Library's review
The plot unfolds when wealthy widow Rachel Bruner hires Wolfe to stop FBI surveillance on her and her family and staff. She attracted the unwanted attention when she bought 10,000 copies of Fred Cook's exposé on unethical FBI activities, The FBI Nobody Knows (a real book, by the way), and sent them to prominent Americans around the country. Woilfe doesn't disapprove of her actions, having read the book himself, but he thinks she should have known the kind of reaction she would get and that, in any case, trying to stop the FBI from doing something is futile. He's compelled to try when she offers him a $100,000 retainer (that's more than three-quarters of a million in 2018 dollars), to be paid whether he succeeds or not.
But how can an agoraphobic private detective, even one with a crackerjack man of action like Archie Goodwin to do his leg work, supposed to get the FBI to cry uncle? Wolfe initially sets out to find evidence of FBI wrongdoing in another case and use that to persuade the FBI to leave Bruner alone. But when he learns of the murder of a journalist who was investigating the FBI, and that the FBI believe one of their agents is the killer, he comes up with a better plan that involves one of the intricate stunts that Wolfe is so fond of.
The dialogue is crackling, and the interplay between Archie (who is adamantly opposed to trying to trap the FBI out of an abundance of self-interest) and Wolfe (who has his eye on that gigantic fee and an ego that admits no shortcomings in his abilities). The espionage shenanigans — spy-nanigans? — are elaborately farcical, as when Archie briefs their client on how to avoid wiretaps:
"There's absolutely no telling what's going to happen. It's even possible that Mr. Wolfe and I will have to leave his house and hole up somewhere. If you get a message, by phone or otherwise, no matter how, that the pizza is sour, go at once to the Churchill Hotel and find a man named William Coffey. He's a house dick there — an assistant security officer. You can do that openly. He'll have something for you, either to tell you or give you. Pizza is sour. Churchill Hotel, William Coffey. Remember it. Don't write it down."
"I won't." She was frowning. "I suppose you're sure we can trust him?"
"Yes. If you knew Mr. Wolfe better, and me, you wouldn't ask that. Have you got it?"
"Yes." She pulled the collar of her coat, not the sable, something else, closer.
"Okay. Now your getting us if you have to, for something not to be spilled. Go to a phone booth and ring Mr. Wolfe's number and tell whoever answers that Fido is sick, just that, and hang up. Wait two hours and go to the Churchill and William Coffey. Of course this is just for something they are not to know. For anything they have done or already know about, just ring us. Fido is sick."
She was still frowning. "But they'll know about William Coffey after the first time if I go to him openly."
"We may use him only once. Leave that to us. What is sour?"
"The pizza."
"Who is sick?"
"Fido."
"What's his name?"
"William Coffey. At the Churchill."
"Good enough. You'd better get back in, your ears are red."
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Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:There�??s no one and nothing the great detective Nero Wolfe wouldn�??t take on if the price was right. That�??s something wealthy society widow Rachel Bruner is counting on when she writes him a check for a whopping hundred grand. But even Wolfe has a moment�??s doubt when he finds out why the prize is so generous. For the oversize genius and his able assistant Archie Goodwin are about to lock horns with the FBI�??and those highly trained G-men have a way with threats, tails, and bugs that could give even sedentary sleuth Nero Wolfe a run for his money. Introduction by Stuart Kaminsky �??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 inim… (more)