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When a loudmouthed author gets silenced, Wolfe looks for the triggerman The gun was fired close to Charles Childress's head, and his were the only fingerprints on it, forcing the police to conclude that the author committed suicide. But his friends know this is impossible, because Childress loved himself far too much. He had just begun attracting fame, writing new mysteries starring the iconic Sergeant Barnstable, and he had bright hopes for the future. His publisher hires corpulent genius Nero Wolfe to determine who cut Childress's career short, and the detective finds no dearth of suspects. Among the many who may have wanted the wordsmith whacked are his agent, his editor, a corrupt book reviewer, and an enraged legion of Barnstable devotees. With the help of his indefatigable assistant, Archie Goodwin, Wolfe takes a look at those closest to the arrogant, argumentative author, hoping to decide which of Childress's associates merely hated him, and which would have been willing to kill.… (more)
User reviews
In this book a writer is dead. The writer had been continuing a beloved mystery series so there are plenty of people, both for and against this action, willing to kill for their literary hero. The death is called suicide by the police and there is no reason to doubt that finding. But the writer’s publisher has doubts about the verdict and asks Wolfe to look into it. The case involves a fairly large cast of characters including feuding editors and critics, a girl friend who leads a cold air to the proceedings, and other writers who knew the dead man.
A highlight of the book is the trip to Indiana that Goodwin must abide in order to dig into the writer’s past. A New York boy out in the corn fields is certainly a fish out of water, but Archie aquits himself in style.
The journey to the solution has plenty of turns and a few red herrings, but the truth shines through at last. This book is well worth the time spent on the read.