Review of the "Mr. and Mrs. North" series by Frances and Richard Lockridge

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This series of 26 novels written between 1940 and 1963 was so popular in its day that it spawned a Broadway play in 1941, that ran 163 performances, a 1942 feature film, starring Gracie Allen as Mrs. North, a radio show from 1942 to 1954 (for which it won the first Edgar for a radio show), and two television series -- one as 21 episodes of NBC Presents in 1949 and the other,  Mr. and Mrs. North, from 1952-54. Yet, I'll bet you've only "heard of them" at best. 

I'm reviewing them as a series because that's how we read series, isn't it? At least, I do. It's either the first book or all of them. Gerald "Jerry" North is a book publisher in Manhattan and long-suffering husband of Pamela. Pam is ... not a housewife, exactly, but she doesn't have a job. Lots of wry and witty dialogue, much of it Pam's. She's something of the stereotypical "dizzy housewife" whose comments seem to come out of left field and whose logic is frequently impenetrable. While her conclusions are frequently erroneous, she usually recognizes the clues for what they are. As one character put it, she puts two and two together and gets five -- but she was right about the two and two.  

Pam and Jerry are NYC sophisticates who live in an upscale apartment and have a housekeeper/cook. Manhattan is as much a character as any of the various humans in the novels. Even though I lived there in the 1990s, the pace and vibe of the city is as I remembered it. And, of course, many of the same landmarks and commercial institutions -- Saks, for one. That being said, several of the mysteries are set in the Catskills or Long Island, among the summer cottages and country homes of the upper-crust.

The couple live that idealized, glamorous New York City life of so many books and, especially, movies of the day. Detective Lieutenant William "Bill" Wiegand and Sergeant Aloyisius "Al" Mullens (possibly my favorite character) of the NYPD Homicide join the cast of characters in the first book, and Dorian Hunt, who appears in the second book, becomes Dorian Hunt Wiegand in the fourth. Dorian is unusual in that she is one of the few women in the series who have a career. She's a commercial fashion artist and in high demand. Other working women do appear, mainly as secretaries, nurses, office assistants, the usual. But the Norths tend to become involved in murders among the upper-middle class. 

Although the characters do not age through the 20 years of the series, Manhattan does change with the times and the Lockridges add subtle social and political commentary. Thankfully, the Norths (and one assumes the Lockridges) are liberals. Oh -- and they drink. A lot. Martinis, specifically, although Sergeant Mullens prefers a Manhattan or scotch. 

And there are cats! Sadly, but realistically, the cats do pass on through the series, reflecting the real-life cats of the Lockridges. Every cat is a cat with a cat's unique personality. When Martini dies in the book and in real life, Pam is inconsolable. It is several books before she can bear to adopt another kitten. 

The story is that Frances provided the plots and Richard did the actual writing. He was a journalist, and it shows in the first several books. They are filled with short, declarative sentences and lengthy expository paragraphs. Hemingway he was not. However, keep reading as his skill develops over time. His characters become more well-rounded and he cuts back on the exposition. The five primary characters -- Pam, Jerry, Bill, Dorian, and Mullens -- remain consistent throughout. I never felt that any of them acted out-of-character. 

Some of the books are more successful than others. I found myself skipping parts  that felt redundant or otherwise unnecessary of some of the novels written in the middle period, but overall, they are very readable. The Norths Meet Murder, the first in the series, had to have been inspired by Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body? as Pam finds a body in the bathtub of the empty apartment above theirs. She had arranged to borrow it to host a cocktail party. And Pete, the cat, plays a role in the solution. 

I particularly enjoyed the entries that involved publishing -- Death on the Aisle, Death Takes a Bow, Untidy Murder, Death Has a Small Voice, Murder Has Its Points -- for the wry comments that Lockridge incorporates into the dialogue. One I remember is Jerry North saying that the only way an author will ever make money from a publisher is to catch the publisher in a crime and blackmail him. 

My library had them all in Libby and they were readily available. If you do decide to give them a go, remember to read at least the first three before deciding whether to continue. They are never "bad" and they do get better -- and the characters some to feel like real friends. I miss them now that I'm not spending an hour or two with them everyday.