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Mr. & Mrs. North #4
Death on the Aisle
They say Broadway is a graveyard of hopes and aspirations, but someone’s adding corpses to its tombs…
Mr. and Mrs. North live as quiet a life as a couple can amidst the bustle of New York City. For Jerry, a publisher, and Pamela, a homemaker, the only threat to their domestic equilibrium comes in the form of Mrs. North’s relentless efforts as an amateur sleuth, which repeatedly find the duo investigating murders and sundry other crimes. So when the wealthy backer of a play is found dead in the seats of the West 45th Street Theatre, the Norths aren’t far behind, led by Pam’s customary flair for murders that turn eccentric and, yes, humorous. Alongside Lieutenant William Weigand of the New York Police Department, they’ll employ illogical logic and bizarrely tangential suggestions to draw the curtains on a killer.
A light mystery set in a classic Broadway locale, Death on the Aisle is lent verisimilitude by author Richard Lockridge’s career as a theater critic. Though it is the fourth novel in the saga of this charming, witty couple, the series can be enjoyed in any order, with each installment depicting its own self-contained story.
“Masters of misdirection”–The New York Times
“Among the smoothest of the old professionals”–Anthony Boucherry.
Mr. and Mrs. North live as quiet a life as a couple can amidst the bustle of New York City. For Jerry, a publisher, and Pamela, a homemaker, the only threat to their domestic equilibrium comes in the form of Mrs. North’s relentless efforts as an amateur sleuth, which repeatedly find the duo investigating murders and sundry other crimes. So when the wealthy backer of a play is found dead in the seats of the West 45th Street Theatre, the Norths aren’t far behind, led by Pam’s customary flair for murders that turn eccentric and, yes, humorous. Alongside Lieutenant William Weigand of the New York Police Department, they’ll employ illogical logic and bizarrely tangential suggestions to draw the curtains on a killer.
A light mystery set in a classic Broadway locale, Death on the Aisle is lent verisimilitude by author Richard Lockridge’s career as a theater critic. Though it is the fourth novel in the saga of this charming, witty couple, the series can be enjoyed in any order, with each installment depicting its own self-contained story.
“Masters of misdirection”–The New York Times
“Among the smoothest of the old professionals”–Anthony Boucherry.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
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195 people want to read
About the author
Frances Lockridge
96 books48 followersFrances Louise (Davis) Lockridge wrote popular mysteries and children's books with husband Richard Lockridge. They also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 10, 2022
Ruthmary Jones...Colored. 🤷🏽♀️
It looks like Lieutenant Weigand and Mullins will be spending some time at the theater...to solve a crime, that is. And there’s a whole church of suspects.
In the fourth episode of this 1942 mystery, there’s nothing like a group of actors you have to interrogate to discover who murdered the financial backer of a popular play.
With everybody trained in the mastery of deception it will be no easy task to discover the murderer. Fortunately, the Norths are of course, on hand to give their opinion (even if unwanted) and as usual, Mrs. North is ready and willing to sacrifice her life for the solution.
What’s a Lieutenant to do with so much help... and so many suspects?
Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) there is a black cast member in the play, who is never given any time as a suspect.
She is simply referred to as Ruthmary Jones, colored.
* Sign of the times*
It looks like Lieutenant Weigand and Mullins will be spending some time at the theater...to solve a crime, that is. And there’s a whole church of suspects.
In the fourth episode of this 1942 mystery, there’s nothing like a group of actors you have to interrogate to discover who murdered the financial backer of a popular play.
With everybody trained in the mastery of deception it will be no easy task to discover the murderer. Fortunately, the Norths are of course, on hand to give their opinion (even if unwanted) and as usual, Mrs. North is ready and willing to sacrifice her life for the solution.
What’s a Lieutenant to do with so much help... and so many suspects?
Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) there is a black cast member in the play, who is never given any time as a suspect.
She is simply referred to as Ruthmary Jones, colored.
* Sign of the times*
April 28, 2019
Revised review, April 28, 2019:
I’ve been pondering my review for Death on the Aisle, and I decided I’d been a bit too enthusiastic. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I have docked the book a star. The authors Richard and Frances Lockridge played fair, but the perpetrator’s motivation does seem to lack plausibility. I still robustly recommend reading this fourth book in the Mr. and Mrs. North series, especially for examples of how chance and misunderstandings play such a great role in life, whether in real life or on the page.
Original review:
The Broadway play Two in the Bush set to open in a week might be such a hit that the great and the good will be asking for two on aisle. Instead, what we have on the aisle is Broadway money-man Dr. Carney Bolton, who is dispatched with an icepick to the back of his neck.
Who would want to kill this Broadway “angel,” as producers are called? Poor Lieutenant Bill Weigand and his Sergeant Mullins face a long list of actors and backstage theater folk who had opportunity and motive. Luckily, Weigand’s friends, Jerry and Pam North, were at the rehearsal. The lively Mrs. North — as usual — plays a big role in catching the criminal. Reading this series always makes me pine for sophisticated New York in the 1940s! I loved this book enough to borrow the sequel, Hanged for a Sheep, from the library as soon as I finished!
I’ve been pondering my review for Death on the Aisle, and I decided I’d been a bit too enthusiastic. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I have docked the book a star. The authors Richard and Frances Lockridge played fair, but the perpetrator’s motivation does seem to lack plausibility. I still robustly recommend reading this fourth book in the Mr. and Mrs. North series, especially for examples of how chance and misunderstandings play such a great role in life, whether in real life or on the page.
Original review:
The Broadway play Two in the Bush set to open in a week might be such a hit that the great and the good will be asking for two on aisle. Instead, what we have on the aisle is Broadway money-man Dr. Carney Bolton, who is dispatched with an icepick to the back of his neck.
Who would want to kill this Broadway “angel,” as producers are called? Poor Lieutenant Bill Weigand and his Sergeant Mullins face a long list of actors and backstage theater folk who had opportunity and motive. Luckily, Weigand’s friends, Jerry and Pam North, were at the rehearsal. The lively Mrs. North — as usual — plays a big role in catching the criminal. Reading this series always makes me pine for sophisticated New York in the 1940s! I loved this book enough to borrow the sequel, Hanged for a Sheep, from the library as soon as I finished!
May 22, 2020
Mid-20th Century North American Crime/Mystery
1942 - Once Hammett had penned "The Thin Man", there was no getting around rich married couples investigating murders. And given "Thin Man" was so popular basically because of great casting for the film, the numerous spin-offs were often better than Hammett's weakest novel.
Going to the theatre can get you killed, easily, on both sides of the pond.
HOOK - 3 stars: "...Nothing was going to intervene..." in the marriage of Lieutenant Weigand and Dorian that very afternoon, we read, as the novel opens. But by page 5, no one is thinking much about marriage.
PACE - 3: Solid, as the author sticks to the aspects of the genre.
CRME - 3: Dr. Carney Bolton, financier of a new Broadway show, is found murdered with a ice pick straight through the back of his spinal cord.
CAST - 3: Deputy Chief Inspector Artemus O'Malley and Detective Sergeant Clarence Mullins must find the killer. But it's Pam and Jerry North, hanging around, who get lots of good lines and ultimately offer the solution. The stage play's director is Humphrey Kirk. Max Ahlberg, or "Maxie" is the producers. Penfield Smith is the disgruntled (natch) author, while Arthur Christopher chews up everything in sight as the plump (natch), impatient (natch) scenery designer. Mary Fowler has 'eyes that pop out' at the costumes she designs (natch). And then of course there is a lead actor, Percy Driscoll, very suave and handsome (natch) and a diva (natch). Everyone does and says just the thing they are supposed to say and do. That said, on page 22 of the hardback edition, there is a lobby poster of the play, the cast, etc. That's a nice touch deserving of a 3rd star.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: There is an afternoon rehearsal, and everyone is at a certain place in the theatre. But do we get even the simplest of sketches as to who is where? One supposes it's too much to ask for a cast list AND a stage scenery/theatre image: but then again that might have given everything away instantly.
SUMMARY:-2.8. This is fine: a few hours of a pleasant visit to a typical 'murder-in-a-theatre.' There is nothing bad here, the writing and pace are on target. This novel is exactly what it wants to be, it's exactly what you expect. I didn't name the villain, but I did enjoy the story.
1942 - Once Hammett had penned "The Thin Man", there was no getting around rich married couples investigating murders. And given "Thin Man" was so popular basically because of great casting for the film, the numerous spin-offs were often better than Hammett's weakest novel.
Going to the theatre can get you killed, easily, on both sides of the pond.
HOOK - 3 stars: "...Nothing was going to intervene..." in the marriage of Lieutenant Weigand and Dorian that very afternoon, we read, as the novel opens. But by page 5, no one is thinking much about marriage.
PACE - 3: Solid, as the author sticks to the aspects of the genre.
CRME - 3: Dr. Carney Bolton, financier of a new Broadway show, is found murdered with a ice pick straight through the back of his spinal cord.
CAST - 3: Deputy Chief Inspector Artemus O'Malley and Detective Sergeant Clarence Mullins must find the killer. But it's Pam and Jerry North, hanging around, who get lots of good lines and ultimately offer the solution. The stage play's director is Humphrey Kirk. Max Ahlberg, or "Maxie" is the producers. Penfield Smith is the disgruntled (natch) author, while Arthur Christopher chews up everything in sight as the plump (natch), impatient (natch) scenery designer. Mary Fowler has 'eyes that pop out' at the costumes she designs (natch). And then of course there is a lead actor, Percy Driscoll, very suave and handsome (natch) and a diva (natch). Everyone does and says just the thing they are supposed to say and do. That said, on page 22 of the hardback edition, there is a lobby poster of the play, the cast, etc. That's a nice touch deserving of a 3rd star.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: There is an afternoon rehearsal, and everyone is at a certain place in the theatre. But do we get even the simplest of sketches as to who is where? One supposes it's too much to ask for a cast list AND a stage scenery/theatre image: but then again that might have given everything away instantly.
SUMMARY:-2.8. This is fine: a few hours of a pleasant visit to a typical 'murder-in-a-theatre.' There is nothing bad here, the writing and pace are on target. This novel is exactly what it wants to be, it's exactly what you expect. I didn't name the villain, but I did enjoy the story.
November 25, 2019
Broadway angel, Dr. Carney Bolton, is found stabbed to death in the theater where rehearsals for an upcoming show are taking place. Although there are a finite number of possible suspects (cast + crew + playwright + producer, etc.), many, if not all, of them have possible motives. Detective Weigand, along with his fiancée Dorian and good friends Pam and Jerry North, seeks to sort through the various clues and personalities to find the murderer. -- Sorry, but this seemed silly and trivial to me. The Norths are supposedly great characters, but I found Pam annoying and Jerry a bit of a nonentity. The book is informed by Richard Lockridge's career as a theater critic, so there is an authentic atmosphere, but the characters are just not that interesting.
October 24, 2020
This one had an oddly familiar vibe to it, although I'm quite sure I didn't read it before and forget to log it. I may have read something that discussed the book or maybe I just read the first few chapters that were added to the previous book in the series. Not sure.
Basically, a guy gets murdered in a darkened theatre during rehearsal and everyone who was offstage at one point is a suspect. And Mr and Mrs North just happened to be there, naturally. I guessed the murderer, but thought I hadn't for a while because of a very misleading paragraph that had me all confused. Frankly, the last few chapters were a bit of a muddle although I got things sorted by the end.
Basically, a guy gets murdered in a darkened theatre during rehearsal and everyone who was offstage at one point is a suspect. And Mr and Mrs North just happened to be there, naturally. I guessed the murderer, but thought I hadn't for a while because of a very misleading paragraph that had me all confused. Frankly, the last few chapters were a bit of a muddle although I got things sorted by the end.
August 28, 2024
Death on the Aisle is the fourth Mr. and Mrs. North mystery but my first. The cover blurb assures me that "the series can be enjoyed in any order." The Norths are one of the glut of detecting couples that sprang up in the decade after the success of Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles (e.g., the Abbotts, Cordrys, Duluths, McNeills, Troys, etc.); the Norths are the only married team I know of, however, also written by a couple. This is a light and humorous story that covers the 12 hours of an investigation from the discovery of the crime, a Broadway "angel" with an ice pick through his spinal cord, to the exciting resolution with a damsel in distress. The time lapsed within a chapter is listed helpfully at the beginning of each. Most of the book is carried by the investigating police lieutenant and his sergeant, but periodically the lieutenant's friends Mr. and Mrs. North appear, mostly the Mrs. since the quietly patient husband barely makes a dent in the story and serves no useful purpose. The Norths fail to solve the mystery, or more accurately, Mrs. North solves it incorrectly. She gets most of the attention as a somewhat ditzy wife of the time. She actually mostly just expresses herself in incomplete thoughts, failing to complete her sentences, but it comes off as daffy. An "of its time" novel may often be tolerated for the quality of the rest of the work, but this just didn't appeal to me; I never felt Nora Charles was flighty, just not as worldly as Nick. I have one more North novel on my shelf but I won't be looking for more right away. The Norths were phenomenally popular in their time, appearing in 26 mystery novels, a Broadway play, a movie, and radio and television series. The Lockridge duo had three other mystery novel series. Death on the Aisle includes an Introduction by Otto Penzler and an essay by Richard Lockridge (he was a drama critic, hence the authentic picture of a Broadway show in the book) about the Mr. and Mrs. North series. One oddity of the book is that the single Black character and play cast member is always referred to as "Ruthmary Jones, colored." What does that mean? She's never a suspect, however. The story is well set up and constructed and no burden to read, but somehow it seemed a little too cute in its presentation of a mid-century married couple and ended up being just wholesomely average. Not that there's anything wrong with that. [3★]
May 17, 2019
#4 in the Mr. & Mrs. North mystery series. This 1942 series entry by authors Richard and Frances Lockridge is the first book in the series that I have read. It is certainly dated as a mystery but was similar to the Broadway I knew a quarter century later. The Norths are the stars of the series but this novel mostly follows their friend Det. Lt. Bill Wiegand and his sidekick Sgt. Mullins. An enjoyable read and I will be interested to see the interpersonal dynamic of other books in the series.
Mr. and Mrs. North live as quiet a life as a couple can amidst the bustle of New York City. For Jerry, a publisher, and Pamela, a homemaker, the only threat to their domestic equilibrium comes in the form of Mrs. North's relentless efforts as an amateur sleuth, which repeatedly find the duo investigating murders and sundry other crimes. So when the wealthy backer of a play is found dead in the seats of the West 45th Street Theatre, the Norths aren't far behind, led by Pam's customary flair for murders that turn eccentric and, yes, humorous. Alongside Lieutenant William Weigand of the New York Police Department, they'll employ illogical logic and bizarrely tangential suggestions to draw the curtains on a killer.
Mr. and Mrs. North live as quiet a life as a couple can amidst the bustle of New York City. For Jerry, a publisher, and Pamela, a homemaker, the only threat to their domestic equilibrium comes in the form of Mrs. North's relentless efforts as an amateur sleuth, which repeatedly find the duo investigating murders and sundry other crimes. So when the wealthy backer of a play is found dead in the seats of the West 45th Street Theatre, the Norths aren't far behind, led by Pam's customary flair for murders that turn eccentric and, yes, humorous. Alongside Lieutenant William Weigand of the New York Police Department, they'll employ illogical logic and bizarrely tangential suggestions to draw the curtains on a killer.
March 21, 2021
When the wealthy doctor who is equally interested in backing plays and chasing actresses is murdered as he watches a rehearsal of a new play, naturally Pam and Jerry North are also in the small audience. And as police lieutenant Bill Weigand--who would rather be eloping with Dorian Hunt--finds the many people who hated the dead man, he recognizes that Pam sometimes has insights that the police routine can't uncover. But a second murder shocks the cast of the play, and Bill has reason to fear that the third murder will be Pam's.
November 17, 2019
I am an avid fan of Frances Lockridge's Mr. and Mrs. North series, but this particular book was too much of a police procedural to appeal to me. I was looking forward to the NY Theater setting, but regrettably, there was not enough of the Manhattan charm that I usually find in this series.
I read these books for the period details, the fun of the North's VERY IMPORTANT COCKTAILS, and their frequent restaurant meals. The inside look at New York in the 1930's has a lot of appeal to me and it was all missing from this particular book.
I read these books for the period details, the fun of the North's VERY IMPORTANT COCKTAILS, and their frequent restaurant meals. The inside look at New York in the 1930's has a lot of appeal to me and it was all missing from this particular book.
August 7, 2019
2 1/2 stars. Ohhh, ohhh. I have an original idea! (not.) Mr. and Mrs. North are like Nick and Nora Charles! With less drinking. The only problem with this book is that it doesn't have enough of Mr. and Mrs. North. The book gets better from the half point on (could that coincide with the fact that Mr. and Mrs. North show up more?). Still a decent mystery with surprise twists. The play setting also adds something to the book.
November 18, 2025
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
January 6, 2021
On my third read in the North series I've discovered that I like but don't love the Norths. I love that they have cats and love good food and cocktails, and the theater, and have a high flying life in NYC in the 1940s. But Mrs. North, "Pam" is so flighty. In this edition there's an essay by Richard Lockridge with some backstory on how he and his wife Frances created the characters of Pam and Jerry North, and how Pam was loosely based on Frances. Her flights of fancy and verbal/logical nonsequiturs are meant to be endearing, but they come across more often as ditzy. The impression is that she's flighty because of a lack of intelligent thought, when I think the intention was to convey her as flighty because of an overabundance of intelligent thought and an impatience to walk her listeners through her rapid thought process. I applaud the intention, but it's not well executed and so often Pam's ramblings wind up irritating rather ingratiating. I did enjoy her little back and forths with Sgt Mullins in this one as she tries to win him over.
I think part of the reason I enjoyed this installment is that Lt ("Loot" as Mullins calls him) Weigand is given center stage so to speak, for at least the first half of the book and left to do his detective work, and he does it well. It's a pleasure to read. I was startled to discover I preferred reading Weigand on the case, and was annoyed when the Norths came back to the theater to more fully meddle in the case. That said, the dinner scene with Weigand and Mullins in the Norths apartment for cocktails and several courses was simply delightful. Debates over the origins Noilly Prat prompted a Google search from this curious reader. And the scene where Mulligans is trying to get his second helping of duck into his mouth as Pam keeps grilling him with questions on timing was hilarious, felt like I was right there at the table.
But then they go back to the theater... and Pam has to think out loud, in a dark room, by herself, in a theater where she knows there's a killer at large... which is not so intelligent for a supposedly very intelligent woman... which lands her in a dangerous situation with the killer. That leads to a suspenseful car ride and a garden chase that's thrilling and realistic, I just don't know if it's believable.
The characters in the cast of suspects were numerous and moderately fleshed out, the motives abundant and often obscured, and the depictions of the theater rehearsals were spot on, especially in conveying how boring it can be at times! To go over and over and over a scene, finessing and experimenting until you think you shall go mad, especially when you aren't even in the scene and just waiting for your next moment on the stage.
I'm on the fence as to how many more of these mysteries I will read. There are so many great series out there to explore. Might set this one aside for the time being and return to it in future years.
I think part of the reason I enjoyed this installment is that Lt ("Loot" as Mullins calls him) Weigand is given center stage so to speak, for at least the first half of the book and left to do his detective work, and he does it well. It's a pleasure to read. I was startled to discover I preferred reading Weigand on the case, and was annoyed when the Norths came back to the theater to more fully meddle in the case. That said, the dinner scene with Weigand and Mullins in the Norths apartment for cocktails and several courses was simply delightful. Debates over the origins Noilly Prat prompted a Google search from this curious reader. And the scene where Mulligans is trying to get his second helping of duck into his mouth as Pam keeps grilling him with questions on timing was hilarious, felt like I was right there at the table.
But then they go back to the theater... and Pam has to think out loud, in a dark room, by herself, in a theater where she knows there's a killer at large... which is not so intelligent for a supposedly very intelligent woman... which lands her in a dangerous situation with the killer. That leads to a suspenseful car ride and a garden chase that's thrilling and realistic, I just don't know if it's believable.
The characters in the cast of suspects were numerous and moderately fleshed out, the motives abundant and often obscured, and the depictions of the theater rehearsals were spot on, especially in conveying how boring it can be at times! To go over and over and over a scene, finessing and experimenting until you think you shall go mad, especially when you aren't even in the scene and just waiting for your next moment on the stage.
I'm on the fence as to how many more of these mysteries I will read. There are so many great series out there to explore. Might set this one aside for the time being and return to it in future years.
January 3, 2022
Synopsis: Police Lt. Bill Weigand is on the verge of finding a minister to marry him and his fiancée, Dorian Hunt, when he gets a call to a homicide at the West 45th St. Theatre in New York City.
He arrives to find Pam and Jerry North in attendance at a rehearsal for the play "Two in the Bush". During the rehearsal, Dr. Carney Bolton is found stabbed to death in the audience sears. Bolton had been a theatre enthusiast and had been backing this production. The weapon - an ice pick - is still in him. Weigand locks down the theatre and interviews the cast and staff. One cannnot be found - custodian Edward Evans. After a search, Evans is located unconscious in a storeroom, having been pushed down the stairs.
Weigand stresses to the cast/staff that one of them must be the killer, and anyone with any knowledge of the crime is in danger themselves. No one admits to anything, but his assertion comes true when actress Ellen Grady does not show up for the next rehearsal. Weigand and Pam respond to her apartment, to find her drowned in her bathtub.
Review: I enjoyed this one as Bill Weigand plods through the investigation, ever slowly going forward in a good procedural manner. A detailed analysis of who-was-where every minute and checks into background relationships gradually narrows down the suspects. There are only a handful of possibilities for the killer - but the motive remains elusive until Weigand makes a phone call and asks one medical question of the doctor. The reader is not privy to the question or the answer, and this has the one footnote in the book - in which the author explains that the subject of the question, although not revealed, concerns a 'fact in evidence', and that the particulars have been laid before the reader previously in this Ellery Queen-like fair play disclaimer.
The Norths have only a small presence in the book, and their involvement stems from being present at the rehearsal when the murder occurred. Pam accompanies Weigand to Ellen Grady's apartment, and looks at the scene with a 'woman's eye' to note some aspects which elude the police's notice.
If you like death-in-the-theatre-audience, also try The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen.
Please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
He arrives to find Pam and Jerry North in attendance at a rehearsal for the play "Two in the Bush". During the rehearsal, Dr. Carney Bolton is found stabbed to death in the audience sears. Bolton had been a theatre enthusiast and had been backing this production. The weapon - an ice pick - is still in him. Weigand locks down the theatre and interviews the cast and staff. One cannnot be found - custodian Edward Evans. After a search, Evans is located unconscious in a storeroom, having been pushed down the stairs.
Weigand stresses to the cast/staff that one of them must be the killer, and anyone with any knowledge of the crime is in danger themselves. No one admits to anything, but his assertion comes true when actress Ellen Grady does not show up for the next rehearsal. Weigand and Pam respond to her apartment, to find her drowned in her bathtub.
Review: I enjoyed this one as Bill Weigand plods through the investigation, ever slowly going forward in a good procedural manner. A detailed analysis of who-was-where every minute and checks into background relationships gradually narrows down the suspects. There are only a handful of possibilities for the killer - but the motive remains elusive until Weigand makes a phone call and asks one medical question of the doctor. The reader is not privy to the question or the answer, and this has the one footnote in the book - in which the author explains that the subject of the question, although not revealed, concerns a 'fact in evidence', and that the particulars have been laid before the reader previously in this Ellery Queen-like fair play disclaimer.
The Norths have only a small presence in the book, and their involvement stems from being present at the rehearsal when the murder occurred. Pam accompanies Weigand to Ellen Grady's apartment, and looks at the scene with a 'woman's eye' to note some aspects which elude the police's notice.
If you like death-in-the-theatre-audience, also try The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen.
Please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
January 7, 2024
I'd never read a book by Frances and Richard Lockridge, but I've long known their names. I like these new American Mystery Classic editions and the title (a nice twist on Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile) caught my eye, so I decided to give it a try.
It's from 1942 and specifically from the rather posh New York City of 1942. The leading characters are well educated and drink cocktails, have maids, and interact with doormen and policemen of lesser rank with the fond guileless condescension of privilege. The posh Lieutenant Weigand and his posh fiancée Dorian start the story casually at Club 21 and are on their way to a little elopement, long discussed, when interrupted by the police radio advising there's been a murder for police detective Weigand to investigate. It turns out the murder has taken place at a Broadway theater where there's a play in rehearsals and even the characters in the play are posh and have a "colored" maid. Everyone else at the theater will come under suspicion, but not the actress playing the maid, because apparently her social situation is so far removed from the whites that she doesn't even signify. I have to admit that, as a 21st century reader, I find the tone too smug to be entirely comfortable.
Nevertheless, the writing has many good qualities. Richard Lockridge (who did the actual writing, his wife Frances collaborating on situations, characters, plots, etc.) had a nice way of presenting subtext in the facial expressions and a nice sense of dramatic timing. It was a nice whodunit in the classic manner but with a few extra posh characters littering the scene, serving cocktails, serving as a Watson for the lead detective to discuss possibilities with, etc. I suppose if Ronald Coleman and Myrna Loy were playing one of the posh couples I could be happy with it, but on the page I found it a bit too much.
It's from 1942 and specifically from the rather posh New York City of 1942. The leading characters are well educated and drink cocktails, have maids, and interact with doormen and policemen of lesser rank with the fond guileless condescension of privilege. The posh Lieutenant Weigand and his posh fiancée Dorian start the story casually at Club 21 and are on their way to a little elopement, long discussed, when interrupted by the police radio advising there's been a murder for police detective Weigand to investigate. It turns out the murder has taken place at a Broadway theater where there's a play in rehearsals and even the characters in the play are posh and have a "colored" maid. Everyone else at the theater will come under suspicion, but not the actress playing the maid, because apparently her social situation is so far removed from the whites that she doesn't even signify. I have to admit that, as a 21st century reader, I find the tone too smug to be entirely comfortable.
Nevertheless, the writing has many good qualities. Richard Lockridge (who did the actual writing, his wife Frances collaborating on situations, characters, plots, etc.) had a nice way of presenting subtext in the facial expressions and a nice sense of dramatic timing. It was a nice whodunit in the classic manner but with a few extra posh characters littering the scene, serving cocktails, serving as a Watson for the lead detective to discuss possibilities with, etc. I suppose if Ronald Coleman and Myrna Loy were playing one of the posh couples I could be happy with it, but on the page I found it a bit too much.
July 8, 2020
This time around, Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Bill Weigand makes Jack Bauer look like a slacker. In half the time it took Jack to get the job done, Bill Weigand solves a couple of murders and manages to postpone his elopement by a mere twelve hours. This is a fast-paced novel, which is a nice change from the first few, though the book does find time to get bogged down by side-tracking conversations, tedious red herrings, and coincidences that don't quite go anywhere. Also, the last minute "a North fell into mortal peril! oh no!" silliness returns, sadly, and the Lockridges triple down on the confusion (excuse me, "suspense") to keep the identity of the guilty hidden to the reader as long as possible. But I don't want to criticize this too much - it's a nice old-timey mystery. It shows its age a bit, particularly from a medical perspective, but this makes you awfully glad you live in the 21st century and not during World War 2, even with all our problems. Its fast pace keeps the story going quickly, though it doesn't quite give you enough time to learn who all the characters/suspects are (and the Lockridges have expanded the cast of possible suspects quite a bit this time), but that's not a problem: you know Bill is going to save the day. It dives right in and opens with Bill and Dorian, and that's a big improvement over the previous book. Possibly the best one so far.
July 14, 2024
Jerry and Pamela North, our protagonists, are often likened to Nick and Nora Charles, but they are really quite different. Nick and Nora were suave, sophisticated, upper-crust types, solving cases while delivering in clever quips. The Norths were more like a sit-com couple, with the husband often at a loss in trying to follow his mate's thought processes, but they got there in the end. In fact, this book was made into a movie, with Gracie Allen as Pamela. Here though, the setting isn't New York high society, but theatre, Broadway in particular. This, I think, is the book's real strength. Richard Lockridge was a theatre critic, and his familiarity with the process of mounting a show, trying to meld a disparate group of personalities into a successful production rings absolutely true. I guess some things never change. The physical nature of the building itself is crucial to the plot, and here again he knew what he was talking about. It's on the basis of the above that rated the book four stars, rather than three.
December 1, 2024
I've shelved many a Lockridge mystery in my career but had never read one.
This was a nothingburger. I was put off by the detective's schizoid investigation, professional and then turning to his friends, the Norths. Friends should never be part of a homicide investigation. And his sergeant sidekick's speech made him sound uneducated. Also, he called his boss "Loot'", short for lieutenant. In my professional, personal, and tv watching experience, a lieutenant is called "Lou."
The overuse of parenthetical expressions chopped up the flow of dialog and descriptions.
So many slightly boring characters, so many doorways, exits, entrances in the theater building itself thrown in to confuse the scene, but all together they were more mess than red herrings.
What I did like: our library acquired this book in March 2019 and apparently I was the first to read it in Nov 2024. The cover and pages were pristine!
This was a nothingburger. I was put off by the detective's schizoid investigation, professional and then turning to his friends, the Norths. Friends should never be part of a homicide investigation. And his sergeant sidekick's speech made him sound uneducated. Also, he called his boss "Loot'", short for lieutenant. In my professional, personal, and tv watching experience, a lieutenant is called "Lou."
The overuse of parenthetical expressions chopped up the flow of dialog and descriptions.
So many slightly boring characters, so many doorways, exits, entrances in the theater building itself thrown in to confuse the scene, but all together they were more mess than red herrings.
What I did like: our library acquired this book in March 2019 and apparently I was the first to read it in Nov 2024. The cover and pages were pristine!
June 21, 2020
Pam and Jerry North are at it again. They just happen to be at a pre-show of a new off-Broadway play when the angel (backer) of the show is murdered. The man is not very nice and there are several people (of course) with motives. Of course, it's not their fault that they are there when it happens but, now that they are, they're going to be involved in the mystery.
The mystery was maybe fairly clued but there was a lot of false information dropped in as well. I had heard about this case on the Classic Mysteries podcast. He is a little more appreciative of this book but my favorite parts were the interactions between Acting Captain Bill Weigand and his fiancee Dorian as they try to get married.
The mystery was maybe fairly clued but there was a lot of false information dropped in as well. I had heard about this case on the Classic Mysteries podcast. He is a little more appreciative of this book but my favorite parts were the interactions between Acting Captain Bill Weigand and his fiancee Dorian as they try to get married.
September 5, 2024
Having read all of Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn books, I have read a lot of theatrical mysteries in the last few years. I can't say that its a sub-genre that has held much appeal for me. However, I did quite enjoy this book. Its an example of a mystery that contains amateur sleuths, but they do not interfere with, or outsmart the actual police working on the case. It suffered from the usual oversharing with the general public that police are guilty of in these kinds of books, but I suppose that's impossible to avoid when its not a strict police procedural.
June 13, 2022
When I was a kid I remember watching reruns of The Thin Man TV show starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk as Nick and Nora Charles. In the 80s it was Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. I discovered Pam and Jerry North first thru episodes of the Mr. and Mrs. North radio show on the Sirius XM Radio Classics channel. Then repeats of the TV show on the Decades cable channel.
This was the first book in the series that I read. I chose it because it takes place in the theater industry. However their police friend Lt. Weigand had more of an active role than the Norths did. Pam didn't really have much of a role to play until the final chapters.
This was the first book in the series that I read. I chose it because it takes place in the theater industry. However their police friend Lt. Weigand had more of an active role than the Norths did. Pam didn't really have much of a role to play until the final chapters.
November 28, 2018
The frame for the story is detective Weigand and Dorian trying to get married - their plans are always interrupted by a murder. This time it is the backer - "angel" - of a play, killed with an ice pick during rehearsal. Of course the Norths are there, since Jerry represents the author, and of course they get involved. With the entire cast plus the offstage workers as suspects, there is a lot to unravel, especially after another murder, and a possibly attempted murder occur. And of course Pam manages to bump into the murderer at exactly the wrong time.... Enjoyable light read.
December 31, 2022
Searching for these titles in Goodreads makes it obvious how often the titles are reused... both A Pinch of Poison and Death on the Aisle pull up a slew of cozies. This aisle death, occurring in a theater, reminded me briefly of Ellery Queen's Roman Hat Mystery, mainly because the habits of theater people and their associates seem to be the same in the 1940's as in the late 20's (at least in NYC mysteries!) I'm always a little challenged by mysteries in playhouses, for no good reason except lack of personal familiarity- but the subplot of Dorian's ever-delayed wedding kept me engaged.
October 21, 2020
This 1942 mystery still makes for enjoyable reading. The cast of a new Broadway comedy of manners has a rude awakening when Mr. and Mrs. North begin to investigate a murder.
Comment:
This series was brought to my attention in the novel Cat Me if You can by Melinda James. Members of Charlie Harris' mystery book group praise the works of Frances and Richard Lockridge. Mystery lovers will find this novel reprinted in the American Mystery Classics published by Penzler Publishers
Comment:
This series was brought to my attention in the novel Cat Me if You can by Melinda James. Members of Charlie Harris' mystery book group praise the works of Frances and Richard Lockridge. Mystery lovers will find this novel reprinted in the American Mystery Classics published by Penzler Publishers
May 30, 2019
Survey reward | Basically a three-star book, that I'm bumping up. | While I suspected the correct killer, I wasn't entirely certain until the reveal was actually done, and that's rare enough for me that it warrants an additional star in the rating. I continue to enjoy the series, and that may be partly because I understand Mrs North perfectly well without the clarifications. Ha!
January 19, 2018
Found this edition at Powell's bookstore and was thrilled since it was a part of the series I had never read before; really enjoyed it as it filled out some of the backstory on some of the series characters.
September 22, 2020
I have been reading these in publication order and this is the best so far. Mrs. North has perfected the use of incomplete thoughts and sentences, leading to much confusion for those around her and much fun for us.
January 7, 2022
The murderer was obvious
The minute you knew everyone’s story the murderer was obvious. And, of course someone one else was murdered because they knew too much. This one felt rushed and I was not even impressed with the mystery. Also, why does Jerry ever let Pam out of his sight?
The minute you knew everyone’s story the murderer was obvious. And, of course someone one else was murdered because they knew too much. This one felt rushed and I was not even impressed with the mystery. Also, why does Jerry ever let Pam out of his sight?
June 13, 2022
A dramatic spin on the classic locked room mystery, in which the murder occurs during a play rehearsal and the suspects are all theater people - actors, director, writer, stagehands, etc.. Weigand solves it, with an assist from the Norths.
December 24, 2022
A neatly contained mystery, with the murder and solution all happening within a day. Mr and Mrs North seem like bit players in this novel, though.
The murderer wasn’t very surprising and seemed somewhat obvious.
The murderer wasn’t very surprising and seemed somewhat obvious.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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February 10, 2023Eh. After the hype from the introduction, I was ready to fall in love with Pamela North. Alas, I didn't.
I figured out the whole thing rather early on, but there were still parts I enjoyed.
I do like the fact that it was written by a husband and wife team.
I figured out the whole thing rather early on, but there were still parts I enjoyed.
I do like the fact that it was written by a husband and wife team.
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