Library's review
Here we've got a set of four short stories, three of which revolve around holidays:
Christmas Party finds Archie trying to teach Wolfe a lesson about making assumptions, which embroils them both in murder when a textile designer (and former client) is poisoned at his firm's holiday fĂȘte.
Wolfe goes
Fourth of July Picnic takes Wolfe out of the brownstone and into the wilds of Long Island when he reluctantly agrees to be the keynote speaker at a gathering of food-service union members. When a union official is killed, it's up to the big man and his sassy sidekick to finger the culprit before the law fingers them.
And finally, in Murder Is No Joke Wolfe uses a clever (and now obsolete) telephone trick first to prove that a murder occurred and then to solve it.
Generally speaking, I don't love the Wolfe shorts as much as I do the full-length novels. They put an emphasis on plot that Stout's abilities can't always carry off, his strength to me lying in his well-drawn characters and ear for dialogue. But there's nothing really wrong with any of these, other than they leave me wanting more.
Christmas Party finds Archie trying to teach Wolfe a lesson about making assumptions, which embroils them both in murder when a textile designer (and former client) is poisoned at his firm's holiday fĂȘte.
Wolfe goes
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to drastic lengths to secure a sample of a rare orchid hybrid in Easter Parade, once again landing Archie in hot water when a wealthy woman is killed right in front of him on Fifth Avenue.Fourth of July Picnic takes Wolfe out of the brownstone and into the wilds of Long Island when he reluctantly agrees to be the keynote speaker at a gathering of food-service union members. When a union official is killed, it's up to the big man and his sassy sidekick to finger the culprit before the law fingers them.
And finally, in Murder Is No Joke Wolfe uses a clever (and now obsolete) telephone trick first to prove that a murder occurred and then to solve it.
Generally speaking, I don't love the Wolfe shorts as much as I do the full-length novels. They put an emphasis on plot that Stout's abilities can't always carry off, his strength to me lying in his well-drawn characters and ear for dialogue. But there's nothing really wrong with any of these, other than they leave me wanting more.
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Description
"It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore."--The New York Times Book Review Embark on a year of murder and mystery. It begins at Christmas with a party and a poisoning, then blossoms into spring with sudden death at the Easter Parade. With a killer in the crowd, the Fourth of July is no picnic, and the calendar is overbooked with corpses when death is in season. Here are four cunning cases that leave everyone guessing. When it comes to sleuthing out a clever solution, only Nero Wolfe has a clue.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1958-07
1958
Other editions
And Four to Go by Rex Stout (Paperback)