About the authors: Richard Orson Lockridge (1898 –1982) was an American writer of detective fiction. Richard Lockridge with his wife Frances (1896-1963) created one of the most famous American mystery series, Mr. and Mrs. North. (wikipedia).
Major characters:
- Orson Otis, "Oh-Oh", our narrator
- Winifred Otis, "Pooh", his wife
- Paul J. Barlow, Pooh's uncle, VP of a cigarette company
- Pauline Barlow, his daughter
- Francis Eldredge, a cow farmer
- George Townsend, a neighbor, head of an ad agency
- Faye Townsend, his wife, a decorator
- Ann Dean
- Dwight Craig, Ann's ex
- Captain Heimrich
Locale: New York state
Synopsis: Oh-Oh (narrator) and Pooh are invited to a cocktail party at the home of their neighbors, George and Faye Townsend. They really don't want to go, but it's really hot and they have a nice pool. The party has a lot of tension. Wealthy Paul J. Barlow, VP of Blends cigarette company, had bought out Francis Eldredge's tobacco business, and Eldredge doesn't like the way he runs things. George Townsend has an ad agency, a contract with Barlow, and hints that he may pull of the contract. Ann Dean is surprised when her ex, Dwight Craig, shows up; and spends her time being snarky with him.
Oh-Oh and Pooh head out after putting in an appearance, and drinking a lot of the cocktails. They stop on the way home for more drinks, and decide to return to the Townsends to use their pool (in a remote area of the property), which is OK as they have a standing invitation to do so. As they swim, they find Barlow's body - shot. Captain Heimrich and the rest of the police arrive. Oh-Oh mentions that oh, by the way, he has a gun at home which is similar to the one used in the shooting, and when he gets home he finds it is missing.
Things get worse. The Otis' head over to Francis Eldredge's farm, and wind up getting shot at, and finding him dead. No gun, so it wasn't him doing the shooting. Now the Otis' have been the first to discover two bodies. And the are named for a $50k inheritance in Barlow's will!
Review: Oh, the 1950's cocktail scene. Have drinks after work, drinks at the cocktail party, and drinks on the way home. Everyone smoking at the same time. Too much. One beer is my limit.
Capt. Heimrich has an annoying manner of repeating everything he says, which got a bit old.
Readers who are younger than I should have some technical knowledge in order to understand this book, which I share here:
- Cars did not always have backup lights
- Cars used to have manual chokes which had to be set properly in order to start the engine
- Rural telephones used to be shared on party lines. Wikipedia describes them: Party lines provided no privacy in communication. They were frequently used as a source of entertainment and gossip. Sort of the internet of their day.
Also see this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.
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