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About the author: A.A. Fair was a pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner.
Series: Donald Lam & Bertha Cool #2
Major characters:
- "Mr. Smith", the client
- Dr. James C. Lintig, a.k.a. Charles Loring Alftmont, a specialist
- Amelia Lintig, his estranged wife
- Vivian Carter, his nurse, corespondent in his divorce action
- Marian Dunton, office staff of The Blade
- Evaline Dell Harris
- Flo Danzer, night club hostess
- Donald Lam, P.I., our narrator
- Bertha Cool, P.I.
Locale: California
Synopsis: A mysterious client, "Mr. Smith", hires Bertha Cool and Donald Lam to do just one thing: locate Amelia Lintig, supposedly divorced from Dr. James C. Lintig. She dropped out of sight over twenty years ago and hasn't been seen since. Lam travels to Oakview to try to pick up her trail, with the assistance of Marian Dunton, office manager for the local newspaper, The Blade. He soon finds out that two others are looking for Amelia as well: Miller Cross and Evaline Dell Harris.
Lam consults records to find Dr. Lintig had changed his name to Charles Loring Alftmont, and continued his practice. Lam tracks down Dr. Alftmont and finds he is the client, "Mr. Smith". Marian Dunton, looking for a news story, goes to Evaline's hotel room to find her strangled, and a man just leaving looks much like Dr. Alftmont - who is Bertha's client.
Review: This is only the second book about Lam and Cool, and the dust is still settling as the characters shape up. Gardner seemed in a hurry to cram all the action in he could, action that would never fly in a Perry Mason - such as when Donald Lam steps aside to let Bertha Cool rough up another woman. The book is handicapped in a way as many characters go by more than one name and pose as other characters. As it nears the end, the name switcheroos and identity switcheroos are just too confusing to follow. I was not even able to determine if Amelia was alive, or ever found; as another character had been posing as her throughout the story.
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