The Knife Slipped

 The Knife Slipped by Erle Stanley Gardner (writing as A.A. Fair)

The Knife Slipped was written in 1939 and was to be the 2nd in what would become the Cool and Lam series of private eye novels. It was rejected by the publisher and lost for 75 years until found and published in 2016 by Hard Case Crime. The novel is classic pulp, set when Bertha Cool is the head of the agency and Donald Lam is still learning the ropes. The story is crackling- full of betrayal, adultery, and double crosses as Lam investigates a philandering husband. Bertha charges $25 a day, 4 day minimum. Let's see, $100 in 1939 would be about $2100 today. Her no nonsense attitude comes at no extra charge. 

The dialogue, especially as spoken by Bertha, is ahead (and a product) of its time and I imagine in 1939 might have been a bit much for the publisher. When it was rejected, Gardner refused to edit it and instead wrote a whole new story called Turn on the Heat. Including this one, there were 30 Cool and Lam books written, the last published in 1970, the same year Gardner died. 

Erle Stanley Gardner is of course best known for Perry Mason, a character in novels and short stories as well as television. Over 300 million books have been sold in the Perry Mason series, third only to Goosebumps and Harry Potter.  He wrote under several pseudonyms including A.A. Fair. 

If you enjoy old school private eye stories and want to read something lost for 75 years, check out The Knife Slipped