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Mr. & Mrs. North #11
Untidy Murder
It took a long time for her to understand where she was and what had happened to her. At first she was conscious only of a dull pain where one of the men had hit her; and then the jouncing motion, and the darkness surrounding her. It came to her suddenly that she was locked up in the trunk of a car and they were taking her somewhere!I certainly did it this tie, Doris Weigand thought. It was so clever of me to do a little detecting on my own for my husband. "Darling! I'll never do it again, darling. Oh, Bill, find me and get me out of here!"A gay and lively mystery full of giddy hi-jinks featuring a beautiful kidnapped woman, two sinister and misguided thugs, and the untidy case of the man who fell (?) out of a very high window.
329 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
41 people are currently reading
107 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 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 20, 2021
Cocktails! 🍸
While enjoying their usual round of martinis, the Norths takes time out of their thirsty schedule to help Lieutenant Weigand and Detective Mullins solve another mystery.
This time it is Dorian Weigand whose life is in danger when she is kidnapped by a couple of “idiots,” but whom are still dangerous.
While submitting some art samples to Esprit Magazine, the editor speedily resigns by jumping out of his window.
Unknowingly, by stepping into his office, Dorian, and his secretary, are assumed to have witnessed his dive, by someone who has something to hide.
So, what was first thought of as a suicide or an accident, now becomes a murder investigation.
Knowing that he is unable to prevent the Norths, especially Pam, from interfering in his search for his missing wife, the kidnappers and the murderer, Bill Weigand allows them to do as much as they will and hope it’s successful.
Since, he is in a great state of stressful discomfort and fear of the possible suffering of his wife, any brain work from others is tremendously acknowledged.
However, as the day wears on and Dorian is not rescued, it begins to look and feel that what Dorian has witnessed may cause the end of her.
While enjoying their usual round of martinis, the Norths takes time out of their thirsty schedule to help Lieutenant Weigand and Detective Mullins solve another mystery.
This time it is Dorian Weigand whose life is in danger when she is kidnapped by a couple of “idiots,” but whom are still dangerous.
While submitting some art samples to Esprit Magazine, the editor speedily resigns by jumping out of his window.
Unknowingly, by stepping into his office, Dorian, and his secretary, are assumed to have witnessed his dive, by someone who has something to hide.
So, what was first thought of as a suicide or an accident, now becomes a murder investigation.
Knowing that he is unable to prevent the Norths, especially Pam, from interfering in his search for his missing wife, the kidnappers and the murderer, Bill Weigand allows them to do as much as they will and hope it’s successful.
Since, he is in a great state of stressful discomfort and fear of the possible suffering of his wife, any brain work from others is tremendously acknowledged.
However, as the day wears on and Dorian is not rescued, it begins to look and feel that what Dorian has witnessed may cause the end of her.
September 5, 2025
It would be much too easy to give away too much in this eleventh book in the series featuring Pam and Jerry North and their pal, sympathetic Lieutenant William Weigand. Weigand’s wife, fashion artist Dorian Hunt, heads to Espirit magazine to drop off some drawings to the publication’s art director, Paul Wilming. However, before she can do so, Wilming goes out of the high-rise building’s window. Initially, the death is ruled a suicide, but — well, there wouldn’t be a book if that were the case, would there?
Untidy Murder proved super-suspenseful — too much so, as I stayed up way too late reading it.
Untidy Murder proved super-suspenseful — too much so, as I stayed up way too late reading it.
June 9, 2018
Previous Review [read from public library pre-blogging] I absolutely love the Lockridge mysteries. They are light and breezy..but always satisfying! And Pam & Jerry North are my favorite of the various repeating characters. Much better than Nick & Nora Charles any day.
Review from 2018:
In Untidy Murder (1947) by Frances & Richard Lockridge, Pam and Jerry North must use all their intuition and sometimes goofy logic to help their friend Lt. Bill Weigand solve the murder of art director Paul Wilming and find Bill's wife--who has been snatched by two sinister yet hopelessly misguided thugs.
Dorian Hunt (aka Mrs. Bill Weigand) is invited to the snazzy offices of Esprit magazine to deliver examples of her fashion drawings. She has high hopes of selling her work to the art director, Paul Wilming, once he has a chance to see what she can do. He never gets that chance. Just moments before Dorian is shown to his office, he is on his way out the very high window of his office. The first policemen on the scene assume he jumped--though why he'd choose to do so right before an important appointment is anybody's guess--and they handle the case as a suicide, soon sending Dorian on her way home.
But when Lt. Bill Weigand arrives home, she's not there. He immediately back tracks over her day...landing at the offices of Esprit magazine and the tail-end of the "suicide" investigation. As soon as Pam North hears about it, she's certain that Dorian must have seen or heard something and the murderer has grabbed Dorian to prevent her from sharing her knowledge with the police. The rest of the story is race against time as Bill gathers evidence that points to murder in the hopes that it will lead him to his wife. The point of view moves back and forth between Bill & the Norths and Dorian & her captors until it leads to a surprising climax which explains exactly who did what with what and to whom.
The vast portions of shifted point of view are a departure for the Lockridges. Other stories find brief passages (usually when Pam finds herself in danger because she's jumped without looking), but this book follows Dorian vs. her captors for much longer periods of time. It really was very nice to get more of her point of view since she so often plays a very minor supporting role to her husband and the Norths.
The Lockridge books--not only the North series, but Heimrich and the others as well--are some of my comfort reading. I pick them up when I want light entertainment and an enjoyable read. Sometimes a very clever twist or plot point is included, but that's definitely not the point of these books for me. If I want clever plots that might mystify me, I'll turn to Christie or Carr...or others. But the Lockridges provide me with comfortable reads with old friends. ★★★ and 1/2. Rounded to four here.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Review from 2018:
In Untidy Murder (1947) by Frances & Richard Lockridge, Pam and Jerry North must use all their intuition and sometimes goofy logic to help their friend Lt. Bill Weigand solve the murder of art director Paul Wilming and find Bill's wife--who has been snatched by two sinister yet hopelessly misguided thugs.
Dorian Hunt (aka Mrs. Bill Weigand) is invited to the snazzy offices of Esprit magazine to deliver examples of her fashion drawings. She has high hopes of selling her work to the art director, Paul Wilming, once he has a chance to see what she can do. He never gets that chance. Just moments before Dorian is shown to his office, he is on his way out the very high window of his office. The first policemen on the scene assume he jumped--though why he'd choose to do so right before an important appointment is anybody's guess--and they handle the case as a suicide, soon sending Dorian on her way home.
But when Lt. Bill Weigand arrives home, she's not there. He immediately back tracks over her day...landing at the offices of Esprit magazine and the tail-end of the "suicide" investigation. As soon as Pam North hears about it, she's certain that Dorian must have seen or heard something and the murderer has grabbed Dorian to prevent her from sharing her knowledge with the police. The rest of the story is race against time as Bill gathers evidence that points to murder in the hopes that it will lead him to his wife. The point of view moves back and forth between Bill & the Norths and Dorian & her captors until it leads to a surprising climax which explains exactly who did what with what and to whom.
The vast portions of shifted point of view are a departure for the Lockridges. Other stories find brief passages (usually when Pam finds herself in danger because she's jumped without looking), but this book follows Dorian vs. her captors for much longer periods of time. It really was very nice to get more of her point of view since she so often plays a very minor supporting role to her husband and the Norths.
The Lockridge books--not only the North series, but Heimrich and the others as well--are some of my comfort reading. I pick them up when I want light entertainment and an enjoyable read. Sometimes a very clever twist or plot point is included, but that's definitely not the point of these books for me. If I want clever plots that might mystify me, I'll turn to Christie or Carr...or others. But the Lockridges provide me with comfortable reads with old friends. ★★★ and 1/2. Rounded to four here.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
September 10, 2019
This is the tenth "Mr and Mrs North" I've read and my least favorite. I like traditional detective fiction, but books that are touted as "thrillers" are usually too disturbing for me. Unfortunately, this book falls into that category because it involves the kidnapping of a woman by two violent criminals. By the time she's rescued, 85% of the book is over. NOT for me, thanks.
As fans of the series know, Dorian Hunt is a friend of the Norths, who introduced her to Lt. Bill Weigand of the NYPD. Dorian and Bill are now happily married, but she pursues her career as a commercial artist, using her maiden name. She's asked to bring her portfolio to the offices of a magazine where an assistant editor has expressed interest in her work. But when the friendly receptionist shows her into Mr. Wilming's office, he's not there. A glance out the large, open window explains why. Wilming has fallen, jumped, or been pushed out the window and is now on the sidewalk. He'll never again buy artwork for "Esprit" or any other magazine.
The set-up at "Esprit" is odd. Eccentric head editor Buford Stanton is devoted to the magazine, but not to the people who work for him. He's a nervous man and never satisfied with the status quo. He's decided to fire the late Mr. Wilming and has just told him. The shock of being fired and the recent death of Wilming's mother are put forward as reasons for suicide. The local precinct detective swallows the argument and the case is closed.
Dorian Hunt is surprised that Stanton and Wilming's assistant (and successor) Donald Helms are so eager to insist that Wilming's death was a suicide, although she's seen nothing to prove otherwise. But it wasn't suicide and someone suspects that Dorian and the receptionist are witnesses to murder. Within a few hours, the receptionist has been silenced and Dorian abducted. The kidnappers are low-level criminals and laughably inefficient, but there's nothing funny about their willingness to use torture to get information they can sell. And once they realize they've kidnapped cop's wife, their panic makes them more dangerous than ever.
Dorian Hunt is fragile in appearance, but she's a former top-seeded amateur tennis player. She's strong, wiry, and determined. Unfortunately, she's also out-numbered and her captors are armed. It's a terrifying situation for her and for her husband and friends, who believe they're racing against the clock to save her.
As always, Pam North knows some things about the people involved. And what she doesn't know, she suspects. Bill Weigand can't afford to ignore her ideas. He has little enough to go on and the clock is ticking. It is, indeed, an "untidy murder". Someone has set a trap to murder Wilming, but plans change and the resourceful murderer is forced into a quicker, but riskier solution. But who wanted him dead and why?
Pam North is convinced the case revolves around the promiscuity of Helms' lovely wife. However, there's no real evidence that Mrs. Helms and Wilming were lovers or that her husband objected to her amorous activities. Maybe one of her other lovers went on the warpath. A messy situation and not a good one for Dorian Hunt to be caught up in.
It's not a bad book. It's well-written with interesting characters. But there's not as much humor as in other books in this series and the two kidnappers are frightening and disgusting. If you like "thrillers" you'll enjoy this one, but it's not really typical of this very good series of mysteries.
As fans of the series know, Dorian Hunt is a friend of the Norths, who introduced her to Lt. Bill Weigand of the NYPD. Dorian and Bill are now happily married, but she pursues her career as a commercial artist, using her maiden name. She's asked to bring her portfolio to the offices of a magazine where an assistant editor has expressed interest in her work. But when the friendly receptionist shows her into Mr. Wilming's office, he's not there. A glance out the large, open window explains why. Wilming has fallen, jumped, or been pushed out the window and is now on the sidewalk. He'll never again buy artwork for "Esprit" or any other magazine.
The set-up at "Esprit" is odd. Eccentric head editor Buford Stanton is devoted to the magazine, but not to the people who work for him. He's a nervous man and never satisfied with the status quo. He's decided to fire the late Mr. Wilming and has just told him. The shock of being fired and the recent death of Wilming's mother are put forward as reasons for suicide. The local precinct detective swallows the argument and the case is closed.
Dorian Hunt is surprised that Stanton and Wilming's assistant (and successor) Donald Helms are so eager to insist that Wilming's death was a suicide, although she's seen nothing to prove otherwise. But it wasn't suicide and someone suspects that Dorian and the receptionist are witnesses to murder. Within a few hours, the receptionist has been silenced and Dorian abducted. The kidnappers are low-level criminals and laughably inefficient, but there's nothing funny about their willingness to use torture to get information they can sell. And once they realize they've kidnapped cop's wife, their panic makes them more dangerous than ever.
Dorian Hunt is fragile in appearance, but she's a former top-seeded amateur tennis player. She's strong, wiry, and determined. Unfortunately, she's also out-numbered and her captors are armed. It's a terrifying situation for her and for her husband and friends, who believe they're racing against the clock to save her.
As always, Pam North knows some things about the people involved. And what she doesn't know, she suspects. Bill Weigand can't afford to ignore her ideas. He has little enough to go on and the clock is ticking. It is, indeed, an "untidy murder". Someone has set a trap to murder Wilming, but plans change and the resourceful murderer is forced into a quicker, but riskier solution. But who wanted him dead and why?
Pam North is convinced the case revolves around the promiscuity of Helms' lovely wife. However, there's no real evidence that Mrs. Helms and Wilming were lovers or that her husband objected to her amorous activities. Maybe one of her other lovers went on the warpath. A messy situation and not a good one for Dorian Hunt to be caught up in.
It's not a bad book. It's well-written with interesting characters. But there's not as much humor as in other books in this series and the two kidnappers are frightening and disgusting. If you like "thrillers" you'll enjoy this one, but it's not really typical of this very good series of mysteries.
October 7, 2022
Definitely not one of the better books of this series. It had the feel of a short-short story padded out to novel length. The main characters repeat themselves over and over and over for no reason I can see other than to pump up the word count. To make it worse, there’s little to no witty banter, no missed cues, no humorous misunderstandings. Just lots and lots of blah-blah-blah.
September 26, 2019
My rating: 3 1/2 stars/out of 5 stars “Untidy Murder” is the eleventh book in the Mr and Mrs North series. It is best you have read other books in the series . This book centers around the kidnapping of Lt. Bill Weigand’s wife Dorian . You need to know the characters well to fully enjoy this book. There was a surprising lack of suspense in this book. The kidnapping thugs were menacing enough, but the main question is who had hired them to take Dorian and why. She had gone to an office for a business meeting. The man Dorian was set to meet was unavailable because he had recently gone out the skyscraper window...
October 29, 2019
Early Bird Book Deal | Not standard for the canon, but still works. | When authors of cozy mysteries branch out into espionage or thriller or other genres, I don't generally find that it works. In this case, it's still a cozy mystery, it's just masquerading as a thriller as the kidnapping gets going. I did suspect that the resolution was going to go another way, knowing that it was a bit unlikely because of publication date, and the actual denouement was somewhat unsatisfying, but I read this series for the characters, so I'm not mad at it.
June 14, 2021
Another excellent entry in the Mr. and Mrs. North series. It's not as humorous as some of the earlier books; however, the kidnapping of Bill Weigand's wife, Dorian, is a darker subject than some of the earlier ones. Martini is still my favorite character. And I always enjoy a cozy mystery. Recommended.
December 31, 2022
I do love Dorian Weigand, and it's fun to see her show her mettle. It's also fun to get a peek into the world of contemporary illustrators, and women in business in the 1950's. Poor Bill spends the entire novel in a state of understandable stress, but when the stakes are high, Pam's delightful brain still works.
October 4, 2021
Usually in this series, it is the long-suffering Pam North that gets bonked on the head or shot at or ineptly strangled....but in this book it is poor Dorian's turn to get roughed up and kidnapped. I'm just waiting for the cats to get manhandled in the next book in the series. ;)
January 20, 2026
Not my kind of mystery. It's more suspense than mystery and, because of that, I found that it just started to drag. The outcome was obvious, so it was more tedium than suspense, even.I finally just skipped the middle third or so.
January 19, 2018
Totally enjoy this series, a lot of which I own. This one I didn't so purchased the Kindle edition. Am planning on re-reading the whole series, or as many as I can.
December 16, 2022
Pretty good if dated now.
April 2, 2023
This mystery is really good! It’s a bit light on the Norths and heavier on Dorian and Weigand, but a suspenseful story with a lot of variety
January 1, 2025
I am coming to the end of the Mr. and Mrs. North books that my library has available, and when I get there, I will be sad. These are so fun.
September 11, 2009
Artist Dorian Hunt is visiting the offices of Esprit magazine when the art director commits suicide. But two men are following Dorian--not knowing that she's also the wife of Homicide detective Bill Weigand. When Dorian doesn't come home, and doesn't show up for a date with friends Pam and Jerry North, Bill realizes something is terribly wrong.
February 5, 2017
This one had a wicked twist at the end that really made the book for me. A magazine editor is dead. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? Dorian Weigand is kidnapped, a receptionist is murdered, and a booby trap nearly kills two people. It takes a lot of police work from Lt Bill Weigand and Company along with some intuitive guesses from Pam North to solve this one.
December 24, 2024
Enjoyable
I really enjoy these stories. Dorian and Bill Weigand are lovely, and Pam and Jerry are hilarious. The Norths are fun. It was a good solid twisty story. And these can be read in any order.
I really enjoy these stories. Dorian and Bill Weigand are lovely, and Pam and Jerry are hilarious. The Norths are fun. It was a good solid twisty story. And these can be read in any order.
March 31, 2011
excellent suspense, novel death trap
October 23, 2021
Keeps your attention
Nice to have found an entertaining series that keeps a fast pace and is not full of gore and cussing.
Nice to have found an entertaining series that keeps a fast pace and is not full of gore and cussing.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews