Cats Prowl at Night

Fair, A. A. Cats Prowl at Night. New York: Doubleday. 2017. Print.

First Sentences: 

Bertha Cool heaved her hundred and sixty-five pounds up out of the swivel chair and, walking around her desk, jerked open the door of her private office 

The sound of Elsie Brand's typewriter came clattering through the door.

Description:

You may not know who the author A.A. Fair was. I certainly didn't until a few weeks ago. But after reading an enticing review for Fair's Cats Prowl at Night, I learned "A.A. Fair" is really a pen name for Erle Stanley Gardner, the author of over eighty Perry Mason detective novels and boatloads of stories for pulp detective magazines in the 1930s. After writing the first thirteen Perry Mason novels, Gardner created Fair to continue publishing, eventually creating twenty-nine novels featuring the quirky people who make up B. Cool Confidential Investigations, operating in the 1940s.

Mrs. Bertha Cool is the head of this detective agency along with partner Donald Lam. Bertha is a 60-ish woman who is very overweight, a smoker, and a brassy talker, but completely comfortable with who she is. She is dogged in her pursuit of any opportunity that will bring in money to her agency and very abrupt with anyone who lacks the willingness to compensate her for her time.

Donald Lam, Bertha's partner in Cats Prowl, is currently away from their office serving in the military during World War II. Donald is the poorly-paid detective who does all the legwork and crime-solving, using his brain and wits rather than his slight body (a body which is regularly disarmed or beaten up by bad guys). With him away, Bertha must try to solve cases without the brilliant mind of Lam to assist her. She is a bit out of practice and definitely less subtle that Lam, but definitely proves in her own manner to be up to the task. 

The plot here is full of shifty men and sultry women, all of whom seem to have several personalities and hidden goals. The case itself, like the book's title, is rather unimportant. Suffice to say, the action and dialogue are intriguing, funny, witty, and rough, all working together to present a wonderful snapshot of life and crime in the Depression/World War II era in the United States. There is tone to the writing that combines the grittiness of Dashell Hammett and Raymond Chandler with the off-beat scenarios and clever dialogue of Donald Westlake. 

There are many, many more Cool and Lam books to explore (twenty-nine). I'm on my fourth and eager for more adventures about these two. The books are hard to find, but libraries might have isolated copies and of course used ones are available on Amazon. Definitely worth the trouble to locate and devour.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Fair, A.A. The Bigger They Come

The first book in the Cool and Lam detective agency series. Bertha Cool takes over the agency from her dead husband and hires Donald Lam, even though he has no investigating experience. His simple first case is to serve someone with a subpoena, but eventually circumstances and choices lead him to demonstrate how to commit murder and legally get away with it.