Richard Lockridge

When Winifred and Orson Otis went swimming nude just before dawn, the last thing they expected was to be sharing the pool — especially with Winifred's uncle who was by now quite dead. And when the Otises later uncovered another corpse, Captain Heimrich of the state police thought it wise to keep an eye on the young couple. And it's a good thing, since by this time, the Otises had engaged in their own brand of reluctant, but effective sleuthing.

Children's picture book. A shy new cat named Sammy helps Marta adjust to the move to a new house.

Lieutenant Shapiro investigates suspicious death of Broadway actor.

Veterinarian found dead in surgery by ML.

Roger Claye, rancorous right-wing political columnist for the New York Sentinel, made his reputation by sounding off about the breakdown of law and order all around him. They broke down, unfortunately for Mr. Claye, early one morning in his own office, when someone put a bullet through his head. It's definitely a front-page murder case, and Lieutenant Nathan Shapiro and Detective Tony Cook of Homicide, Manhattan South, hardly have a chance to begin their investigation before someone again turns the Sentinel's offices into a shooting gallery. Who's behind it? A left-wing terrorist group? The curiously dry-eyed, philandering widow of the late Mr. Claye? Or is the culprit a disgruntled employee of the newspaper? This is one of Shapiro and Cook's toughest cases, and one they solve brilliantly with a clue as simple as a streak of light.

Advertising exec falls out window, could be accident, cid but wife, partner, secretary, author all stand to gain. Lieutenant Shapiro investigates.

Clayton Carter was one of the best reporters in the business and head of IBC's news department. Even during his off-duty hours he carried his 'gimmick' — a tiny television set to monitor other IBC news programmes. Carter's gimmick did a good job of keeping him informed; it did an even better job of killing him when somebody tampered with it. Assistant District Attorney Bernie Simmons takes a personal interest in the subsequent investigation. Police Captain John Stein has his own theory about the killing. He's zeroing in on the estranged Mrs Carter and her gentleman friend, a vice-president of IBC — and Bernie agrees they had a motive in the money and IBC shares that Mrs Carter will inherit. But there are still too many unexplained detailssome telephone-tapping, a briefcase full of hundred-dollar bills, and a mystery man trying to pull off a baffling masquerade. This deftly plotted and intriguing novel explores some timely topics: government pressure on the news media, invasion of privacy, and the acquisitive greed of large conglomerates.

Assistant DA Simmons seeks the truth of the murder/jewel heist he is prosecuting, particularly when his friend and lead defense attorney Lewinsky is murdered in his sight.

Famous southern writer found dead (? suicide) in Greenwich village apartment, her new manuscript missing. Lieutenant Shapiro investigates.

Inspector Merton Heimrich of the New York State Police is not the sort of man who would willingly leave his work to take a leisurely winter vacation—until his wife contracts pneumonia. Because the doctor thinks Susan should convalesce in a warmer climate, Heimrich puts in for leave and they embark on a Mediterranean cruise. Susan perks up immediately. The accommodations are luxurious, the food is excellent, and they find themselves surrounded by interesting people. Among them, Sir Ronald Grimes and his beautiful young wife. Sir Ronald is retiring from the diplomatic service and planning to become a country squire, puttering in his rose garden Somebody changes those plans. When Sir Ronald disappears, the ship's captain calls on the inspector for help. Heimrich begins to suspect that the Englishman has gone overboard—with a helping hand—and his suspicions are heightened when a murder is uncovered on board. "And it was being such a lovely holiday," Susan sighs. But for Heimrich, the vacation IS off. The luxury liner becomes a tracking ground as he sets out after an elusive killer and finds, along the trail, the bits and pieces of what begins to look like an international intrigue...

Evangelical Christian preacher murdered in NYC in "the village brawl" - lieutenant Shapiro sifts through the likely suspects for the murderer.

Returning to his car after a university Faculty Club dinner, Professor Emeritus Walter Brinkley finds in the back seat the body of General Philip Armstrong, chairman of the university's board of trustees. Armstrong's head has been bashed in and his face covered with a pig mask. The general might have been killed by rioting students—or he might have been murdered by a professor who was to be fired because of his liberal views. The problem is given to Assistant District Attorney Bernie Simmons and Lieutenant John Stein, who find the road to the solution full of twists and turns that neither they nor the reader expect. In this provocative and intriguing mystery Richard Lockridge takes on the generation gap and college dissidents—and, with his usual skill, proves that he is the equal of them all.

Ben Sanders jumps out of a tenth-story window in New York, effectively ending his life, and leaving his wife, Carol, the beneficiary of his estate, provided she is not under psychiatric care at the time of his death. Carol isn't. But in the weeks following Ben's death (an accident? suicide?), she begins to wonder if she shouldn't be. And her doubts about her sanity multiply when she begins a trip to visit Ben's family in Florida. How else can she explain the disappearance of her cat, or hearing Ben's favorite song played over and over in the next motel room? And there are other sinister happenings waiting for her. With Richard Lockridge weaving his usual net of suspense, neither the reader nor Carol solves the problem until it's almost too late.

The ad in the small weekly was seemingly innocent and poignant: "For Sale: Wedding dress. Size 10. Never used." But why, asked the editor of the Van Brunt Citizen, would a childless middle-aged couple, newcomers to Westchester County, have a wedding dress to sell? His question finds its mark in New York State Police Inspector Merton L. Heimrich, who can never let riddles go unchallenged. Heimrich's first stop on the way to the answer is the accidental death, a year before, of the couple's daughter. But was it an accident, or did someone make the horse shy and throw the girl into the stone wall? Heimrich can't be sure, and his questions multiply when he runs smack-dab into a suicide (?) and a sniper waiting for another girl on a lonely, rain-swept road.

The cocktail party for The Guardian's editorial staff was no occasion for celebration. One by one, most of them were privately told that their services would no longer be needed by the United Broadcasting Network, new owner of the popular magazine. Bryan Colley seemed to enjoy giving people the sack—or so it evidently appeared to the person who brained Colley in his office with the statue of a fisherman whose rod was made of steel. Police named Assistant Fiction Editor Nora Curran the obvious suspect; but couldn't it be that they'd been served with a plate of red herrings?

It all starts when Joan Mead receives an unexpected telephone call on the afternoon of March tenth.... Joan Mead looks more like a model than a member of the New York bar. But when she finds herself the number one suspect in a brutal murder, the young attorney discovers she needs every bit of her legal skill. Joan accepts an invitation to spend the weekend with her widowed aunt, who had been a famous columnist before she retired. Arriving at the lovely old Connecticut home, she finds her aunt, Ruth Mead Carson, dead from a shotgun blast at close range. From the window, Joan spies a curious-looking man approaching the house carrying a spade and a pickaxe. Why? Is he planning to dig a grave? Joan doesn't wait to find out. She runs for her life and the chase is on—with the police tagging her as the culprit-—and the killer tagging her as his next victim.

Tensions have been rising in the conservative community of North Wellwood, New York, ever since African American lawyer Thomas Peters moved to town with a plan to open a desegregated country club. Those in opposition are determined to see Mr. Peters’s plan fail at all costs—going so far as to harass liberal newcomers like Eric and Ann Martin, and commit vile acts against those who dare to support equality, like widow Faith Powers. Called in to investigate Mrs. Powers’s shocking murder, recently promoted Inspector Heimrich soon finds himself caught in the storm that has taken over North Wellwood. Now, if he wants to see justice served, he’ll have to make it out of a hate-fueled powder keg that’s ready to explode . . . [mysteriouspress.com]