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Cool and Lam #26
Cut Thin to Win
{ 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
169 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 9, 2019
The twenty-seventh entry in A. A. Fair's (Erle Stanley Gardner's) Donald Lam-Bertha Cool series is one of the better books in the series. It opens with something of a twist in that a potential client comes into the office with a case that Donald wants to take and Bertha doesn't. Usually, the reverse is true.
The client, Clayton Dawson, is the assistant to the manager of a re-debenture discount security company (whatever in the world that is). Dawson has a daughter with a wild side. He presents the detectives with a scrap of cloth. Someone, he says, might claim that the scrap of cloth was found stuck in the undercarriage of a car which people might falsely claim his daughter was driving while under the influence. The car, which he insists his daughter was not driving might have been involved in a hit-and-run accident with the woman who was wearing the dress.
Dawson would like to see his daughter clear of the mess and, without saying so directly, he wants Donald to find the victim of the hit and run and make a settlement that would prevent his daughter from facing any criminal charges. Bertha is nervous as hell because this would be skating right up against the edge of the law and could cost the firm its license. Donald, though, very skillfully walks Dawson through the interview, ascertaining what the client wants without coming right out and saying it. Over Bertha's objections, he takes the case.
As is always the case with the books in this series, nothing is as it originally seems, and in taking the case, Donald opens up a huge can of worms. The plot is especially clever and interesting and is one of the few in the series that the reader can actually follow. The fun in reading these books is watching Donald in action, particularly in regard to his relationship with his partner. Like some of Gardner's Perry Mason novels, the plots are generally so convoluted that they make no sense at all, even when Donald lays it all out in the end. That is not the case here, and this book demonstrates that near the end of what was a very long run, Gardner was still capable of returning to his top form.
The client, Clayton Dawson, is the assistant to the manager of a re-debenture discount security company (whatever in the world that is). Dawson has a daughter with a wild side. He presents the detectives with a scrap of cloth. Someone, he says, might claim that the scrap of cloth was found stuck in the undercarriage of a car which people might falsely claim his daughter was driving while under the influence. The car, which he insists his daughter was not driving might have been involved in a hit-and-run accident with the woman who was wearing the dress.
Dawson would like to see his daughter clear of the mess and, without saying so directly, he wants Donald to find the victim of the hit and run and make a settlement that would prevent his daughter from facing any criminal charges. Bertha is nervous as hell because this would be skating right up against the edge of the law and could cost the firm its license. Donald, though, very skillfully walks Dawson through the interview, ascertaining what the client wants without coming right out and saying it. Over Bertha's objections, he takes the case.
As is always the case with the books in this series, nothing is as it originally seems, and in taking the case, Donald opens up a huge can of worms. The plot is especially clever and interesting and is one of the few in the series that the reader can actually follow. The fun in reading these books is watching Donald in action, particularly in regard to his relationship with his partner. Like some of Gardner's Perry Mason novels, the plots are generally so convoluted that they make no sense at all, even when Donald lays it all out in the end. That is not the case here, and this book demonstrates that near the end of what was a very long run, Gardner was still capable of returning to his top form.
February 26, 2018
A man, Clayton Dawson, comes to Donald Lam and Bertha Cool to do some investigating work for him. He claims his daughter, who is wild and unmanageable, was involved in a hit and run. She was inebriated and hit an older woman with her car but drove off.
Dawson wants to protect his daughter and his own reputation by seeing if they can keep the episode out of the newspapers and to offer the victim (who survived with minor injuries) a settlement that would keep her from going to court and causing undesired publicity.
Donald Lam promises to find the victim and scope her out.
As is usual in the Lam/Cool mysteries nothing is at it seems. Without giving away the plot, it turns out that Dawson, is not really Dawson, the girl involved is not really his daughter and furthermore, the "victim" isn't actually who she says she is either.
What is going on and why? Lam finds he must uncover a whole lot more than a simple hit and run and his investigation takes him across some states and into unexpected directions. Just who is really the good guy and who is the bad guy? Are there any good guys?
That's what you will find out if you read the book.
Dawson wants to protect his daughter and his own reputation by seeing if they can keep the episode out of the newspapers and to offer the victim (who survived with minor injuries) a settlement that would keep her from going to court and causing undesired publicity.
Donald Lam promises to find the victim and scope her out.
As is usual in the Lam/Cool mysteries nothing is at it seems. Without giving away the plot, it turns out that Dawson, is not really Dawson, the girl involved is not really his daughter and furthermore, the "victim" isn't actually who she says she is either.
What is going on and why? Lam finds he must uncover a whole lot more than a simple hit and run and his investigation takes him across some states and into unexpected directions. Just who is really the good guy and who is the bad guy? Are there any good guys?
That's what you will find out if you read the book.
May 19, 2017
Well, fry me for an oyster! No sooner had I dunned the previous book for being formulaic & beginning with Bertha taking a case that Donald does not want than AAF/ESG turns the tables in this one and has Donald taking a case that Bertha eschews! Even Sgt. Sellers seems a bit more controlled in this one. Only a few left to go ...
June 8, 2017
Cut Thin to win is one of the later entries in the Cool and Lam series. A lot of the earlier books in the series played up the fact that heavyset cheap Bertha Cool and brainy bantamweight Donald Lam were a mismatched set. That isn't so true of this one.
The plot is a bit convoluted here, but the fun is Lam's adventures and sleuthing not the plot itself. It's a great example of why the fictional private eye should never trust a word his client says and should definitely run for the hills before he's made into a sucker. Magazine sales, payoffs, hit and runs, casinos, murder, infidelity, and fortunetellers populate this book.
The plot is a bit convoluted here, but the fun is Lam's adventures and sleuthing not the plot itself. It's a great example of why the fictional private eye should never trust a word his client says and should definitely run for the hills before he's made into a sucker. Magazine sales, payoffs, hit and runs, casinos, murder, infidelity, and fortunetellers populate this book.
January 16, 2014
I've been reading the Cool and Lam mysteries for a while now and, although all enjoyable beyond a doubt, this one really did it for me. I was sucked into the plot and the trials and tribulations of Donald Lam to a degree I had not experienced before. While these books love to have you second-guessing yourself until Lam pulls the "here's what happened" trick out of his hat, this on in particular had so many twists and turns I often found myself wondering what he was actually trying to accomplish. An excellent read in all!
June 24, 2024
My Analysis
I truly enjoy every one of the Lam and Cool mysteries. They’re fast-paced, not a lot of setting description. The plot and the characters make these books.
This one is no exception. Gardner does a wonder job of presenting the case, getting Lam into loads of trouble, and not revealing the truth until the end.
The Lam and Cool books all have a lot of sarcasm, basic and repetitive language (i.e. let’s put all the cards on the table), some good humor, and great characters that don’t change.
Lam, the short but tenacious PI. He goes all out for his clients and brings the guilty party or parties to bear.
Bertha, the overweight yeller who just wants the paycheck. She cares for Donald but is quick to leave him to sort out his own mess.
Sellers, the bulldog police detective with the unlit cigar who always thinks he can put Lam behind bars.
Elsie, the doe-eyed secretary who loves Lam.
They’re fun little mysteries with stereotypical characters who bluster and seduce and manipulate. No violence, no profanity, no blood and guts, no shoot ’em up. Just quick books that let the reader just relax and enjoy a good story.
These may be difficult to find, despite the Amazon link. If you can grab one, treasure it.
My rank:
Blue Belt
I truly enjoy every one of the Lam and Cool mysteries. They’re fast-paced, not a lot of setting description. The plot and the characters make these books.
This one is no exception. Gardner does a wonder job of presenting the case, getting Lam into loads of trouble, and not revealing the truth until the end.
The Lam and Cool books all have a lot of sarcasm, basic and repetitive language (i.e. let’s put all the cards on the table), some good humor, and great characters that don’t change.
Lam, the short but tenacious PI. He goes all out for his clients and brings the guilty party or parties to bear.
Bertha, the overweight yeller who just wants the paycheck. She cares for Donald but is quick to leave him to sort out his own mess.
Sellers, the bulldog police detective with the unlit cigar who always thinks he can put Lam behind bars.
Elsie, the doe-eyed secretary who loves Lam.
They’re fun little mysteries with stereotypical characters who bluster and seduce and manipulate. No violence, no profanity, no blood and guts, no shoot ’em up. Just quick books that let the reader just relax and enjoy a good story.
These may be difficult to find, despite the Amazon link. If you can grab one, treasure it.
My rank:
Blue Belt
June 12, 2019
Not the best of the Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series, but entertaining enough to finish in a day. Interesting to be transported back in time to a Los Angeles Police Department that takes a hit-and-run traffic accident so seriously it puts two dozen cops to work on it.
October 31, 2017
Read this on a whim, it is one of the Donald Lam-Bertha Cool series. Very funny at times and "pulp-y", with tough guy cops, crooked lawyers, lots of divorcees and (excuse me, ladies) "dames" running all over the place, from LA to Vegas to Denver. And a plot with more twists and turns than the Dragons Tail, which kept me engaged and amused to the very end. No graphic violence or sexual content but does, however, contain light profanity and some innuendo.
June 17, 2018
Pleasantly surprising. In some ways, I prefer Donald Lam to Perry Mason.
July 29, 2019
A lot of back-and-forthing and not much of a mystery. Bertha Cool hardly featured. And it did not help that I read this in pieces, at long intervals between.
September 26, 2020
Once again, Bertha dissolves the partnership and Donald has problems from Sgt. Sellers.
January 6, 2024
An average read. Wouldn't hurt to miss it altogether.
October 8, 2024
Wow! This detective novel was so good and really funny at times.
May 14, 2015
One of the later books in this series dating from 1965. Bit puzzled that Sellers is a sergeant though he was a captain in earlier books but maybe the LAPD restructured or maybe he did something wrong in a book I missed. Anyway a good read if not one of the better books in this series. Donald Lam is as charming as ever,
June 10, 2011
Cut Thin to Win is indicative of the period, the 1960s in Gardner's writing. The plots are a bit thinner than before, and many of the devices have been used before. Overall, a good book in the series though, just not as good.
February 3, 2015
The first Lam and Cool detective novel I've read and the intrigue and woven nature of the characters kept me interested enough to fly through this. Looking forward to reading more in the series!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews