The Mrs. Norris Mysteries Series

In Grand Master of crime fiction Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s second Mrs. Norris novel, which the New York Times hailed as “tensely perplexing,” the crime-solving Scottish housekeeper helps crack the case of a serial lady-killer As housekeeper to James Jarvis’s recently deceased father, a retired major general of the US Army, Mrs. Norris has raised Jimmie since boyhood. Now the Wall Street lawyer faces a challenging case. The son of one of the firm’s old blue-blood clients has been slapped with a paternity suit. But Teddy Adkins swears he never slept with the woman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Norris is miffed when her gentleman friend Jasper Tully, the widowed chief investigator for the Manhattan DA’s office, cancels one dinner date after another because a real estate magnate has been found strangled in the bedroom of her Upper East Side apartment. Jewelry was stolen, but there are no signs of a break-in. Tully’s investigation turns up a trail of strangulations that extends all the way to the Midwest. As Mrs. Norris pursues her own unorthodox investigation, she uncovers a shocking link between the cases that threatens her very life. A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the second novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include Death of an Old Sinner, Old Sinners Never Die, and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. A Gentleman Called is the 2nd book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A Grand Master of crime fiction, Dorothy Salisbury Davis introduces the redoubtable crime-solving Scottish housekeeper Mrs. Norris in this thrilling tale of family secrets and murder General Ransom Jarvis is writing his memoirs about a distinguished career that spanned five continents and three wars. Along the way, he stumbles upon a scandal about a philandering ancestor—America’s ambassador to England who went on to become president of the United States. But a very clear and present danger embroils the irascible retired general in a deepening quagmire of deceit, fraud, and murder.  Enter Mrs. Norris, the housekeeper who has been almost a mother to Ransom’s son since he was a boy. Jimmie is currently running for governor of New York and enjoying his budding relationship with sculptor Helene Joyce. A sudden death changes everything, plunging Jimmie and Mrs. Norris into a bizarre case headed up by Jasper Tully, chief investigator for the Manhattan district attorney’s office. With more lives at stake, the trio follows lead after lead into a web of crime that only the canny housekeeper can clean up in the nick of time. Death of an Old Sinner is the first novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award; Old Sinners Never Die; and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. Death of an Old Sinner is the 1st book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. 

Grand Master of crime fiction Dorothy Salisbury Davis brings back the beguiling character Major General Ransom Jarvis in this third Mrs. Norris Mystery, a prequel, which immerses the redoubtable crime-solving Scottish housekeeper in a murder investigation in the nation’s capital With a new president in the White House, Major General Ransom Jarvis suspects that his retirement from the US Army is imminent. But at Washington’s annual invitation-only Beaux Arts Ball, the decorated soldier becomes an unwitting pawn in a far-reaching conspiracy. It begins when Ransom meets Virginia Allan, a beautiful blonde with secrets. And there is something decidedly shady about Frenchman Leo Montaigne. As Ransom starts to uncover damning intel about DC’s most powerful movers and shakers, the town is suddenly rocked by murder. Now Ransom’s son, Jimmie, a freshman congressman, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Norris, are risking their necks as they conduct their own fact-finding mission in a city rife with patriots, spies, and deadly political wannabes. Old Sinners Never Die is the third novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include Death of an Old Sinner; A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award; and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. Old Sinners Never Die is the 3rd book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.