, including the most recent book of his I’ve read, The Case of the Howling Dog.

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Book 9 (of 52) – Fools Die On Friday

Fools Die On Friday – Erle Stanley Gardner

When the firm is hired to stop a woman from poisoning her husband, Lam inadvertently sets in motion the exact thing he was trying to stop.  With multiple corpses and leads that don’t line up, he has to try and put everything together before the police, and Bertha, place the blame on him.

Fools Die On Friday, originally published in 1947, was the eleventh installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the sixth republished by Hard Case Crime.  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.  It’s been nearly three years now between installments, and I don’t know if that was due to the pandemic and associated problems or if the imprint is moving on to other endeavors.  But, if they re-publish more, I’ll be waiting.

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Prolific Authors – 9 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read 9 times.

Michael Jan Friedman

Known primarily for licensed works, Friedman first entered my world in 1990, thanks to a trio of Star Trek: The Next Generation novels.  There were another two in 1992 and then he reappeared in 1996 with another trio of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman tie-ins.  That was it until he reappeared on my radar earlier this year, with yet another Next Gen entry.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years, but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, five entries of the series have been released.  Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, a number of those books have been republished as well, four of which I’ve read over the past 2 years.

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Book 20 (of 52) – Shills Can’t Cash Chips

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.

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Book 21 (of 52) – The Count Of 9

The Count Of 9 – Erle Stanley Gardner

Originally published in 1958, The Count of 9 was the 18th installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the 4th republished by Hard Case Crime.  When Cool and Lam are hired to protect the treasures of a globe-trotting adventurer, they are forced to confront an impossible crime.  But that’s nothing compared to the crime they face next: the impossible murder of their client.

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.  It seems that reprinting episodes from this series is going to be a yearly event, so I look forward to the next installment sometime next year.

 

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Book 25 (of 52) – Turn On The Heat

Turn On The Heat – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

After the publishers of Erle Stanley Gardner’s Cool & Lam series rejected his second installment back in 1939, he came back with the manuscript for Turn On The Heat, originally published in January of 1940. Republished earlier this year by the fine folks at Hard Case Crime, the pulp novel tells the tale of a mystery surrounding a doctor, his missing socialite former wife, and a murder that may tie them back together again.  Cool and Lam try to untangle the mess and figure out what’s truly going on before they, and their client, take the fall.

That makes 3 of the 30 Cool and Lam offerings that Gardner wrote, under the name A.A. Fair, that have been republished by Hard Case Crime.  I don’t know if they have plans for more, but I’d be a willing participant if they do.

 

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Book 10 (of 52) – The Knife Slipped

The Knife Slipped – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

Intended to be the second installment of the Cool and Lam series in 1939, The Knife Slipped, by Erle Stanley Gardner writing under the pseudonym of A.A. Fair, was rejected by the publisher for being too crude.  Rather than rework the idea, Gardner moved on to others and the manuscript sat for more than 75 years until last year, where it finally saw print thanks to the folks at Hard Case Crime.

In this tale, the firm takes on a case of a woman who believes her daughter’s husband is cheating on her, which leads Lam on to police corruption, politics, and, of course, murder.  Blamed for the death of his target, Lam goes on the, well, lam to find out who was really behind the murder and how the corruption played in while Cool tries to work herself in to the corruption, getting herself a piece of the action.

My first experience with Gardner’s work, aside from watching Perry Mason on television, was a later book in this series which I read 2 years ago.  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.  Another installment is planned to be published later this year, and I look forward to getting my hands on it.

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Book 7 (of 52) – Top Of The Heap

Top Of The Heap - Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fine

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.