Richard and Frances Lockridge were very prolific when they wrote as a team--putting out three to four books a year. Richard kept the pace up when he found himself on his own. Here's another Lockridge book from my birth year (to help fulfill the Challenge): Die Laughing. This one stars Lt. Nathan Shapiro...a cop who just happens to be good with a gun and who (as he sees it) gropes his way through situations that he just doesn't understand and some sort of luck just happens to help him solve. It certainly can't be because he's good at his job. The situation in question this time is a death in the world of the theatre--completely out of his realm.One of New York's leading ladies, Jennifer Singleton, has been killed and it seems the police have this one all sewn up. Her gardener is caught running away from the scene with more money in his possession than he would seem to have a right to. But Nathan's wife, Rose, knows the boy and convinces the lieutenant that the case deserves another look. Off he goes into the mysterious world of playwrights and actors and, of course, comes up with an Emmy-award winning final scene with the culprit.
The Lockridges didn't write about Lt. Shapiro as often as the Norths and Inspector Heimrich, but when they did readers were always in for a treat. It amazes me how these authors could give the readers so many different slices of New York life...from the City to the country-side (Heimrich), they never seem to put a foot wrong. The Shapiro books aren't quite as light and breezy as the other series, but there is still a vein of humor running throughout. Three and a half stars out of five.
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