COOL
AND LAM
Erle Stanley Gardner was
a prolific dynamo. In addition to writing 85 best-selling Perry Mason books
over five decades, he also wrote hundreds of great pulp magazine stories and –
under the pen name A.A. Fair - a series of hardboiled crime stories about the
Cool & Lam Detective Agency. Big Bertha Cool figures most men will never call
a woman for a private eye job, so she lists her business as B. Cool Detective
Agency. When disbarred lawyer / wunderkind Donald Lam comes to work for her,
nothing is ever the same again. It has been suggested that Gardner wrote the
Cool & Lam books as a break from the more laid back respectable world of his
slick serialized Perry Mason stories. Cool & Lam mysteries are down and
dirty, great fun to read, filled with lots of humor. They have their loyal
fans, and I am one of them.
Not sure why, but I find
most of the early paperback in this series range from unattractive to downright
ugly. But there are many reprints, many different editions of most titles. Some
of the best are 1960s Dell reprints with cover art by Robert McGinnis. There
are some beautiful UK editions. So this is not the usual complete checklist.
This is rather a celebration of my favorite Cool & Lam covers.
Books with prices are
for sale. Paypal preferred to the email address on my home page. Feel free to
make an offer! Thank you.
1.
THE BIGGER THEY COME (LAM TO THE SLAUGHTER).
The
1984 Morrow Quill cover shows Donald Lam disguised as a bellboy to deliver a
subpoena.
In
the United Kingdom, the book was retitled LAM TO THE SLAUGHTER. This is the vintage
UK Pocket B14 from 1950 and the 1966 Corgi.
Pocket
228 – 3rd printing, 1952, not shown. |
|
|
|
|
2.
TURN ON THE HEAT – Dell D253, 1958. Cover by Abbett.
UK
Pocket Book B52, 1951. Cover by Sim.
Dell
9142, 1962. Cover art by Victor Kalin.
Dell
9142, 1970. Photo cover.
Dell
9142, 1972. Photo cover.
Hard
Case Crime HCC-131, 2017. Cover art by Laurel Blechman from reference by
Robert Maguire. |
|
|
3.
GOLD COMES IN BRICKS – Dell 2952, 1961. Reprints Dell 836 with new cover art
by Robert McGinnis.
Dell
2952, 1971. Photo cover. |
|
4.
SPILL THE JACKPOT – Dell 619,
1952.
Cover by Carl Bobertz.
Dell
R117, 1962. Cover by Harry Bennett.
Dell
8188, reprint uses same cover. (Later 8188 reprint has new Abbett cover.)
Panther
UK, 1959. |
|
|
|
|
5.
DOUBLE OR QUITS – Dell D361, 1960. Cover by Robert McGinnis. |
6.
OWLS DON’T BLINK – Dell 6792, 1961. Cover art by Mort Engle.
Dell
6792, 1967. That great mirror-image cover art is a photo by Krauss.
Corgi
T52, 1954 UK. |
|
|
|
|
7.
BATS FLY AT DUSK – Dell D348, 1960. Cover art by Robert McGinnis.
After
some uninteresting covers throughout the 1940s and 50s, Dell hit its stride
in the early 60s thanks to the genius of Robert McGinnis, and covers like
this one.
|
|
Dell
0476, 1963. New cover by Ron Lesser.
Dell
0476, 1966. New Abbett cover. Not shown. |
8.
CATS PROWL AT NIGHT – Dell D431, 1961. Cover by Robert McGinnis. |
|
9.
GIVE ‘EM THE AX – Dell 2918, 1962. Cover by Harry Bennett. |
|
|
|
|
In
the UK, GIVE ‘EM THE AX was retitled AN AXE TO GRIND. This is the 1960
Horwitz edition from Australia, the 1958 Four Square paperback, and the 1963
Corgi. |
10.
CROWS CAN’T COUNT – Dell 1625, 1966. Cover art by Robert McGinnis. Reprints
Dell D373 for new higher cover price.
Dell
D373, 1960. |
|
Corgi
Book, 1958 UK. |
|
11.
FOOLS DIE ON FRIDAY - Dell R105, 1961. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
Dell
542, 1951. Cover by Robert Stanley.
Dell
1542, 1953. When FOOLS DIE ON FRIDAYS was reprinted after a 1952
Congressional committee reviewed those sleazy naughty paperback covers,
Robert Stanley’s cover art was deemed much too risqué for American audiences.
And so the art was “cleaned up”. The model was Mrs. Rhoda Stanley. |
|
|
|
|
12.
BEDROOMS HAVE WINDOWS
-Dell
0511, 1963. Cover by Darryl Greene.
Panther
UK, 1958. Cover by Josh Kirby.
Dell
0511, 1966. Cover by Robert Abbett. |
|
|
13.
TOP OF THE HEAP
Dell
D309, 1959. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
Dell
8960, 1963. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
Corgi
UK, 1960. These cover-photo Corgis are fine, except they are all so similar.
Same model, same outfit. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
|
|
|
|
|
Corgi
UK, 1958. Cover art by Oliver Brabbins.
|
|
Hard
Case Crime HCC-003, 2004. Cover by Bill Nelson.
14.
SOME WOMEN WON’T WAIT –
Corgi
UK, 1959.
Dell
D372, 1960. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
Dell
8104, 1966. Cover by Abbett.
Dell
8104, 1972. Photo. Crease.
|
|
15.
BEWARE THE CURVES – Pocket 6024, 1960. Cover art by Harry Bennett.
Corgi
UK, 1958.
Pocket
50401, 1966.
Pocket
75598, 1971. Cover photo by Morgan Kane.
Ballantine
33081, 1986. Not shown. Photo cover. |
|
|
|
|
16.
YOU CAN DIE LAUGHING – Pocket 6062, 1961. Cover by Harry Bennett.
Pocket
75597, 1970. Photo cover.
|
|
|
Pocket
78931, 1973. 5th printing has new anachronistic cover art by Mara McAfee. The
McAfee editions are not only re-numbered (this is #2 in the new set) but they
also have 1920s clothing, props and design. But Cool and Lam met in 1939, and
this book takes place in 1957. |
17.
SOME SLIPS DON’T SHOW
The
first US paperback, Pocket 6095, 1961, is an unattractive affair that
unsuccessfully tries to combine a photo with a painted background. Not shown.
The
British hardcover was just fine, but the 1960 British Corgi should have been
memorable and is not. They chose to go with a photo of a woman with no slip
on at all, ignoring the double entendre title.
Pocket
45003, photo cover. 1964.
Pocket
75596, photo cover. 1970.
Corgi
SC845, UK 1960. Creases. |
|
|
|
|
18.
THE COUNT OF 9 - Pocket 6124, 1962.
Pocket
55946, 1969. Cover art by Mitchell Hooks
Pocket
75595, 1971. Cover photo by Morgan Kane. Not shown.
Hard
Case Crime HCC-136, 2018. Cover by Robert McGinnis. 59 years after TOP OF THE
HEAP (Dell D309, shown above), the great cover artist Robert McGinnis is
still painting. |
|
|
19.
PASS THE GRAVY
Pocket
4601, 1962. Cover by Harry Bennett.
Pocket
75594, 1971. Cover photo by Morgan Kane.
Corgi
SC984, UK 1961. |
|
|
|
|
20.
KEPT WOMEN CAN’T QUIT – Pocket 4602, 1963. Cover by Hector Garrido.
Corgi
SC1176, UK 1st 1962. Spine rubbed, sun fade.
Corgi
GC7157, UK 2nd.
|
|
|
|
Pocket
75593, 1971. Cover photo by Morgan Kane. |
21.
BACHELORS GET LONELY – Pocket 4604, 1963. Photo cover, with back cover shown
below.
Star
Weekly Novel, Canada, 1961. |
|
|
|
|
22.
SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS – Pocket 4605, 1963
Pocket
75591, 1970. Photo cover.
UK
edition retitled STOP AT THE RED LIGHT. Corgi SC1522, 1964. Cover photo by
Dunston Pereira.
|
|
|
|
Hard
Case Crime, June 2020.
Looks
like Hard Case Crime will continue re-issuing these brilliant books. This
will be the fifth Cool & Lam in their series. We can only hope they will
eventually reprint all of them. |
|
23.
TRY ANYTHING ONCE – Pocket 4607, 1964. Photo cover, not shown.
Pocket
75590, 1970. Photo cover.
|
24.
FISH OR CUT BAIT – Pocket 50410, 1964.
Pocket
75589, 1970. Photo cover.
Corgi
GC7325, UK 1968. |
|
|
|
|
25.
UP FOR GRABS – Pocket 50511, 1964.
Pocket
75588, 1970. Photo cover.
26.
CUT THIN TO WIN – Pocket 50412, 1966.
Pocket
75587, 1970. Photo cover.
|
|
|
|
|
|
27.
WIDOWS WEAR WEEDS – Dell 9540, 1967.
Dell
9540, 1970. Photo cover. Like the 1967 edition, Dell uses a nude cover model
to sell the book.
Pocket
78926, 1975. Cover by Mara McAfee. I think Pocket Books is playing unfair
with this “New! #1” blurb on a 1920s-style cover. The story is set in 1966,
it’s not a new book, and this is #27 in the series, not #1.
|
28.
TRAPS NEED FRESH BAIT – Pocket 50413, 1968. Cover by Mitchell Hooks.
|
Corgi
08260, UK 1969. |
|
|
|
29.
ALL GRASS ISN’T GREEN
Pocket
75585, 1971. Cover photo by Morgan Kane. First paperback edition.
Corgi
UK, 1973. Not shown. |
|
30.
THE KNIFE SLIPPED – Hard Case Crime HCC-127, 2016. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
From
their start, Hard Case Crime has always championed and reprinted Cool &
Lam. They delighted us in 2016 with the first printing of THE KNIFE SLIPPED,
written in 1939 to be the second book in the series but rejected as too rough
by the publisher. Three cheers for Hard Case Crime! |
British
hardcover jackets
Spanish
edition of TURN ON THE HEAT
Back to top
|
|