A review by profaneprsefone
The Norths Meet Murder by Frances Lockridge, Richard Lockridge
3.0
I listen to my fair share of radio serials from the 40s & 50s, so when I tell you that Pam & Jerry North are my ride-or-die radiOTP, that means they beat out the likes of Richard Diamond/Helen Asher and George Valentine/Claire "Brooksie" Brooks to take the top spot, and for good reason.
So when I found out the radio serials and subsequent TV shows (currently available for free on Amazon Prime complete with the original voice actors) were based on a book series... it was a bit inevitable that I would end up here. So, let's discuss the Norths.
In addition to being written by real-life married couple Frances & Richard Lockridge (don't think I didn't notice that Frances got top billing there, love it), what is immediately apparent about the Norths is that they clearly have a marriage based on a rare level of mutual respect, especially considering that this first entry in the series was published in 1940.
It would have been very easy to write Jerry North as a typical "yes, dear" husband, and while it's true that he does have elements of that trope present in his character, the third-person omniscient narration present in the books really serves to elevate his character from trope-ier ground, devoting entire pages to Jerry's recognition that Pam thinks differently than other people and that he enjoys that about her instead of finding fault with it.
And again, it would have been very easy to confine this level of respect for Pam to Jerry alone, yet detectives Mullins and Weigand also recognize and respect her point-of-view, which makes this universe a sort of wish fulfillment for any woman or person that hasn't been taken seriously or given the respect they are due, which probably says more about me than it does about the book itself, but shush.
Then, there's Pam North herself. Pam could have been nothing more than "the quirky housewife," but she isn't. Of the pair of them, Pam is most likely to run headfirst into danger, she is the more assertive one, and when she is truly passionate about something (i.e. solving a truly difficult puzzle) she finds it very difficult to regulate her noticeable excitement (which becomes a matter of optics when most of the puzzles she's so excited about solving include one or more dead bodies, but again, shush.)
I think it's probably safe to say that Pam North has a bit of neurodivergence in her (or at least that's the way I read it), but it was the 1940s, so it's simply regarded as "thinking differently," which makes it all the more surprising and charming when everyone in her life simply regard her as insightful and admirable.
Now I must admit that I have the advantage of seeing this book as part of a larger Mr. & Mrs. North Broadcasting Universe (or the MAMNBU for short), so I can work backwards from what I already knew about the characters and see fragments of how their evolution began. I hate to say it, but I doubt that I would have been so excited about this particular and specific novel had I not known where they end up when their characters are bit more fleshed out. As it is, this novel is a perfectly diverting murder mystery, but if I didn't already have such an attachment to the characters, I doubt if I would have committed to picking up book #2. But who knows?
Side note, if you're going to read this book, I recommend having gin and dry vermouth on hand (and a lemon peel, ala Jerry North's school of mixology) because let me tell you, they drink so many martinis in this book, you'd think they were sponsored by Tanqueray. But if you're just looking for a quick, charming, turn-you-brain-off mystery to watch this spooky season, please do check out the TV show on Amazon Prime. If for no other reason than I think this series, in all its iterations, deserves more love.
So when I found out the radio serials and subsequent TV shows (currently available for free on Amazon Prime complete with the original voice actors) were based on a book series... it was a bit inevitable that I would end up here. So, let's discuss the Norths.
In addition to being written by real-life married couple Frances & Richard Lockridge (don't think I didn't notice that Frances got top billing there, love it), what is immediately apparent about the Norths is that they clearly have a marriage based on a rare level of mutual respect, especially considering that this first entry in the series was published in 1940.
It would have been very easy to write Jerry North as a typical "yes, dear" husband, and while it's true that he does have elements of that trope present in his character, the third-person omniscient narration present in the books really serves to elevate his character from trope-ier ground, devoting entire pages to Jerry's recognition that Pam thinks differently than other people and that he enjoys that about her instead of finding fault with it.
And again, it would have been very easy to confine this level of respect for Pam to Jerry alone, yet detectives Mullins and Weigand also recognize and respect her point-of-view, which makes this universe a sort of wish fulfillment for any woman or person that hasn't been taken seriously or given the respect they are due, which probably says more about me than it does about the book itself, but shush.
Then, there's Pam North herself. Pam could have been nothing more than "the quirky housewife," but she isn't. Of the pair of them, Pam is most likely to run headfirst into danger, she is the more assertive one, and when she is truly passionate about something (i.e. solving a truly difficult puzzle) she finds it very difficult to regulate her noticeable excitement (which becomes a matter of optics when most of the puzzles she's so excited about solving include one or more dead bodies, but again, shush.)
I think it's probably safe to say that Pam North has a bit of neurodivergence in her (or at least that's the way I read it), but it was the 1940s, so it's simply regarded as "thinking differently," which makes it all the more surprising and charming when everyone in her life simply regard her as insightful and admirable.
Now I must admit that I have the advantage of seeing this book as part of a larger Mr. & Mrs. North Broadcasting Universe (or the MAMNBU for short), so I can work backwards from what I already knew about the characters and see fragments of how their evolution began. I hate to say it, but I doubt that I would have been so excited about this particular and specific novel had I not known where they end up when their characters are bit more fleshed out. As it is, this novel is a perfectly diverting murder mystery, but if I didn't already have such an attachment to the characters, I doubt if I would have committed to picking up book #2. But who knows?
Side note, if you're going to read this book, I recommend having gin and dry vermouth on hand (and a lemon peel, ala Jerry North's school of mixology) because let me tell you, they drink so many martinis in this book, you'd think they were sponsored by Tanqueray. But if you're just looking for a quick, charming, turn-you-brain-off mystery to watch this spooky season, please do check out the TV show on Amazon Prime. If for no other reason than I think this series, in all its iterations, deserves more love.