The A. A. Fair novels about Cool and Lam are meant to be humorous excursions into a sleazy world of greed and deceit in which most detective-genre cliches are turned upside down. Discussion of Bats Fly at Dusk and the other novels would work best if group members have read several of the books in the Cool/Lam series; this is easy to do because the novels are quick, easy, and fun reading. A good focus for discussion would be the humor of the novels. Note how bizarre events are contrasted to Bertha Cool's single-minded devotion to acquiring money. She seems unaware of the weirdness in which she immerses herself, and much of the humor stems from irony — we readers certainly notice that Cool's world is outlandish and are amused by Cool's unawareness.

Lam is an interesting figure, and one who is hard to label...