I bought this book, published in March 2024 by Crippen & Landru, on a whim, on the last day of 2024. It has such a lovely cover. The introduction to the book by Jeffrey Marks is very interesting and gives a good overview of the various series that Frances and Richard Lockridge wrote.
In years past, I have read some mystery novels in the three series written by the Lockridges: the Mr. and Mrs. North series, the Captain M.L. Heimrich series, and the Nathan Shapiro series. The books in those series were published between 1940 and 1980.
Only one of the stories in the book features Mr. and Mrs. North. The others are Captain Heimrich stories, set in Westchester County, New York.
I read the first three stories in the book. They were all good reads but I liked the two Captain Heimrich stories that I read best. Per the back of the book, this book contains all of the mystery short stories that the Lockridges wrote.
Only one of the stories is a Pam and Jerry North story, "Pattern for Murder."
In this story, a woman attends a dinner party which brings together a group of old schoolmates. The woman dies at the foot of a steep flight of stairs. Of course, Pam and Jerry North attend the party. And the policeman who is called in to investigate the death is their friend, Lt. Bill Weigand of the NYPD.
The remaining eleven stories are Captain M.L. Heimrich stories. The first of those is "Nobody Can Ask That."
Heimrich is interviewing a man who has confessed to a murder that took place five hours ago. They talk about how the man was caught in such a short time and the murderer explains how and why he killed the victim. There were a couple of surprises at the end. The story was pretty short, just 6 pages long.
The next story, "The Searching Cats," was more detailed but still only about 8 pages long. Heimrich thinks he has the culprit for a murder, a young man who had previously committed a similar crime. That young man has money that was missing from the dead man's home, but he claims that the dead man loaned him the money that very day. Somehow two cats lead Captain Heimrich to a different solution.
11 comments:
I read one or two of their novels (or stories) years ago but have never come across them again.
I really must read some of the Lockridges' work, Tracy. I've been wanting to for a long time, and still haven't. I'm glad for the reminder to do it.
The few Lockridge novels I have read were good, but not outstanding, Tracy. I suspect I need a much larger sampling, perhaps from this collection. thanks.
This really does have a wonderful cover! It sounds good and I've added it to my Amazon wishlist.
Patti, I liked reading the Pam and Jerry North stories when I was younger but in recent years I have noticed that Pam doesn't contribute as much as I remembered. She is sort of ditzy, forgetful, scatterbrained. But the small sample I have read lately may not be a good indication of quality.
I do want to read more of the Heimrich series and the Nathan Shapiro series sometime soon, Jerry. Both are policemen and I like police procedurals. I have a lot of nostalgia for them, for sure.
And Jerry, they have cats in them! For sure the Mr and Mrs North books do.
Margot, I do think you should give them a try. And then let me know what you think of them.
Kelly, I hope you like the stories, if you get a copy of the book. I am a sucker for a great cover.
Hmmm. I left a comment here this morning but it isn't showing. I was having trouble with my internet connection, it kept coming and going, I think it may be lost in the mists of time. Anyway, it was just to say that I hadn't heard of this writing duo and would look them up as these short stories sound interesting. I hope you're nowhere near these terrible fires in LA, Tracy? Stay safe.
Tracy, you can't go wrong with cats! Although llamas would be even better (IMHO).
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