The Bigger They Come

Rating:
Summary: A Very Unlikely Duo
Review: Erle Stanley Gardner, writing under the pseudonym A.A. Fair, produced a rather unusual, but highly entertaining private investigator series known as The Unlikely Duo series. THE BIGGER THEY COME is the first book in the series featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam.

Meet Donald Lam, he's a private detective or at least, he is by the end of the book. A more unlikely looking P.I. you'll never meet, as he is constantly reminded. At 5 and a half feet tall and 127 pounds, he's simply not intimidating at all. But what he lacks in brawn he more than makes up for in brains, a fact that is not lost on his new employer, Bertha Cool of the B.L. Cool Agency, was sharp enough to spot.

Now, Bertha Cool is also not the most likely head figure of a detective agency, although physically impressive she most certainly is. She's sixty-something with grey hair, sparkling eyes and a grandmotherly expression. She weighs in at over 300 pounds and is described as having the majesty of a snow capped mountain and the assurance of a steamroller.

When Lam gets the job he is put to work immediately because if there's one thing Bertha Cool believes in it's getting her money's worth. His first job is to serve divorce papers on Morgan Birks, husband of Sandra Birks who claims he has been abusing her. It seems a straightforward enough job, and it is. But it's only after the papers have been served that the real fireworks begin. It's in the moments of confusion that quickly follow a seemingly successful job that Lam's genius is uncovered as he works his way through deduction after deduction and then comes up with a brilliant solution that is as impressive in it's cunning as it is in it's simplicity.

As the first book of a series of 29, it provides a terrific start combining an interesting duo with a clever mystery. With the promise of many more such stories to follow, it's bound to leave you begging for more.