Crows Can't Count

Crows Can't Count by Erle Stanley Gardner (as A. A. Fair), a Cool and Lam mystery, complete and unabridged.

"Lam couldn't be better and Bertha Cool gracefully supplies backstage obbligato of screams and objurgations. Plot excellent; track fast. Verdict: A-1"—The Saturday Review

Murder comes in many sizes. If you are a detective your job is to wrap it up, in a neat bundle. Sometimes you do. But, sometimes, you run out of string.
This was one of those times. Donald Lam knew there was one person with the key to a murder, a man named Murindo. Then Lam heard this: "Murindo is dead. In little pieces, he is dead."
In other words—murder by dynamite! This was a new bundle—but, after the explosion, there was nothing left to wrap up...

"More hornet-nesting, as Donald Lam investigates a spendthrift trust, and gets involved with murder, emeralds, a talking crow, Colombian mines and antiques, and three elusive women. Bertha's shrieks to high heaven and Donald's corner-cutting combine to a successful finish for their firm. Nimble."—Kirkus


2012 Jul. 16: several minor errors corrected