Give 'Em the Ax: A Bertha Cool and Donald Lam Mystery

Give 'em the Ax, first published in 1944, is book no. 10 in the popular Cool and Lam mystery series by Erle Stanley Gardner (writing as A. A. Fair). From the jacket: The Rimley Rendezvous was the kind of back-street bistro where a tired businessman could drop in for a pick-up, no questions asked. Deep carpets and subdued lights gave the place an air of clandestine class. And solicitous waiters catered to the customer's every whim. All these comforts added up to a steep cover charge, especially since blackmail figured as the major part of the tab. It was a very lucrative business … until a murderer cut into the profits … and left his ax in Donald Lam's car. The team of Cool and Lam are at their fast-talking, fast-moving best in this tough tale of suicide, blackmail and murder.