Why did the late multimillionaire Noel Hawthorne leave his sisters, April, May, and June, a peach, a pear, and an apple? Why did he will the bulk of his considerable estate to a woman who was most definitely not his wife? Now Nero Wolfe, able, astute, and unscrupulous detective that he is, must get to the bottom of a will that’s left a whirlpool of menace . . . and a legacy of murder that’s about … about to be fulfilled.
Introduction by Dean R. Koontz
“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review
A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained—and puzzled—millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.
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I’ve read and reread all these books. Great plots and wonderful characters. I love this stuff.
Can you call the activities of a man who won’t leave his home to work, who won’t see clients during the two periods of the day when he tends his orchid collection “exploits”? Nero Wolfe must be the least active detective ever dreamed up, yet Rex Stout’s inventive mind and gift for urbane dialog make these novels intensely entertaining. Archie Goodwin does all the legwork and tells us the story, while Wolfe gets the credit. I especially enjoy the details of life in the 1930s and ’40s.
Rex Stout is a new favorite author in this genre. The joy of reading is in the development of the characters. The story structure mimics the Sherlock Holmes formula, but to good effect.
Rex Stout’s formula for Nero Wolfe novels always works. His story lines are fresh and often surprising. It does not matter if the time is in the late 1930s or later the interaction between Wolfe and Goodwin are entertaining and Wolfe always comes up with the answers despite all the cunning and obfuscation of the culprit. Excellent writing about a person and place we would hope was really with us today.
a great read
If you like Nero Wolfe, this is a good one, very faithful!
Stout’s characters are both predictable and engaging at once. Wolfe is brilliant, but stubborn, opinionated and sedentary. Archie is impatient yet the near-perfect amanuensis. Cramer is the hot-tempered bulldog career cop. Saul the perfect chameleon. Et cetera.
I’ve read Rex Stout for many years. Most of his books I have are paper back so I’m very pleased to finally be able to get those “oldies but goodies” on kindle.
I’m a great fan of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolf series. Excellent read.
Another great story staring Archie and crew. Nero Wolfe took his time getting engaged, but the story moves fast with a surprise ending.
I like all the Nero Wolfe books
Maybe best of this series.
Great read
Just a chance to reread about my favorite detective. Classic.
A great read. Highly recommended.
This is an early book in Rex Stout’s long-running Nero Wolfe detective series, and as such feels a bit atypical: Wolfe leaves his house at the summons of the husband of one of his clients which he rarely if ever does (admittedly the husband is the US Secretary of State, but later Wolfe would stonewall J. Edgar Hoover himself!); Archie sounds more hard-boiled and less engaging than he does later on; and the mystery is a lot of talking to people with a second dead body tossed into the middle of things. Still, even early Nero Wolfe is a lot better than most of what’s out there, and this is absolutely worth reading….