Collections
Series
Publication
Bantam (1969), Mass Market Paperback
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:The legendary Nero Wolfe finds himself deep in foul territory in these three baffling cases of murder and mayhem. In the first, some sharp questions about a poisoning come to an abrupt end�as in death by a blunt instrument. Then Wolfe must decode the last message of a competitor who pencils in the name of his killer before he's rubbed out with one shot in his soundproof office. Finally, the stay-at-home sleuth deigns to attend a World Series game where a rookie's struck out before he gets to bat, leaving Wolfe to prove that when it comes to detection he's in a league by himself. Introduction by Linda Ellerbee �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.… (more)
Language
Original language
English
User reviews
LibraryThing member MrsLee
This includes three short stories, Invitation to Murder, The Zero Clue and This Won't Kill You. In two of them, the famed recluse leaves his brownstone and we get the joy of seeing him discomfited in someone else's environment, though he is quick to solve the crime in order to get back home. The
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last story has him at a Giants and Red Sox game, supposedly the seventh in the World Series. Of course my favorite character, Archie, is at his sarcastic best in all of the stories, and Stout fleshes out the other characters for us to enjoy as well. I've read this twice before, but Nero Wolfe never grows stale for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member antiquary
These stories are all capably done, as would be expected from Stout, but they remind me of many others by other authors, notably Ellery Queen. Invitation to Murder involves man who claims to be supporting 3 French mistresses on his income of $12,000 a year, Granted, $12,000 wen further in those
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days, especially in Europe, but I find that hard to believe. He hires Wolfe and Archie (chiefly Archie) to find out which of the three women in his disabled brother-in-l;aw's household is the one his brother-in-law (who supports him) is planning to marry. Then he ends up dead himself. The second involves a math genius who claims to be able to solve problems as well as Wolfe, and when he is murdered eaves a clue Wolfe can solve, based in the history of numbers --again, this is one of those "if you know one obscure fact you know the answer" types of mysteries. The third one is more distinctly Stout -- Wolfe takes the French chef Mondor (from Too Many Cooks) to a World Series game, and a promising rookie is murdered. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
A good trio of Nero Wolfe novellas. I especially appreciated how Archie manages to trick Wolfe into leaving his brownstone in the first one, "Invitation to Murder"!
LibraryThing member AnnieMod
The 23rd Nero Wolfe book is a collection of 3 stories with varying quality.
"Invitation to Murder" (August 1953, The American Magazine, as "Will to Murder") is annoying. It could have been a great story but for some reason neither Archie, nor Nero Wolfe even suspect the obvious solution to the
A man hires Nero Wolfe to investigate the death of his sister which happened 2 years ago. Of course, that is not the story he starts with and the only reason why he wants the investigation is because he is about to lose the money he expected to get. Archie is dispatched to the house of the brother-in-law and before long a body shows up. And somehow Archie misses all the obvious clues. On the other hand he manages to get Nero Wolfe to leave his own house and come to the house where the murder happened - which is not that easy.
"The Zero Clue" (December 1953, The American Magazine, as "Scared to Death") on the other hand is much better. Archie misses something again but he knows it and his narration accounts for it. A matematician, Leo Heller, had been using his knowledge of math and statistics to predict events. There is some bad blood between him and Wolfe because of an old case where they clashed so when he calls to ask for help, he is sent packing. Archie disagrees so decides to visit Heller. The two never meet and before long the mathematician is dead and Inspector Cramer manages to annoy Nero enough to ensure that the detective will try to solve the case. The solution can be considered a bit tricky but I enjoyed it - partially because I knew the fact that provided the key to the solution (math history is always fun) and partially because the pacing of the story actually worked well for its length.
"This Won't Kill You" (September 1952, The American Magazine, as "This Will Kill You") is set on the Giants stadium where they are playing their last game in the World series - the winner takes the trophy. Nero is out of the house again and ends up being uncomfortable and unhappy - and not only because of the baseball game.
The first chapter of the story is so heavy on baseball references that it is almost unreadable if you do not understand the game (I don't). But once this chapter is over, the game becomes irrelevant - doping a few players and killing another does not require any game knowledge; the investigation and the end solution also do not depend on knowledge of baseball. There is a woman involved (of course) and Archie ends up dealing with her (not surprisingly); Nero Wolfe uses a clue that everyone knows to actually solve the case (or cases - he is hired to investigate the doping and not the murder technically but keeping them separately proves to be hard). It is a nice story overall - despite the first chapter.
Overall a decent entry in the series.
"Invitation to Murder" (August 1953, The American Magazine, as "Will to Murder") is annoying. It could have been a great story but for some reason neither Archie, nor Nero Wolfe even suspect the obvious solution to the
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problem and while this is not the first time for that to happen, not having Archie even hint that they missed something while narrating the story makes it almost unforgivable. Admittedly, had they seen it earlier, the story would have been a lot shorter but still... A man hires Nero Wolfe to investigate the death of his sister which happened 2 years ago. Of course, that is not the story he starts with and the only reason why he wants the investigation is because he is about to lose the money he expected to get. Archie is dispatched to the house of the brother-in-law and before long a body shows up. And somehow Archie misses all the obvious clues. On the other hand he manages to get Nero Wolfe to leave his own house and come to the house where the murder happened - which is not that easy.
"The Zero Clue" (December 1953, The American Magazine, as "Scared to Death") on the other hand is much better. Archie misses something again but he knows it and his narration accounts for it. A matematician, Leo Heller, had been using his knowledge of math and statistics to predict events. There is some bad blood between him and Wolfe because of an old case where they clashed so when he calls to ask for help, he is sent packing. Archie disagrees so decides to visit Heller. The two never meet and before long the mathematician is dead and Inspector Cramer manages to annoy Nero enough to ensure that the detective will try to solve the case. The solution can be considered a bit tricky but I enjoyed it - partially because I knew the fact that provided the key to the solution (math history is always fun) and partially because the pacing of the story actually worked well for its length.
"This Won't Kill You" (September 1952, The American Magazine, as "This Will Kill You") is set on the Giants stadium where they are playing their last game in the World series - the winner takes the trophy. Nero is out of the house again and ends up being uncomfortable and unhappy - and not only because of the baseball game.
The first chapter of the story is so heavy on baseball references that it is almost unreadable if you do not understand the game (I don't). But once this chapter is over, the game becomes irrelevant - doping a few players and killing another does not require any game knowledge; the investigation and the end solution also do not depend on knowledge of baseball. There is a woman involved (of course) and Archie ends up dealing with her (not surprisingly); Nero Wolfe uses a clue that everyone knows to actually solve the case (or cases - he is hired to investigate the doping and not the murder technically but keeping them separately proves to be hard). It is a nice story overall - despite the first chapter.
Overall a decent entry in the series.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
A good trio of Nero Wolfe novellas. I especially appreciated how Archie manages to trick Wolfe into leaving his brownstone in the first one, "Invitation to Murder"!