Stout, Rex Books

Trio for Blunt Instruments (Nero Wolfe Mysteries)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Some flaws, but fair puzzles 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

None of the 3 cases herein occur during the same year, one each occurring in 1960, 1961, and 1962. The common factor is, of course, that in each case a blunt instrument (speaking loosely) serves as a murder weapon.

"Kill Now, Pay Later" - Pete Vassos, roving shoeshine guy, regularly visits the brownstone. On this occasion, he left the offices of Mercer's Bobbins early, since Dennis Ashby (one of his regular customers) had just fallen to his death from a window. After a brief interlude as a suspect (Ashby was attempting to seduce Pete's daughter Elma, a stenographer with the company), Pete is found murdered, and Elma hires Wolfe to investigate. The fee is low, but the Vassos family hero-worships him.

The title quote is a comment made by Joan Ashby in the style of her late husband's favorite advertisements; he was a womanizer and deep in debt, although he'd saved the company from disintegration. Some of Wolfe's ploys include having his client as a guest in the South Room, and arranging for her to sue several suspects plus Cramer (!) for defamation.

"Murder Is Corny"- Adapted for A&E's 2nd Nero Wolfe season. Wolfe starts this case in a bad mood - farmer Duncan McLeod's specially picked guaranteed fresh corn-on-the-cob shipment (one every Tuesday in season) didn't show up in time for dinner. When Cramer appears at the door later that evening with the missing crate, they learn that Ken Faber has been found murdered in the alley behind Rusterman's while delivering their corn (Wolfe's still trustee). Naturally, they unloaded the corn before calling the cops. Cramer leaves with Archie in custody as a material witness - Faber had been spreading rumors about Susan's chastity, and Archie's now implicated in the murder by various lies told to the cops. While I like this story, I think it contains several clunkers in human behavior, especially known quantities on the staff of the restaurant, who should have tipped Wolfe off about the corpse before Cramer got to him.

"Blood Will Tell" - An odd item turns up in Archie's personal correspondence rather than Wolfe's - a letter on James Neville Vance's private stationery asking that he keep the enclosure until called for: an expensive necktie, stained with something that might be blood. Checking out this message from a stranger, who denies having sent it, Archie is present when the corpse of the promiscuous Bonny Kirk is found in her apartment in Vance's building - literally smashed by a bottle of vodka. When her estranged husband later asks to hire him, Wolfe accepts immediately - why is he convinced of Martin's innocence?

Three for the Chair (The Rex Stout Library: a Nero Wolfe Mystery)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

As usual, brilliant 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I just finished this book, but could have recommended it before opening it. As a long-time reader of Stout, I can tell you that his plotting is impeccable, his denouements unfailingly surprising and his command of the language masterful. The first story, "A Window for Death," has long been one of my favorites, featuring as it does Stout's usual suspects--class, money and sexual tension--in the story of a black sheep returning to the fold and mysteriously dying. The other two tales are tasty, too; in "Immune to Death," Stout's lazy and unwilling detective, Nero Wolfe, gets involved in an international fight over oil rights, and in "Too Many Detectives," he is caught in an investigation regarding illegal wire tapping. I will read a Stout--any Stout, even the occasional romance novel--again and again, whenever I get my hands on one, and I always pass them around to anyone who loves a mystery. They're fast, hilarious, arrogant, profoundly unrealistic and fun, with the air of an old comic thriller movie, like Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" or one starring Edna Mae Oliver. Don't be put off by the undercurrent of misogyny, I'm a flaming, old-school feminist and if I can laugh at such sheer ridiculousness, so can you.

Editorial Review:

A vast fortune in uranium, international diplomacy and intrigue, and a female detective become the focus of a trio of mysteries featuring epicurean sleuth Nero Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin. Reissue.

Some Buried Caesar

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Archie Meets His Match 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

And it's not Hickory Caesar Grindon, the bull, either. This early Wolfe introduces Archie to his lifelong companion Lily Rowan.

Lily sticks with Archie (God knows why) for the rest of the series, which means from 1939 to 1975.

Some would say that Archie should be ashamed that he never makes an honest woman of Lily - I mean, isn't 36 years long enough? But that shows that they've not understood Lily - or Archie, for that matter.

Lily is a classic proto-feminist. She is independent and wilful. SHe thinks and acts for herself. Marriage, as she would define it, poses unacceptable terms to her: having to conform her actions to the expectations of someone else.

A great pleasure was seeing Kari Matchett play Lily in the much-lamented A&E series on Nero Wolfe. She was perfect: beautiful, self assured, charming and very much her own woman.

Oh, the story: a prize bull is killed and so is another person associated therewith...Wolfe, already grossly inconvenienced and in a highly uncomfortable place, must unravel this to assure that Archie does not languish in a provincial prison.

And, of course, a relationship begins which lasts a lifetime. The language and the characters in this story are irresistable, and Michael Prichard does his usual, wonderful job in capturing the spirit of Rex Stout's writing.

It's a story that stands up to multiple listenings. Enjoy!

Editorial Review:

A prize bull, a restaurateur's tacky publicity stunt, a family feud (among the bull's owners), and the death of a family scion pit Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin against a special breed of killer. Reissue. NYT.

Not Quite Dead Enough (The Rex Stout Library: a Nero Wolfe Mystery)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Oldie and Goodie 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

My father got me hooked on these books. They are extremely well written and just fun to read. Anyone who just wants a good mystery without all the sex and swearing will love these books.

Wartime 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Everything was different during World War II. Wolfe decided that he would trim down and shoot some Germans, but instead ended up working for General Carpenter and Military Intelligence.

Thus we have these stories. Many reviewers pan them; I actually think they add a lof of depth and character to the series as a whole.

I suppose the notion of a pink hand grenade (Booby Trap) sets a few people's teeth on edge. Well, if you want something top secret, it might as well be nonconventional, no?

These are good stories, well, written, and worth your attention. Michael Prichard does his usual great job in reading them, too.

Averages out 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"Not Quite Dead Enough" and "Booby Trap" are the two novellas in this collection. The first is most interesting for the various machinations of the characters involved: Archie is trying to get Wolfe to give up his "training" and assist the army with his brain rather than his physical prowess (although the picture of Wolfe and Fritz exercising and eating salad is a memorable one.)and Lily Rowan is desperately trying to get army officer Archie back into her life( a departure from the more sophisticated relationship she and Archie have in later novels.)Both of these subplots work better than the rather slight mystery which is as little challenge to the reader as it is to Wolfe.
The second story is a bit more interesting. In the investigation of the murder of an army officer via hand grenade, Wolfe is confronted with a number of possibilities and a few characters who are not as they appear on the surface. Although it ends with the suicide of the murderer plot device that is used a bit too often in Stout's work, this one balances out the weaker first novella well.

Editorial Review:

involving national security, Nero Wolfe must set the traps that will catch the pair of wily killers responsible. Reissue. NYT.

Black Orchids (Nero Wolfe Mysteries)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of my favorite Nero Wolfe mysteries 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I thought Black Orchids was one of the best Wolfe mysteries...it is definitely one of my favorite (along with fer de lance and over my dead body). If you like Nero Wolfe in general, you'll definitely like Black Orchids.

Excellent Tale 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

THis combines all the eccentricities and quirky habits and mannerisms of the famous detective. Readers are already familiar with his obsession with orchids. Now we have a whole case revolving around them which makes for a good intro. Despite the age of the reissue, the dialogue is wonderfully fresh and the whole work has an air of film noire.

As usual, the problem is solved through an intellectual contest. A good read.

Editorial Review:

A remarkably rare black orchid at a flower show lures Nero Wolfe from his comfortable brownstone. But before the detective and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, can stop and smell the roses, a diabolically daring murder puts a blight on the proceedings. The murderer to be weeded out is definitely not a garden-variety killer.

Wolfe must also throw his considerable weight into another thorny case, this one involving a rich society widow bedeviled by poison-pen letters -- and a poisonous plot as black as Wolfe's orchids with roots even more twisted.

"Like the orchids he so avidly cultivates, Nero Wolfe is one of mystery writing's most prized ornamentals." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)

Three Witnesses

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Three Tales of Death and Deduction 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Nero Wolfe may be enjoyed through the media of print, audio, and video--in print courtesy of Bantam Books; on audio courtesy of Durkin Hayes, Radio Spirits, and Books on Tape; and on video courtesy of A&E Network. It's hard to say which way gives the most pleasure. As much as I like the A&E shows, and as much as I like Durkin Hayes' editions of the CBC radio shows, I think the best way to enjoy Nero Wolfe is in print. And the best way to enjoy him in print is in Rex Stout's novelettes. The novels are good, but the novelettes are tauter, faster-paced, and funnier. "Three Witnesses" serves up three very good novelettes. In "The Next Witness" Wolfe sits uncomfortably in a crowded courtroom, under subpoena, and waiting to give truthful testimony which he expects will materially contribute to the conviction for murder of an innocent man. What to do, what to do? Flee the courtroom, dodge the arrest warrant issued for contempt of court, and bring the real murderer to justice before the judge can bang his gavel down on a sentence of imprisonment for contempt. That sounds easy enough, doesn't it? In "When a Man Murders", a millionaire returns from the dead to retrieve the fortune which was divided among his heirs and reclaim the "widow" who has entered into a much happier second marriage. The "widow" comes to Wolfe for his assistance in obtaining a divorce from her recently resurrected spouse. Not to worry, he almost immediately dies again, but the widow's new husband is arrested for murder. Wolfe must penetrate a web of lies to determine who among the heirs had the most to gain from the millionaire's second death. In "Die Like a Dog" an improbable chain of coincidences brings Nero Wolfe together with Nero the Labrador Retriever. Together they unravel a murder mystery, reunite a couple, and retrieve Archie Goodwin's raincoat. "Die Like a Dog" and "The Next Witness" have both been televised on the A&E series.

Editorial Review:

In three cases--a millionaire who writes his own death warrant, a dog who becomes a killer's worst enemy, and an answering service which refuses to talk about a murder--three witnesses hold the solution for detective Rex Stout. Reissue.

The Second Confession (The Rex Stout Library: a Nero Wolfe Mystery)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Good book, key 2nd part of the Zeck trilogy 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Second Confession is another in the long line of Nero Wolfe novels. The story begins with a man coming to Wolfe and asking him to prove that the man his daughter is dating is a communist so he can force the two to break up. Wolfe wisely amends the terms of the deal by opening it up to include any facts that would make him unacceptable to the daughter rather than limiting it to communism. When he begins digging into the man's past, it raises the ire of a man named Arnold Zeck (who previously appeared in And Be a Villain (Crime Line) (Crime Line)). Zeck is a powerful crime lord reminiscent of Professor Moriarty and when Wolfe fails to stop investigating he has the orchid room destroyed by machine gun fire to make his point. From here, there are many twists and turns until the mystery is solved and justice is served.

Archie sparkles as always while investigating first the background and then the murder of the possible communist with gangster ties. When he tries to slip a mickey into the drink of one suspect so he can search the guy's room, he gets a nasty surprise that is so entertaining that it alone is worth buying the book for.

Some reviewers suggest that the mere investigation of someone's possible status as a communist makes this book dated. I really don't see that. By this definition, any old detective story is dated because they don't have cell phones, hair and fiber analysis, etc. All stories set during WWII would be dated by mere mention of Nazis. That's just silly. It is one thing for a story to be clearly set in a past time, which this one is. As long as the story itself still works and is entertaining than I personally do not consider it dated.

While I would not rate this as one of the very best Nero Wolfe novels, it is far from the worst. The story moves along nicely and there is a good deal of the trademark humor that makes the series so enjoyable. It is also the second of three Arnold Zeck books and this one is referred to quite often in the third part, In the Best Families (Crime Line). If you are interested in reading that book, you would do well to read this one first.

Editorial Review:

When a millionaire businessman hires the sedentary detective to snoop on his daughter's boyfriend, Wolfe finds himself caught in a labyrinthine case involving drugged drinks, murderous debutantes, and a gangland boss. Reissue.

Over My Dead Body

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Hvale Bogu! 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is, at once, one of the best books in the series and one which translated brilliantly to TV on the A&E series.

Rex Stout decides to deal us a little shock in this one: Nero Wolfe, woman-hater, has a daughter he's not seen since she was a baby. She comes from Yugoslavia to New York, unknown to her pops, and gets into a real tight spot involving murder by "coldymort."

When Archie learns this, he considers resigning on the basis of his boss's morals. You just have to read this one to find out.

Or, again, buy the A&E series - they did a great job here.

First rate Nero Wolfe 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book hits on all cylinders. The plot is excellent, intricate but clear. The characters are well drawn. The atmosphere, New York on the eve of World War II, is almost palpable. The dialogue is perfect. I'm at a loss as to what else to say about the book except, "Read it."

A Britsh undercover agent is murdered at a Manhattan fencing school, skewered by an epee with a gizmo attached that turns it into a weapon sans blunt end. Yugoslav women who are instructors there are possible suspects, one of whom is Nero Wolfe's adopted daughter from his days as an ill advised Austrian agent in the Balkans, pre World War, before we started numbering them. This alone is a startling revelation about Wolfe. Wolfe slender? Youthful? Abroad, outside, involved with people? I was astonished.

As usual, the beer drinking, orchid collecting, erudite, corpulent food lover Nero Wolfe declines, under any circumstances, to leave his brownstone abode with a greenhouse rooftop for his rare flowers. Using Archie, his assistant, as legs, Wolfe solves the baffling case. I knew he would. He's solved all the other mysteries in the Nero Wolfe books I've read.

Mystery fans who have not read mysteries from the golden age (pre-1950) do not know what they are missing. There is no sex to lure the lascivious reader, very little violence, no profanity. What there is (and this book is an excellent example of the sub-genre) is intelligence.
That's a rare commodity in most modern mysteries.

Editorial Review:

When a woman claiming to be Nero Wolfe's long-lost daughter gets into trouble over some missing diamonds, Wolfe, along with his sidekick, Archie, becomes involved in a world of international intrigue. Reissue.

Where There's a Will

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Where Ther's a Will 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Another in the fine collection of Nero Wolfe mysteries> I have enjoyed them all.

A stylish mystery from days gone by 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

There's a famous family, an old fortune, a sudden death and a mysterious will. All the ingredients for a good whodunnit, and Rex Stout makes the most of them. Nero Wolfe behaves like the temperamental genius he knows he is, while his assistant Archie cracks wise and resigns every few pages. Their interplay is delightful. Even more than a mystery, this is an evocative tale of New York during the Depression. Heiresses were celebrities. The common folk took cabs everywhere, ate meals in drugstores and used payphones. Everyone complains about the heat because no one has air conditioning.

Nero Wolf 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was a very good story .. I am a big fan of Nero's Wolf's
He and Archie have become like familiy ...

Editorial Review:

Investigating the bizarre will of late multimillionaire Noel Hawthorne--who left the bulk of his estate to his mistress and nearly nothing to his three sisters--astute sleuth Nero Wolfe stumbles upon a legacy of murder. Reprint.

And Four to Go (Crime Line)

Rex Stout

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Nero Wolfe--A.C.E. Detective 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Nero Wolfe is constantly getting himself into fixes through three character flaws. Arrogance, Cupidity, and Eccentricity. He must then shake off his indolence and use his intelligence to extricate himself from whatever predicament he stumbles into. Frequently he must extricate himself through the device of an elaborate caper designed to expose a killer while simultaneously burying his embarrassment.

Each of the four stories in this book has as its centerpiece an elaborate caper. In two of the stories Wolfe engineers a caper to extricate himself from danger; in the one the caper places him in danger; in the fourth, he is victimized by a caper and solves the mystery through sheer force of logic and deduction.

In "Christmas Party" Wolfe's fear that Archie is going to marry causes him to masquerade as Santa Claus and become prime suspect in a murder. In "Easter Parade" Wolfe's envy of a rival orchid grower causes him to stoop to petit theft and become embroiled in a murder mystery. In "Fourth of July Picnic" Wolfe discovers a murder at a picnic, attempts to flee without reporting it, and must expose the murderer before he himself gets arrested for obstructing justice. In "Murder is No Joke" Wolfe provides all the usual suspects with an ironclad alibi. How can he break an alibi that he himself provides?

Classic murder mysteries rarely bear any resemblance to reality. I've handled hundreds of homicide cases over the years, and the puzzles presented by real life homicide investigations bear no resemblance whatsoever to the puzzles presented in murder mysteries. You can imagine my pleasure on finding that Wolfe solved one of the mysteries in this book with exactly the same stratagem employed in a case that I prosecuted years ago. I've long since lost track of the investigator who solved that little mystery, but if I ever see him again, I'm certainly going to ask him if he has ever read any Nero Wolfe.

Editorial Review:

Nero Wolfe must track down a killer who murders his victims only during holidays and who, so far, has left Wolfe with four puzzling cases to unravel. Reissue. NYT.