Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. and Mrs. North | 1936 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 2 | The Norths Meet Murder | 1940 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 3 | A Pinch of Poison | 1941 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 4 | Murder Out of Turn | 1941 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 5 | Death on the Aisle | 1942 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 6 | Hanged for a Sheep | 1942 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 7 | Death Takes a Bow | 1943 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 8 | Killing the Goose | 1944 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 9 | Payoff for the Banker | 1945 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 10 | Death of a Tall Man | 1946 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 11 | Murder Within Murder | 1946 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 12 | Untidy Murder | 1947 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 13 | Murder Is Served | 1948 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 14 | The Dishonest Murderer | 1949 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 15 | Murder in a Hurry | 1950 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 16 | Murder Comes First | 1951 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 17 | Dead as a Dinosaur | 1952 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 18 | Death Has a Small Voice | 1952 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 19 | Curtain for a Jester | 1953 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 20 | A Key to Death | 1954 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 21 | Death of an Angel / Mr. & Mrs. North and the Poisoned Playboy | 1955 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 22 | Murder, Murder, Murder: The Norths Meet Murder / Murder Out of Turn / A Pinch of Poison | 1956 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | N/A |
| 23 | Voyage Into Violence | 1956 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 24 | The Long Skeleton | 1958 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 25 | Murder Suggested / Murder is Suggested | 1959 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 26 | The Judge is Reversed | 1960 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 27 | Murder Has Its Points | 1961 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
| 28 | A North Quartet: The Long Skeleton / Murder is Suggested / Murder has its Points / Murder by the Book | 1963 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | N/A |
| 29 | Murder by the Book | 1963 | Richard & Frances Lockridge | Buy |
The Mr. and Mrs. North series follows Jerry and Pam North, a married couple living in Greenwich Village, New York City. Jerry is a book publisher and Pam is his quick-witted, intuitive wife. They have a talent for stumbling into murder cases, much to the frustration of their friend, NYPD detective Bill Weigand, who handles the official investigation.
Pam North is the real star of the series. She thinks in odd leaps of logic that confuse everyone around her but often lead straight to the solution. The books have a warm, humorous tone that sets them apart from darker crime fiction of the same era. The Norths’ relationship is affectionate and playful, and their cats (a revolving cast of felines) are recurring characters.
Richard and Frances Lockridge launched the series with a short story collection in 1936, then turned it into a novel series with The Norths Meet Murder in 1940. The books were enormously popular through the 1940s and 1950s, leading to adaptations for stage, film, radio, and television. The final entry, Murder by the Book, appeared in 1963, the same year Frances died.