Gold Comes in Bricks [Paperback]

Erle Stanley Gardner (Author), A. A. Fair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1971

Midas gone mad! Donald Lam was told by Bertha Cool to wear kid gloves in this high-piced case of theft, blackmail and adultery. but when everything Lam touched turned to blood, Lam began to see red...

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dell Mystery; 1st New Dell Edition edition (1971)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000EUGJUQ
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lam Gets Physical, January 23, 2004

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold Comes in Bricks (Paperback)

Donald Lam, the diminutive detective who works for Bertha Cool of B. Cool Investigations, is hired by Henry Ashbury to check up on his daughters finances. She has been making some strange withdrawals of late and is concerned, particularly if word got out. The last thing Ashbury wants is a financial scandal. Ashbury also doesnt want his daughter to know that Lam is a detective, so he uses the front that Lam is a jujitsu expert who will be working as his trainer, a cover that is doomed from the start.

It doesnt take Lam long to find where the moneys going, but in carrying out his investigation he uncovers blackmail, fraud, business scams and even a murder. There is no shortage of intrigue but Lam always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else, thanks in no small part to his previous experience as a lawyer.

Thanks to Lams quick-witted observations and his sharp eye for detail the story zips along at breakneck speed. A feature of this story also comes from the barbs traded by Lam and Bertha as Lam is beginning to exert himself as an influential member of their partnership. Its fun watching just how Lam is going to turn every situation to his own advantage.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Detective Fiction, September 25, 2000

By 

ewkpates "ewkpates" (Mountaineers are always free) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold Comes in Bricks (Hardcover)

Good stuff for a rainy sunday afternoon in the style of Chandler and Hammett. Good characters, well drawn, with nice brisk plot development. Avid dective ficiton readers won't be disappointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Cool and Lam story., May 10, 2010

By 

LIVE OAK (palm coast, florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold Comes in Bricks (Paperback)

'Gold Comes In Bricks' is the third of 29 novels in this superb series by Erle Stanley Gardner.
Lam is assigned to go undercover as a physical trainer to a millionare and try to find out why the millionare's daughter is writing very large checks payable in cash.
As always, in this series, things become much more complicated, dangerous, and fast moving.
Donald Lam's legal knowledge and superior smarts give him a very good nose for deceit and Lam is always willing to fight fire with fire. In this case, one of many of his deceptions is to set up a phony business and then use an old miner to help out fox a tricky and crooked laywer in a land and stock scheme.
Lam is very ballsy and always treads a risky path with both criminal thugs and the police.
Lam gets poor results from his rudimentory jujitsu training when confronting a double dealing extortionist and gets rough treatment from the law which brings him to within an eyelash of going to jail on a murder charge.
Lam is usually able to charm the young females in his cases and this one no exception.
One of the best qualities of the Cool and Lam novels is the profitable but strained relationship of the two main characters.
Bertha Cool is experienced, tough, and smart but not brilliant or fit and young like Lam. She's smart enough to admire Lam's brilliance but not usually enough to follow his train of thought; this results in much exasperation between the two.
Bertha Cool is very good dealing with people and gets Donald Lam out many tight situations with the law.
'Gold Comes In Bricks' wraps up very well with Lam able to direct the heat away from himself to the actual criminals and thanking himself for wearing gloves when in the hotel room.

The Cool and Lam stories are mean and lean, and very smart.