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Mr and Mrs North Books In Order

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Publication Order of Mr. and Mrs. North Books

Mr. and Mrs. North (1936)Description / Buy at Amazon
Mr. and Mrs. North (1936)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Norths Meet Murder (1940)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Out of Turn (1941)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Pinch of Poison (1941)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death on the Aisle (1942)Description / Buy at Amazon
Hanged for a Sheep (1942)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death Takes a Bow (1943)Description / Buy at Amazon
Killing the Goose (1944)Description / Buy at Amazon
Payoff for the Banker (1945)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death of a Tall Man (1946)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Within Murder (1946)Description / Buy at Amazon
Untidy Murder (1947)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Is Served (1948)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Dishonest Murderer (1949)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder in a Hurry (1950)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Comes First (1951)Description / Buy at Amazon
Dead as a Dinosaur (1952)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death Has a Small Voice (1952)Description / Buy at Amazon
Curtain for a Jester (1953)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Key to Death (1954)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death of an Angel / Mr. & Mrs. North and the Poisoned Playboy (1955)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder, Murder, Murder: The Norths Meet Murder / Murder Out of Turn / A Pinch of Poison (1956)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder, Murder, Murder: The Norths Meet Murder / Murder Out of Turn / A Pinch of Poison (1956)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder, Murder, Murder: The Norths Meet Murder / Murder Out of Turn / A Pinch of Poison (1956)Description / Buy at Amazon
Voyage Into Violence (1956)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Long Skeleton (1958)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Suggested / Murder is Suggested (1959)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Judge is Reversed (1960)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder Has Its Points (1961)Description / Buy at Amazon
A North Quartet: The Long Skeleton / Murder is Suggested / Murder has its Points / Murder by the Book (1963)Description / Buy at Amazon
Murder by the Book (1963)Description / Buy at Amazon

The “Mr. and Mrs. North” series by Richard and Frances Lockridge are from the detective fiction genre. The two characters originated in vignettes written by Richard Lockridge for the New York Sun during the thirties, and brought them back for stories that appeared in the New Yorker. They were later collected in the year 1936 into a book called “Mr. and Mrs. North”.

Richard teamed with his wife, which increased his readership, and together they wrote a novel, “The North Meets Murder”, which was released in the year 1940. The police plays a larger role in the book, while the Norths play a supporting role. The series ended after 26 novels, when “Murder by the Book” was released in the year 1963. it ended due to Frances’ death.

It was during the year 1937 that Frances came up with a plot for a detective novel, but was struggling with the characters in the novel. Richard helped her out by adding the characters he created for the New Yorker. The Norths were named for dumb people that played north hand in bridge problems.

The couple are both amateur detectives, but the series is unique because Mrs. North solves the cases, while Mr. North is in the background for much of the story. Jerry works in the book publishing field as a day job, while Pam is not easily nailed down. That being said, she is sharp enough, it is a wonder she doesn’t cut herself.

It is from this series that the “Lt. Heimrich” series comes from, as he is a character that appears in the second book of this series. All four of the couple’s series they wrote took place in the same universe.

The series has been adapted for radio, the stage, film, and television. A play written by Owen Davis, which ran in the year 1941, would be turned into a movie that starred Gracie Allen and William Post, Jr. The series was also adapted for television, and it lasted for two seasons. This time around, Barbara Britton and Richard Denning played the leads.

“The Norths Meet Murder” is the first novel in the “Mr. and Mrs. North” series, which was released in the year 1940. The top-floor studio of the Norths old house where they live is deemed a hip place to throw a party by Mrs. North. It is because of this that she has her husband go with her to check it out.

They open one of the doors, and discover a man that has been murdered in the tub. There are no clues, not even the corpse’s identity. They have nowhere to start from but the Norths themselves and Pete (the couple’s black cat). Detective Weigand starts spinning his web and pulls some amazing information into it. With some help from the hunches Mrs. North has, he is able to carry out an entertaining, brilliant, and fascinating conclusion to the story.

Fans of the novel found this to be a great start to the series. The novel hardly shows its age at all, and this sets up things for future installments nicely. The suspects are engaging characters, and the reader is left not wanting any one of them to be guilty.

“Death on the Aisle” is the fourth novel in the “Mr. and Mrs. North” series, which was released in the year 1942. Broadway is a graveyard, that is for sure, more in men’s hopes than their bodies. It is hard to imagine that anyone could have it in for any angel. But the wealthy backer of the play was skewered in a neat fashion during the dress rehearsal, and Pam North turned right up onto the scene.

This is her customary flair for murders that turns toward the eccentric. Their buddy, Lieutenant Bill Weigland, finds the Norths ready to help out, with their tangential suggestions and illogical logic when he turns up.

This book is populated with some great characters, just like the rest of this series. Fans of the novel found this to be a light and lovely mystery where you guess who the killer is early on, but are led astray. The book is fun, especially the characters and the way the Norths and their buddies interact with one another and between the theater folk, too. There is only a bit of suspense, no gore or sexual moments.

“Payoff for the Banker” is the eighth novel in the “Mr. and Mrs. North” series, which was released in the year 1945. Mary Hunter finds George Merle’s corpse in her home, and the police find out that Merle is her former boyfriend’s dad and Mary ends up the prime suspect.

Merle was the president of a bank as well as a philanthropist. The Norths and Weigand get together and discover the banker had a darker side to him.

Fans of the novel found this to be a nicely plotted mystery story, and especially nice to see Weigand solve the case before Pam did. This is a series of books that is fun to return to so that you can remind yourself of what the atmosphere of New York was during the forties and fifties with some interesting characters.

“Murder is Served” is the twelfth novel in the “Mr. and Mrs. North” series, which was released in the year 1948. Tony Mott has been murdered. He is a financier and womanizer that has bought into a famous place called Maison Maillaux. This has upset the long lived and carefully balanced the pricey French restaurant has known.

He grew tired of Peggy, his most recent younger wife and begins living with another woman. Her name is Elaine Britton. This is right before he pulls his backing from Weldon Carey, a young playwright. This is right before a play was scheduled to appear in an off-Broadway house, and it featured his newly abandoned wife in one of the leading roles.

Fans of the novel found this to be quite a delightful read, for sure. Some, who like to be surprised by the end, definitely were by the end of this one. They felt they were on the right track, just like Pam, and ignored every other suspect in the book.

Book Series In Order » Characters » Mr and Mrs North

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