Collection
Series
Publication
Bantam (1995), Paperback, 208 pages
Description
Twenty-two-year-old Amy Denovo needs Nero Wolfe's help. She is determined to learn the identity of her father, a secret her mother scrupulously guarded--and took to her grave when struck by a hit-and-run driver. Now Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie, have just one clue to go on: a note from Amy's mother and a box with over $250,000. Seems every month since Amy's birth, her mother received $1,000 from an unknown source and saved it for Amy's future. It's easily enough for Amy to afford Wolfe's services, and he grudgingly agrees. But as the weeks go by, Wolfe realizes this may be one of his most challenging cases ever. Someone doesn't want Amy's pedigree discovered, and that someone appears to wield great power. It isn't long before Wolfe and Archie come to believe that Amy's mother was murdered--and that Amy could be next. Michael Prichard gives another of his masterful readings to this cleverly plotted tale.… (more)
Language
Original language
English
User reviews
LibraryThing member wormread
An exceptionally strong story handled very well by Mr Stout.
LibraryThing member teckelvik
Nero Wolfe books are great to read when I need something to read. I've read enough reviews to know that I'm not alone in forgetting the plots and other details, and only enjoying the company of the main characters. Especially Archie.
In this book, his charm is on full display, as the client falls
In this book, his charm is on full display, as the client falls
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for him instantly, and decides he's the only one who can solve her problem. Of course, he does. With help from Nero and the rest of the gang, he tracks down her father, and proves that said father murdered her mother. Show Less
LibraryThing member MaryWJ
I love all the Nero Wolf books, so am a biased judge; listened to this and really enjoy Michael Pritchard
LibraryThing member kittyjay
This Nero Wolfe mystery begins with Lily Rowan's assistant, Amy Denovo, asking for Archie's help in finding her father. Her mother has passed away from a hit-and-run incident without ever breathing a hint to Amy of her real father, so, with money collected from checks supposedly sent by the father,
Although enjoyable, there are some minor quibbles with the plot in this one (it feels as if the motive for the hit-and-run was not sufficiently explored), but Wolfe novels, I maintain, are to be read for the characters, not the mysteries.
That said, I am frustrated with the Rex Stout Library edition, which offers brief pages toward the end with extra things (advertisements for Nero Wolfe movies, comic strips, letters from Stout's editors). In this case, the afterword promises a letter from Stout's editor and "the master's reply"... except there is no reply. Simply the original letter from the editor to Stout (wherein he asks the same questions I had about the plot). It would be annoying enough, except something similar happened in a previous one I read.
All in all, though, another great Wolfe book!
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Amy hires Wolfe - only the case is complicated when it looks like the hit-and-run might have been more sinister.Although enjoyable, there are some minor quibbles with the plot in this one (it feels as if the motive for the hit-and-run was not sufficiently explored), but Wolfe novels, I maintain, are to be read for the characters, not the mysteries.
That said, I am frustrated with the Rex Stout Library edition, which offers brief pages toward the end with extra things (advertisements for Nero Wolfe movies, comic strips, letters from Stout's editors). In this case, the afterword promises a letter from Stout's editor and "the master's reply"... except there is no reply. Simply the original letter from the editor to Stout (wherein he asks the same questions I had about the plot). It would be annoying enough, except something similar happened in a previous one I read.
All in all, though, another great Wolfe book!
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LibraryThing member antiquary
one of the more interesting books in the series. Amy De Novo is a young woman raised entirely by her mother (rarer then than now.) It develops that her mother literally began her life 'de novo" taking that name when she had Amy. Amy wants to find her father.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
A good entry in the Nero Wolfe series but not exceptional... 3.5* for this audiobook edition, 3* for the book
LibraryThing member rosalita
I recently picked this up in an ebook sale, and while I have read it before it happens to be one I did not own in paperback so I've probably only read it once, many years ago. It's a fine later (1968) entry in the series. The client is a young woman whose mother died a few months ago in a
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hit-and-run car accident. After her mother's death, Amy Denovo finds a box full of cash and a note from her mom that says, "This is from your father." But she has no idea who her father is, and she suspects her mother was using an assumed name all these years so how can even the great Nero Wolfe and his trusty legman Archie Goodwin trace her into the past? Complicating matters, at least for Archie, is that Amy works as an editorial assistant for his paramour, Lily Rowan, but Amy insists that he not tell Lily that he and Wolfe are working for her, leading to some semi-comical misunderstanding about why Amy suddenly starts calling him Archie instead of Mr. Goodwin. It all gets sorted in the end, of course, and in a satisfactory fashion. Nineteen sixties Wolfe novels aren't my favorite, as Stout seemed determined to make up for lost time when crafting plots that involve sex and other tawdry topics. Still, an afternoon spent with Archie Goodwin is never wasted. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fiddleback_
Casual non-murder, mostly. Different pace.