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Lieutenant Nathan Shapiro #7
Write murder down
Write murder down by Richard Lockridge (1972-05
- GenresMystery
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
11 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Richard Lockridge
128 books25 followersAn American writer of detective fiction, Richard Lockridge's frequent collaborator was his wife Frances Lockridge, who co-wrote the Mr. and Mrs. North mystery series and other popular books.
The couple also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
The couple also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 27, 2015
A 3 1/2 star read. I have forgotten how delightful Richard Lockridge's books are. He originally wrote the Mr. and Mrs. North series with his wife, Frances. They began several other series, which he continued to write after Frances died.
This book stars Nathan Shapiro, a Jewish lieutenant in the NYPD. He always looks sad and he always feels ill-equipped to handle the murder cases he is assigned. This time the murder takes place in the world of publishing. One of the main characters is from the Deep South and the two worlds collide in Manhattan. Since the book was written during the time of the Civil Rights movement, we get comments about the political and social thoughts of the time.
This book is easy to read and is a light, enjoyable story for a hot summer day.
This book stars Nathan Shapiro, a Jewish lieutenant in the NYPD. He always looks sad and he always feels ill-equipped to handle the murder cases he is assigned. This time the murder takes place in the world of publishing. One of the main characters is from the Deep South and the two worlds collide in Manhattan. Since the book was written during the time of the Civil Rights movement, we get comments about the political and social thoughts of the time.
This book is easy to read and is a light, enjoyable story for a hot summer day.
August 7, 2020
Early Bird Book Deal | Read it for the series characters, not for the mystery | I enjoy this series, as I've enjoyed all the Lockridge books, but the mysteries in it are not as strong as in the Norths or the Heimrich books. I like Shapiro and Rose, Tony and Rachel, the flashes of Bill Weigand here and there, and other minor characters that get repeated. I like to get to know the neighborhood and watch it change subtly. But the murders are all quite straightforward.
September 17, 2018
Next in the Nathan Shapiro series. The body of an author is found in an apartment in the Village, in the tub with her wrists slashed, an apparent suicide. But appearances are deceiving...
Good story, like that the reader learns more about Shapiro and the rest of the cast with each book.
Good story, like that the reader learns more about Shapiro and the rest of the cast with each book.
January 9, 2013
Really rated 2 1/2 stars.
The blurb reads --
From the beginning it is a strange case. The autopsy report reads, "Unidentified female. Age late twenties or early thirties. Dead approximately 36 hours at the time of the post mortem examination. Cause of death, loss of blood. Toxicological analysis a massive dose of barbiturate prior to death."
The dead woman has been found in the bathtub of a Greenwich Village apartment with her wrists slashed. The apartment is almost empty and there are no personal effects -- nothing to identify her.
Lieutenant Nathan Shapiro begins the painstaking process of finding out who she is, and when he finally discovers she's the author of a best-selling novel, he shakes his head mournfully. What does he know about writers?
In (this book), Richard Lockridge takes Lieutenant Shapiro -- and the reader -- behind the scenes in publishing, to the world of agents, options, and contracts, where the fierce competition for a top best seller can lead to lies and deception and worse ...."
The opening pages introduce us to a police detective and his girlfriend, and she notices that one of her neighbors isn't where she usually is at that time of the evening. Next morning, the cleaning lady finds the neighbor dead, and the case is assigned to the detective.
This book is only 186 pages, and continues at the same leisurely pace. We take our time, building slowly, putting this piece of evidence with that interview, and receiving information from the detectives sent out to investigate. But I don't mind a slow read, especially if I like the setting and characters. The solution is obviously between only 2 suspects, though once we get the basic information about the victim I thought things were pretty clear. Only, we're getting awfully near the end .... The detectives go to talk with one of the suspects. Then they notice that one of his servants is a former convict. The suspect tries to escape, and they're forced to shoot him (he's only injured). Then, BAM! there we are, in the final chapter wrap-up and the detectives are explaining everything.
Hm. I realize that even in 1972 (when this was published) murder mysteries often had a final chapter In Which All is Revealed, but they're literally only guessing at the motive! The injured suspect did yell his head off during questioning, but not enough to count it as a full confession, so they still don't know exactly why or how he killed the victim. They don't even have any evidence to place him at the scene of the crime! And from legal information they got earlier, it seems to me that the suspect wouldn't have been able to reach the ends he committed murder to achieve.
I'm left shaking my head over this one. I really liked everything about this, the characters, the setting, the mystery; I can even see that the motive brought forward must be correct, but .... I presume that often the police have to guess at motives, and verisimilitude is needed when writing, but this is fiction, and with mysteries the writer has to have these things figured out so s/he can inform the reader!
So -- marked down 1 star.
Oh, OH! And one more thing -- At the beginning of the investigation, one of the main detectives arrives at the murder scene just as the crime lab guys are leaving, in fact he sees them out the door. Then he goes over the scene to see everything for himself (which of course, yes, he should do that) and finds a hotel key under the bed.
WHA-AT?!
Marked down another half star.
The blurb reads --
From the beginning it is a strange case. The autopsy report reads, "Unidentified female. Age late twenties or early thirties. Dead approximately 36 hours at the time of the post mortem examination. Cause of death, loss of blood. Toxicological analysis a massive dose of barbiturate prior to death."
The dead woman has been found in the bathtub of a Greenwich Village apartment with her wrists slashed. The apartment is almost empty and there are no personal effects -- nothing to identify her.
Lieutenant Nathan Shapiro begins the painstaking process of finding out who she is, and when he finally discovers she's the author of a best-selling novel, he shakes his head mournfully. What does he know about writers?
In (this book), Richard Lockridge takes Lieutenant Shapiro -- and the reader -- behind the scenes in publishing, to the world of agents, options, and contracts, where the fierce competition for a top best seller can lead to lies and deception and worse ...."
The opening pages introduce us to a police detective and his girlfriend, and she notices that one of her neighbors isn't where she usually is at that time of the evening. Next morning, the cleaning lady finds the neighbor dead, and the case is assigned to the detective.
This book is only 186 pages, and continues at the same leisurely pace. We take our time, building slowly, putting this piece of evidence with that interview, and receiving information from the detectives sent out to investigate. But I don't mind a slow read, especially if I like the setting and characters. The solution is obviously between only 2 suspects, though once we get the basic information about the victim I thought things were pretty clear. Only, we're getting awfully near the end .... The detectives go to talk with one of the suspects. Then they notice that one of his servants is a former convict. The suspect tries to escape, and they're forced to shoot him (he's only injured). Then, BAM! there we are, in the final chapter wrap-up and the detectives are explaining everything.
Hm. I realize that even in 1972 (when this was published) murder mysteries often had a final chapter In Which All is Revealed, but they're literally only guessing at the motive! The injured suspect did yell his head off during questioning, but not enough to count it as a full confession, so they still don't know exactly why or how he killed the victim. They don't even have any evidence to place him at the scene of the crime! And from legal information they got earlier, it seems to me that the suspect wouldn't have been able to reach the ends he committed murder to achieve.
I'm left shaking my head over this one. I really liked everything about this, the characters, the setting, the mystery; I can even see that the motive brought forward must be correct, but .... I presume that often the police have to guess at motives, and verisimilitude is needed when writing, but this is fiction, and with mysteries the writer has to have these things figured out so s/he can inform the reader!
So -- marked down 1 star.
Oh, OH! And one more thing -- At the beginning of the investigation, one of the main detectives arrives at the murder scene just as the crime lab guys are leaving, in fact he sees them out the door. Then he goes over the scene to see everything for himself (which of course, yes, he should do that) and finds a hotel key under the bed.
WHA-AT?!
Marked down another half star.
May 4, 2024
Once again Lieutenant Nathan Shapiro, the Eeyore of the NYD detective branch, is--according to him--in over his head. Captain Bill Weigand has this tendency to give Shapiro cases where he has to deal with people he just doesn't understand...from artists to actors and now authors. He just doesn't understand what a smart man like Bill Weigand is doing giving these investigations to a man who's just good with a gun. But as Weigand points out to him (for the umpteenth time), he always manages to get his man (or woman as the case may be) without needing his gun.
When Miss A. Jones is found dead in her apartment--an apparent suicide involving pills and slit wrists--homicide detective Nate Shapiro is given the case because of one little detail. The body is chock full of barbiturates and there is nary a pill or pill bottle in the near-empty room. Finding a room key for the Algonquin Hotel leads Shapiro to the discovery that Miss A. Jones is really Miss Jo-An Lacey, a recent best-selling author. Apparently Miss Lacey was using the apartment as a writing hide-away. But the typewriter she worked on and the huge stack of typewritten pages containing what was meant to be her next best-seller have disappeared. Shapiro, assisted by his right-hand man Detective Tony Cook, is going to have to make his way through the foreign world of publishers, agents, options and contracts. A world where someone just might kill to get their hands on a sure-fire best-seller...and most likely has.
Despite his woe-is-me attitude, I like Nate Shapiro. He is a very smart and observant man (his own opinion notwithstanding). He knows when something doesn't look or sound right and when the clues aren't adding up to the obvious solution. But I really like Detective Tony Cook. His work on the cases and his relationship with Rachel really make the Shapiro books for me. It would have been interesting if Lockridge had decided to bring Cook to the forefront in a series of his own. He and Shapiro work very well together and have a good relationship beyond the work. Lockridge is very good with characterization and even characters who aren't on stage for long seem like real people. Since Lacey and her brother (who is on the scene because he had been worried about a lady like his sister being at the mercy of a Northern big city) are Southerners (deep South Southerners--dilapidated family plantation and all), Lockridge is able to provide an interesting contrast to his usual cast, as well as make some subtle comments on race. There are unpleasant racial stereotypes in play--but Lockridge makes it clear where he stands on the subject. Our heroes always look askance at anyone who employs such language and make it clear that they don't hold with such views.
My one complaint about this (and several of the Lockridge books) is the lack of real suspects. There aren't many to choose from, so the mystery itself isn't terribly complex. The real difficulty as far as I can see is proving it. I'm just not sure the District Attorney is going to have a solid case to go to court. ★★★ and 1/2 [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog My reader's Block.
When Miss A. Jones is found dead in her apartment--an apparent suicide involving pills and slit wrists--homicide detective Nate Shapiro is given the case because of one little detail. The body is chock full of barbiturates and there is nary a pill or pill bottle in the near-empty room. Finding a room key for the Algonquin Hotel leads Shapiro to the discovery that Miss A. Jones is really Miss Jo-An Lacey, a recent best-selling author. Apparently Miss Lacey was using the apartment as a writing hide-away. But the typewriter she worked on and the huge stack of typewritten pages containing what was meant to be her next best-seller have disappeared. Shapiro, assisted by his right-hand man Detective Tony Cook, is going to have to make his way through the foreign world of publishers, agents, options and contracts. A world where someone just might kill to get their hands on a sure-fire best-seller...and most likely has.
Despite his woe-is-me attitude, I like Nate Shapiro. He is a very smart and observant man (his own opinion notwithstanding). He knows when something doesn't look or sound right and when the clues aren't adding up to the obvious solution. But I really like Detective Tony Cook. His work on the cases and his relationship with Rachel really make the Shapiro books for me. It would have been interesting if Lockridge had decided to bring Cook to the forefront in a series of his own. He and Shapiro work very well together and have a good relationship beyond the work. Lockridge is very good with characterization and even characters who aren't on stage for long seem like real people. Since Lacey and her brother (who is on the scene because he had been worried about a lady like his sister being at the mercy of a Northern big city) are Southerners (deep South Southerners--dilapidated family plantation and all), Lockridge is able to provide an interesting contrast to his usual cast, as well as make some subtle comments on race. There are unpleasant racial stereotypes in play--but Lockridge makes it clear where he stands on the subject. Our heroes always look askance at anyone who employs such language and make it clear that they don't hold with such views.
My one complaint about this (and several of the Lockridge books) is the lack of real suspects. There aren't many to choose from, so the mystery itself isn't terribly complex. The real difficulty as far as I can see is proving it. I'm just not sure the District Attorney is going to have a solid case to go to court. ★★★ and 1/2 [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog My reader's Block.
October 16, 2010
A writer is found dead, apparent suicide, that becomes apparently a murder as the investigation continues. Shapiro and Cook team up to find the murderer and their partners.. Rachel and Rose also help provide useful information.
Wonderful descriptions of New York, and this time visitors from the deep South. A well written book and another one that makes Shapiro reach for any small clue in which to build a case and solve the mystery. This story shows how much work by many people in various places helps to solve crimes. The great sifting of clues to provide a picture of the victim and those who benefit from her death.
Wonderful descriptions of New York, and this time visitors from the deep South. A well written book and another one that makes Shapiro reach for any small clue in which to build a case and solve the mystery. This story shows how much work by many people in various places helps to solve crimes. The great sifting of clues to provide a picture of the victim and those who benefit from her death.
August 16, 2012
Detective Tony Cook and Lt. Nathan Shapiro are assigned to investigate the murder of a writer from the South who has brought her latest book to a publisher in New York City.Not many murders to solve but a lot of intrigue.
March 31, 2011
greedy publisher
August 27, 2014
Fun for getting a vintage 1970's-noir feel.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews