Murder Comes First by Richard and Francis Lockridge

Pam and Jerry North received a letter which contained the announcement that Pam's maiden aunts from Cleveland were stopping in New York on their annual trip to Florida for the winter. The letter arrived on the morning of the day that the aunts were coming so Pam and Jerry made hasty preparations and met aunts Thelma, Pennina and Lucinda Whitsett at Grand Central Station.

The aunts wanted to visit their old friend Grace Logan while they in New York. This was something which they did every year on their annual trip to the city. They went to Grace's apartment and had a nice chat. The maid brought in a very pleasant tea. Grace took her usual vitamin pill with her tea and shortly afterwards died in a very unpleasant manner.

The police arrived and accused Aunt Thelma of putting a cyanide capsule in Grace's vitamin bottle because some twenty years earlier, Thelma had been disappointed when Paul Logan had married Grace instead of her. Pam, Jerry, and their friend Lieutenant Bill Weigand did not believe that she could have held a grudge for so long a period, and Aunt Thelma was released from police custody.

It was determined that the cyanide capsule could have been put in the vitamin bottle within the two weeks prior to the death. There were several people who had access to the bottle during this time. Grace Logan had a son, Paul Logan, whom she seemed to control even though he was in his twenties. She also had a niece Sally whom she had raised and who was now married to Barton Sandford, a biochemist. Sally had decided that their marriage had come to an end and she had driven off somewhere - nobody was quite sure where. She could be in Missouri or she could have returned to New York. Grace had also had a companion, Rose Hickey, who had been with her for five years. Rose had left just a few days before - reason unknown. Rose had a daughter, Lynn, who had an apartment of her own, but she did come to visit her mother at Grace's apartment. Lynn and Paul Logan wished to get married, but Grace Logan certainly did not approve of this.

Pam North just could not resist getting involved in the solution of the crime especially when the police found a bottle of cyanide capsules in Aunt Thelma's luggage and accused her again of the murder. Aunt Lucinda, who was a great reader, believed that she found the solution of the crime in a book that she had read and set off to solve the murder. Pam and Dorian Weigand followed Lucinda hoping to keep her safe. Jerry and Bill Weigand then joined the mad cap chase by following Pam and Dorian.

I have always been a great fan of Pan and Jerry North, and I did enjoy this book. The sophisticated Norths present a pleasant change from more gruesome mystery novels. The book was first published in 1951. It is out of print, but used copies are available.