"The Dishonest Murderer"

Now here's a title for a murder mystery that sounds a bit odd, doesn't it? The Dishonest Murderer surely reflects a peculiar way of looking at a violent crime such as murder, right? And yet here's a case in which the entire setting of the murder - from its victim, to the method of murder, to the setting where the body was found - all seemed wrong. And that's at the heart of the mystery in The Dishonest Murderer, by Frances and Richard Lockridge. The Dishonest Murderer is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

Readers old enough to remember the glory days of radio and television drama may well remember the radio mysteries - and later television shows - centered around the characters of Pam and Jerry North, a husband and wife team who always seemed, somehow, to get involved in murder cases. As the article about the Norths in Wikipedia points out, quite accurately, “They were not professional detectives but simply an ordinary couple who stumbled across a murder or two every week for 12 years.” Most of the time, they would wind up helping their police friends solve the case. 

The Norths carried out their investigations in more than two dozen books, written by Frances and Richard Lockridge. The Dishonest Murderer appeared in 1949. The Norths become involved in the search for the murderer of a United States senator, who was found dead in a doorway on the seedy Bowery in New York City. The murder was bad enough - but what intrigued Pam North in particular - and eventually led to the solution of the case - was that the setting for the crime was all wrong. Why was the senator, who had been expected at his fiancee's New Year's Eve party, walking around on the Bowery, dressed in ill-fitting and disreputable clothes? Why was he given a drink laced with knockout drops and left to die of exposure in an unlighted doorway?

For those who are new to the Norths, and I must admit that I can't remember reading one of the Lockridges' books before, The Dishonest Murderer is a good way to meet a couple of very nicely drawn, intelligent protagonists. The supporting cast are also very well characterized, and readers will find themselves liking most of these people and wishing them well. The Lockridge books are mostly out of print, alas, but The Dishonest Murderer is available as an inexpensive ebook for the Kindle (and, I would presume, in other electronic formats as well). You'll enjoy their company.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Les - I think I remember reading some of Lockridge's work, but I've not read this one. It sounds like an intriguing story. A wrong setting - that's interesting! Let's hope more of these are re-released.

[Les Blatt]

I think you'd enjoy this one, Margot. A very good plot - and some really good characters, too. I do wish more of these were available!

[Yvettespaintbox]

Les, I believe I read a couple of Mr. and Mrs. North books last year, early on or maybe the year before. I enjoyed them but they are difficult to find in book form. I remember the television series most of all - it was great fun.

I'll keep an eye out for this one, thanks for the reminder.

[Les Blatt]

They are indeed hard to find in book form, Yvette, which is why I was so pleased to find this one, at least, available as an e-book. I'd like to see more of that - out-of-print works brought back in electronic format, so that they become available to a new generation of readers.