Publication History
Richard Lockridge originally invented the characters Pam & Jerry North for some vignettes he wrote for the New York Sun during the early thirties, which he later resurrected in the short domestic comedies he contributed to The New Yorker. By then, the Norths had acquired their full names but still needed their abilities as amateur detectives. A collection of the stories was published in 1936 as Mr. and Mrs. North.
The crime novels originated when Frances Lockwood started writing a mystery during one summer vacation. Stuck on a plot complication, she called on her husband for help, and the writing team was launched. Because the Norths already had some name recognition, the Lockridges decided to use Pam and Jerry as their central characters and retain the humorous tone and the playful interaction between the couple from the earlier stories.
The first Mr. and Mrs. North mystery, The Norths Meet Murder, was published in 1940. by Charles L. P. Silet
The Norths Meet Murder
Today, we’ll be joining the Norths on their first foray into mystery solving in The Norths Meet Murder. Along with Lieutenant Weigand and Mullins, they’ll figure out who killed a man in their apartment building. The husband and wife writing duo, Richard and Francis Lockridge, were pioneers of the cozy mystery genre and really hit their zenith during the 1940s. They specialized in amateur detectives working alongside police and had a real knack for writing pithy satirical dialogue between their leads, who were not just love interests, but a team in every sense of the word.
Mr. & Mrs. North TV Series (1952-1954)
The Lockridge’s stories were perfect for adapting to television and the Norths made their silver screen debut in 1952 in half hour tv series called Mr. & Mrs. North. I’ve been looking forward to reading The Norths Meet Murder after watching the Mr. & Mrs. North TV series I reviewed earlier this year. I enjoyed the series but felt that the 30-minute run time hamstrung the police investigation; it gave us a good taste of the zany Mrs. North and the lightning-quick banter between the Norths. It’s a fun show, but I don’t know how close it was to the book series.
After reading The Norths Meet Murder, I can say I was correct that the TV show captured the spirit of the North while rather shortchanging the police investigation. The book is better balanced and obviously has a lot more depth, so if you enjoy the TV show, I think you’ll also enjoy the book series. The book provides a more comprehensive and detailed account of the investigation, which the TV series had to condense into 30-minute episodes.
20 Books of Summer 2024
The Norths Meet Murder is my 17th review for the #20booksofsummer24, and I’m glad I kept this entertaining and light-hearted book for near the end, as challenge fatigue is starting to set in. I chose to review this book because it’s a classic in the mystery genre and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with my readers.
If you’re enjoying my #20booksofsummer24 reviews and want to see who else is participating and what books they are reviewing, check out the master list over @746books. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the books I’ve read so far, so feel free to share your comments below!
Plot Synopsis
On a scorching summer evening, Pam North, brimming with excitement, shares her latest brainwave with her husband Gerry- a party in the vacant top-floor apartment. With Mrs. Buano’s approval already secured and a few Tom Collins down, she’s eager for them to inspect the space and kick off the party preparations.
As they explore the space, their excitement turns to horror when they stumble upon a gruesome sight in the bathroom: a lifeless, naked man with a battered face and a crushed skull lying in the bathtub.
Gerry North calls the police, and Lieutenant Weigand of the New York police arrives to investigate with his junior partner, Mullins. Mullins senses the case is odd from the start, but Lieutenant Weigand has a hunch that the body in the bathtub is a dramatic twist to a profoundly personal crime.
After Weigand and Mullins interview the Norths, two things are clear: they are not the killers, and Pam, a fervent reader of detective novels, has a plethora of theories about the murder in the apartment upstairs. As the police start their investigation into the identity of the murdered man, Pam North starts thinking about the murderer; these dual investigations lead to a very clever killer.
The Review
The Lockridge’s hit a winning combination in their first mystery. Combining the slow and steady pace of the police procedural with the more frantic and zany pace of Mrs. North’s amateur sleuthing provides good pacing and structure to their debut novel. What sets this book apart is the unique balance between the police investigation and the amateur sleuthing, providing a comprehensive and engaging account of the mystery.
Weigand, a thorough and plodding detective, is a clever man, but the investigation into the man’s identity and then all of his fraught relationships can wear thin. However, the Lockridge’s avoid the monotony of an Inspector French-style investigation by cutting away from Weigand and into the delightfully chaotic lives of the Norths.
Mrs. North is a whirlwind; she speaks in half-formed sentences because her brain travels faster than she can talk. Sometimes, her brain is focused on party planning and cocktails, but most of the time, her brain is piecing together human behavior that she finds intriguing or out of place. She’s a great observer of people and their mannerisms and can extrapolate things about their lives and desires through innocuous gestures or phrases. Mrs. North has an uncanny ability to read and understand people but is very light on proof. Her emotions guide her through life, and these emotions guide her through the investigation. Her husband, Gerry, is the perfect foil to her exuberance, often providing a calm and rational perspective to balance her emotional intuition.
Mrs. North’s pronouncements and scatty communication style can lead to comic situations, but throughout the story, she is proven correct about her theories by the actual investigative work of Weigand. A story with just Mrs. North as the lead would be very tiresome, and even with the steadying hand of her more staid husband, she runs roughshod over everyone and everything if left untethered for too long. She’s a delight, and her hunches are often correct, but she’s not interested in getting proof to bolster her point of view. In this first novel, the Norths act as sounding boards and as a thoroughfare by which introductions to certain suspects and places are made. They are not full-fledged snoops; instead, they play a crucial role as the Greek chorus to Weigand, who is running around the city interviewing the players in the story.
There’s a sense that the Norths treat this whole thing like they’re the audience for a mystery book. They give voice to theories and delight in figuring out the scanty physical evidence. They go over timelines and analyze alibis from the comfort of their living room with a cocktail or three. The Norths haven’t truly committed to being investigators, but we see them as curious and on the precipice of moving into the limelight.
Weigand’s investigation has stalled, and he turns to the Norths for help. Mrs. North is enamored by the Poirot-style gathering of suspects, where the accused gives themselves away under the pressure of being unmasked offers to host a party for the murder suspects. It’s a hilarious and brilliant skewering of this ridiculous artifice of detective fiction that doesn’t ever happen in actual police investigations, and Weigand, in his desperation, agrees.
The killer gives themselves away at the party to silence Mrs. North, and the whole mystery is solved in a grand and frenetic dramatic scene worthy of the best crime fiction.
The Norths Meet Murder is a fantastic debut mystery with lots of golden-age tropes sprinkled in for both laughs and utility. Weigand is a kind, thoughtful cop who’s a cut above the rough and ready beaters who patrol the block. He’s willing to lean into the absurd antics of Mrs. North when they help him in the case but isn’t bowled over by her abrasive personality. Mrs. North is relatively unrestrained in this first book, mainly because Mr. North needs to prepare for the ardor of which she delights in investigating this case. It will be nice to see the Norths evolve into an investigative unit outside the confines of their apartment in subsequent books.
The mystery is quite good. Suspects are cleared, and then alibis are brought back under suspicion; there are many secret and not-so-secret affairs, and the suspect has several enemies. It’s difficult to know who killed him since all of his misdeeds seem about equal in terribleness.
However, if you listen to Mrs. North, you might know who and how the whole thing is done from the start. The only problem is ….listening to Mrs. North.
It is an excellent first book and a delightful mystery that leaves room for character growth and refinement of roles in future books.
The Norths Series Reviews
20 Books of Summer Reviews
- Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (1923) | REVIEW
- The Abbey Court Murder by Annie Haynes (1923) | REVIEW
- Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell (1929) | REVIEW
- Mystery Mile by Margaret Allingham (1930) REVIEW
- The Mystery of the Cape Cod Players by Phoebe Atwood Taylor (1933) | REVIEW
- Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley (1933) REVIEW
- The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (1935) REVIEW
- The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude (1936) REVIEW
- Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (1936) | REVIEW
- The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe by Erle Stanley Gardner (1938)
- Seven Dead by J. Jefferson Farjeon (1939) REVIEW
- The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr (1939) | REVIEW
- The Cat Saw Murder by Rachel Murdock (1939) | REVIEW
- The Norths Meet Murder by Frances and Richard Lockridge (1940)
- The Turquoise Shop by Frances Crane (1941) | REVIEW
- The Wrong Way Down by Elizabeth Daly (1946) REVIEW
- The Case of the Demented Spiv by George Bellairs (1949)
- Nipped in the Bud by Stuart Palmer (1951)
- Vanishing Point by Patricia Wentworth (1953) REVIEW
- The Color of Murder by Julian Symons (1957) | REVIEW
Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
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