I read the first few stories in Flair for Murder by Francis & Richard Lockridge in January 2025. Now, over a year later, I have finished the remaining 10 stories in the book. My earlier post from January 2025 provides more information about the short story collection and all the series that the two authors wrote together.
All of the stories in the book are relatively short. Of the stories I recently read, the lengths of the stories were between 6 - 10 pages, and they feature Captain M.L. Heimrich of the New York State Police. The stories take place in Westchester County, usually in rural areas. I have fond memories of reading some of the Captain Heimrich novels years ago, so it was fun to revisit that character. This was the perfect set of stories for me, since they are in a subgenre I like, police procedurals.
With the briefness of these stories, the solution had to be quickly resolved and not dependent on long investigations or interviews with many suspects. In many cases, the culprit seems to be obvious, but soon new evidence comes to light and / or Heimrich has an "aha" moment when some event he sees or experiences how the death could really have happened. Several of the stories revolved around deaths caused by automobile accidents. The last two stories were related to gardening which I especially enjoyed.
I actually liked every story in this book, which is unusual. Probably because I like how the Lockridges tell a story, very conversational and matter of fact, and I think it suits short stories especially. Also, I think Captain Heimrich is a great character. Now I want to go read some of the books featuring that character. I have several in eBook format that I can try.
12 comments:
The couple's most famous character were Mr. and Mrs. North (Pam and Jerry), who first appeared in a series of vignettes for the New York newspaper, THE SUN, in the early 1930s, written by Richard Lockridge; he then created a series of 27 humorous short stories about the couple in THE NEW YORKER from 1932 to 1940. In 1940, Frances Lockridge joined her husband in penning the first of 23 mystery novels through 1963, ending with Frances's death. Lt. (later Captain) Heimrich first appeared as a character in the second Mr. and Mrs. North novel, MURDER OUT OF TURN (1941). He appeared in one other Mr. and Mrs. North novel before being given his own book series, which lasted for 22 novels from 1947 through 1977, the final eight written by Richard alone after his wife's death. Heimrich appeared in twelve short stories by the couple, published between 1956 and 1965; Richard did not continue with Heimrich short stories after his wife's passing. The only short stories written about Mr. and Mrs. North were the ones written by Richard Lockridge; the couple never appeared in a mystery short story.
That's probably more than ever wanted to know about Captain M.(Merton) L. Heimrich and Pam and Jerry North, Tracy.
I have always meant to try their writing.
I really need to profile a novel or some stories by the Lockridges, Tracy. They really did write some quality work, and they're not perhaps as well known as they ought to be. I'm glad you enjoyed these stories, and I know what you mean about how unusual it is to enjoy an entire collection of short stories. They usually do vary.
I need to read something by these authors. It speaks highly of them that you liked every story in this collection. Usually at least one or two fall short.
I've read a scattered few of their stories in anthologies and as reprints in EQMM, as I recall, but I haven't read a sustained dose of them as yet...I might follow your lead, here!
How prominent is the Siamese in ?one/several of the stories?
Ah--returned to the first part of the review...only the one story inspired the cover, perhaps?
Jerry, I would love to know even more about the Lockridges and their characters. I think I have a few eBooks about each of her series characters and I want to reread some of each to see how I like them, now. I have read two of the Jerry and Pam North series in the last 10 years and I remember that I found Pam too ditzy.
Patti, since the books were written in the 40's - 60's mostly, it is interesting to see the differences in day to day life between now then. I remember noticing that Pam and Jerry did a lot of drinking and smoking. There just isn't enough time to read all the authors I want to.
Margot, I agree, I would love to see what you think about their writing and and the characters.
Regarding short story collections, I often notice stories that I especially like are not favorites with others and vice versa. These stories seemed very consistent though, some people might find that boring.
Kelly, the Mr and Mrs North novels were very popular when they were written, and inspired a radio show and a TV series and a movie. I am not sure how many Captain Heimrich novels I read, although he did feature in some of the Mr and Mrs North novels, as Jerry said. Possibly I am confusing the Heimrich books with another series I read when I was younger. So I am curious to see how the Heimrich novels compare to the short stories.
Todd, based on my memory, which isn't always very good, the Siamese were very prominent in the Mr and Mrs North novels, and I always liked that. My guess was originally that the Siamese was based on the first story which was about the Norths, but now I think that cat was inspired by a Capt. Heimrich story in the titled "Cat of Dreams" (aka "Death and the fiery-eyed cat") because that story involved an automobile. But that isn't confirmed anywhere that I know of. I think the authors really liked Siamese cats.
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