Owls Don’t Blink
– A.A. Fair
A. A. Fair is the pen name of Erle Stanley Gardner,
creator of ace defense lawyer Perry Mason. The mysteries under the pen name
feature the private eye partnership Bertha Cool and Donald Lam.
Like all famous whodunit partnerships ranging from Holmes
& Watson to Gravedigger Jones & Coffin Ed and Nick & Nora,
Cool & Lam appeal to readers because, though they are both smart about
figuring out scams, they are opposites in personality. Impulsive Bertha Cool
has a hair-trigger temper and has only a porous filter between her brain and
her mouth. Ex-lawyer Donald Lam has a good grip on legal deviations and police
procedures. He is a master at interrogation, making inferences, and keeping his
mouth shut. He frustrates Bertha mightily by being impossible to pump for
information. Bertha is recovering from a health scare so she doesn’t push
herself away from a hearty meal. Lam has a slight build, but is skilled in
boxing and jujitsu. Because they know they make a good team, they like each
other enough to banter at once affectionately but frankly.
Owls Don’t Blink
is set mainly in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lam is on the trail of a
missing woman. Bertha arrives in the Big Easy with the New York lawyer who has
hired them to find an ex-model for reasons he is reluctant to explain. As Lam
often does, he locates the woman very easily –too easily, in fact. Then, a
corpse is discovered in the missing woman’s former apartment.
The scene shifts from New Orleans to Shreveport and from
there to Los Angeles, though there is also a desert scene where Gardner can
describe the landscape he loved so deeply. Plenty of action and convoluted
incidents capture our attention before the conclusion, which is complicated.
The scams and schemes in this novel are ingenious, but the best point is the
interplay between Lam and Bertha, between Lam and the persons of interest in the
case.
The time for this mystery is early 1942 (at the latest) so with the decisive Battle of Midway yet to be fought, the outcome of the war with Japan is a huge question mark. Lam’s decision to enlist takes a fuming Bertha and Elsie Brand by surprise. Having feelings for Lam, Elsie hurts because their good-byes were hurried but proud that he’s going to serve.
The time for this mystery is early 1942 (at the latest) so with the decisive Battle of Midway yet to be fought, the outcome of the war with Japan is a huge question mark. Lam’s decision to enlist takes a fuming Bertha and Elsie Brand by surprise. Having feelings for Lam, Elsie hurts because their good-byes were hurried but proud that he’s going to serve.
Other Cool & Lam Mysteries
Turn on the
Heat (1940)
Spill the
Jackpot (March 1941)
Double or
Quits (December 1941)
Top of the
Heap (1952)
Traps
Need Fresh Bait (1967)
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