Library's review
It's an ordinary day at the brownstone when a young woman shows up, needing help from Nero Wolfe. She, like he, is from Montenegro and has recently emigrated to New York City, where she and her friend have gotten work at a fencing/dance studio (I remember the very idea that such a place existed
Nero, of course, can't be bothered to stir himself from his gourmet meals or his orchids, but he sends sidekick Archie Goodwin to investigate. Along the way, the case is complicated by a murder and enough international intrigue to choke a fencing studio full of spies, which is pretty much what Archie and Nero are dealing with.
This is the seventh in the series, first published in 1940, and it suffers from the same affliction that the other early entries do: The characters haven't quite gelled and Stout seems not have decided whether he's writing gritty noir or lighthearted caper. That, combined with an excess of complicated political history that is only cursorily explained, presumably because people of the time were well acquainted with it, make this one of my least favorite entries. It's not terrible but it doesn't reach the sublime heights of Stout at its best.
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boggling the mind of teenaged me). Now her friend's been accused of stealing some diamonds from a client's coat pocket, and they want Nero to bail her out. When he refuses, she plays her trump card: She is his adopted daughter, last seen by him in Montenegro when she was three years old.Nero, of course, can't be bothered to stir himself from his gourmet meals or his orchids, but he sends sidekick Archie Goodwin to investigate. Along the way, the case is complicated by a murder and enough international intrigue to choke a fencing studio full of spies, which is pretty much what Archie and Nero are dealing with.
This is the seventh in the series, first published in 1940, and it suffers from the same affliction that the other early entries do: The characters haven't quite gelled and Stout seems not have decided whether he's writing gritty noir or lighthearted caper. That, combined with an excess of complicated political history that is only cursorily explained, presumably because people of the time were well acquainted with it, make this one of my least favorite entries. It's not terrible but it doesn't reach the sublime heights of Stout at its best.
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Description
When a Balkan beauty gets in trouble over some missing diamonds, whom else can she turn to but the world-famous Nero Wolfe? Especially since she claims to be Wolfe's long lost daughter! The stakes are suddenly raised when a student at this woman's fencing school ends up dead after a pointed lesson.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1940
Other editions
Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout (Paperback)