Status
Available
Series
Genres
Publication
Crimeline (1992), Edition: Reissue, Paperback
Description
Mystery. HTML:With Nero Wolfe on the job, you'd think murderers would take caution. But even the master detective can't stop a killing, especially if it's an inside job�??right under the roof of his client, millionaire Otis Jarrell. What's more, it's Jarrell's own missing revolver that the killer uses. Wolfe must find the truth behind the scandals in Jarrell's ill-behaved family. One of its members sleeps the fitful sleep of the guilty, and Wolfe's getting dead tired of murd
User reviews
LibraryThing member rosalita
This was the first Nero Wolfe mystery I ever read. I found it on my mother's bookshelves when I was around 11 or 12 years old and instantly fell truly, madly, deeply in love with Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's wisecracking, handsome legman. His description of Lois Jarrell from their first meeting hit me
"I pivoted. A girl all in white with bare tanned arms and a bare tanned throat down to the start of the curves and a tanned face with dimples and greenish brown eyes and a pony tail was coming. If you are thinking that is too much to take in with a quick glance, I am a detective and a trained observer. I had time not only to take her in but also think, Good Lord, if that's Susan and she's a snake I'm going to take up herpetology, if that's the word, and I can look it up."
It's a great book, is what I'm saying. I've read it at least a dozen times, and I will probably read it a dozen more before I turn my last page. You should read it at least once.
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like a brick, and not only because I myself wore my brown hair in a ponytail and had greenish brown eyes:"I pivoted. A girl all in white with bare tanned arms and a bare tanned throat down to the start of the curves and a tanned face with dimples and greenish brown eyes and a pony tail was coming. If you are thinking that is too much to take in with a quick glance, I am a detective and a trained observer. I had time not only to take her in but also think, Good Lord, if that's Susan and she's a snake I'm going to take up herpetology, if that's the word, and I can look it up."
It's a great book, is what I'm saying. I've read it at least a dozen times, and I will probably read it a dozen more before I turn my last page. You should read it at least once.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
Archie finds himself living amongst a "hive of predators and parasites," and apparently one killer as well. He and Wolfe must discover the murderer before they end up in jail as accessories after the fact.
This is a book for Archie. He is at his best. Dancing, observing with his eagle eyes, making
This is a book for Archie. He is at his best. Dancing, observing with his eagle eyes, making
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witty remarks and wise cracks all the way through. I enjoyed this very much, but then I can't think of a Nero Wolfe book I don't enjoy, unless it is the last one. Show Less
LibraryThing member teckelvik
This book was recommended as an "Archie Goodwin" book by the Nero Wolfe group on librarything, because Archie is on his own for a while. Indeed he is, and it's fun.
As I keep saying, Nero Wolfe books are books I keep on hand for when I have to read something. They are well-written and engaging, but
So, it's OK, but that's the default for Nero Wolfe books. Enjoy Archie as an independent.
As I keep saying, Nero Wolfe books are books I keep on hand for when I have to read something. They are well-written and engaging, but
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I can never remember if I've read one, what the plots are, or anything about the supporting cast. The exception is that I truly adore Archie. If I ever get around to marrying again, it will be to Archie.So, it's OK, but that's the default for Nero Wolfe books. Enjoy Archie as an independent.
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LibraryThing member rosalita
This was the first Nero Wolfe mystery I ever read. I found it on my mother's bookshelves when I was around 11 or 12 years old and instantly fell truly, madly, deeply in love with Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's wisecracking, handsome legman. His description of Lois Jarrell from their first meeting hit me
"I pivoted. A girl all in white with bare tanned arms and a bare tanned throat down to the start of the curves and a tanned face with dimples and greenish brown eyes and a pony tail was coming. If you are thinking that is too much to take in with a quick glance, I am a detective and a trained observer. I had time not only to take her in but also think, Good Lord, if that's Susan and she's a snake I'm going to take up herpetology, if that's the word, and I can look it up."
It's a great book, is what I'm saying. I've read it at least a dozen times, and I will probably read it a dozen more before I turn my last page. You should read it at least once.
Show More
like a brick, and not only because I myself wore my brown hair in a ponytail and had greenish brown eyes:"I pivoted. A girl all in white with bare tanned arms and a bare tanned throat down to the start of the curves and a tanned face with dimples and greenish brown eyes and a pony tail was coming. If you are thinking that is too much to take in with a quick glance, I am a detective and a trained observer. I had time not only to take her in but also think, Good Lord, if that's Susan and she's a snake I'm going to take up herpetology, if that's the word, and I can look it up."
It's a great book, is what I'm saying. I've read it at least a dozen times, and I will probably read it a dozen more before I turn my last page. You should read it at least once.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rustermans
fair to g-/- Green cloth with yellow top stain. Library pockets have been removed but book shows general wear, fading, and inside cover markings. Cost - unknown
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
(Re-read on Kindle. Electronic version full of ridiculous typos like 'Mm' for him, and commas instead of full stops. Unsatisfactory!)
When in the midst of my Archie Goodwin literary crush, a year or two ago, this was one of my favourite Nero Wolfe mysteries. Even my Librarything name was inspired by
The mystery itself is either a double-bluff or merely very obvious, but the set up was what originally hooked me - Archie and Wolfe find themselves embroiled in a domestic dispute-cum-double murder merely in a bid to teach each other a lesson! Wolfe demands to know where Archie has been on a night out, and Archie refuses to explain his personal life to his boss. They reach an impasse, and are still not on speaking terms when wealthy wheeler-dealer Otis Jarrell arrives next morning and asks them to investigate his daughter-in-law. Instead of refusing to get involved, Wolfe offers Archie's services as an undercover agent, and Archie agrees, calling Wolfe's bluff. The rest is standard Stout fare - Archie exchanges banter with Jarrell's irrerevent daughter, and Wolfe calls in the gang (including token female investigator Doll Bonner) without telling Archie what trivial tasks he has assigned them, so that the reader must wait for Wolfe's Poirot-esque revelations in the final chapter.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Archie's wry, punchy narrative - by far the strongest feature of the books - but the bloom has definitely worn off.
When in the midst of my Archie Goodwin literary crush, a year or two ago, this was one of my favourite Nero Wolfe mysteries. Even my Librarything name was inspired by
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Archie's suggested undercover alias, Adonis Guilfoyle. In retrospect, and after having read nearly every book in the corpus, Archie is still a likeable and believable character, but the very qualities that once drew me in now grate on my nerves. Plus, the dialogue is painfully dated in places, and not in a nostalgic sense - Archie's bravado and eye for the ladies make him sound like more of a misogynist than Wolfe or Fritz, and the idea that money can buy silence and immunity as long as that wealth is earned and not inherited still baffles me.The mystery itself is either a double-bluff or merely very obvious, but the set up was what originally hooked me - Archie and Wolfe find themselves embroiled in a domestic dispute-cum-double murder merely in a bid to teach each other a lesson! Wolfe demands to know where Archie has been on a night out, and Archie refuses to explain his personal life to his boss. They reach an impasse, and are still not on speaking terms when wealthy wheeler-dealer Otis Jarrell arrives next morning and asks them to investigate his daughter-in-law. Instead of refusing to get involved, Wolfe offers Archie's services as an undercover agent, and Archie agrees, calling Wolfe's bluff. The rest is standard Stout fare - Archie exchanges banter with Jarrell's irrerevent daughter, and Wolfe calls in the gang (including token female investigator Doll Bonner) without telling Archie what trivial tasks he has assigned them, so that the reader must wait for Wolfe's Poirot-esque revelations in the final chapter.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Archie's wry, punchy narrative - by far the strongest feature of the books - but the bloom has definitely worn off.
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LibraryThing member thatotter
I liked the idea of 1950s NYC's answer to Sherlock Holmes, but I didn't really like this novel. Maybe I picked the wrong one to start with. But I didn't care about the characters, and the mystery seemed pretty pointless and was solved in a boring, unconvincing way.
However...check out some of the
- shad roe with créole sauce
- bread triangles fried in anchovy butter
- "hedgehog omelet"
- avocado, whipped with sugar and lime juice and green chartreuse
- fresh strawberry omelet
It's a crazy world out there.
However...check out some of the
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foods they ate during this book: - shad roe with créole sauce
- bread triangles fried in anchovy butter
- "hedgehog omelet"
- avocado, whipped with sugar and lime juice and green chartreuse
- fresh strawberry omelet
It's a crazy world out there.
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LibraryThing member antiquary
I have a notion this was one of the first Nero Wolfe stories I read I read them in no particular order, mostly out of the Bowling Green (Ohio) Public Library. It is not precisely a favorite of mine, but it is one that sticks in my mind --for little things, like Archie Goodwin suggesting he 5ake the
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name Adonis Guilfoyle while serving as Randall Jarrett's secretary. Jarrett (Prodded by Archie) has agreed to help Jarrett find evidence that will let him get his daughter--in-law out of the house while keeping his son. There is rather a neat scene in which a rug (obviously powered by a hidden person) opens an office door set to photograph anyone who opens it, In one sense this case is very obvious --there is a designated villain from the beginning --but the question is, is the rather unpleasant Mr. Jarrett right about her? He also has an attractive daughter who makes a point of telling young men she is interested in (including Archie) about how she shot a squirrel at the age of nine and later wrote a poem about it. The title of the novel derives from the poem. Show Less
LibraryThing member TomDonaghey
If Death Ever Slept (1955) by Rex Stout. A very successful private businessman, Otis Jarrell, tries to hire Nero Wolfe to get the goods on his daughter-in-law. He believes she used information she got through her husband to queer several deals he had been working on over the past year. She
Soon there is the clever theft of a gun, murder and lies a plenty. Goodwin and Wolfe are in the wringer with the case, the cops are being stalled, and things get very complicated. Wolfe faces a deadline for solving the case before the police grab onto Archie as perhaps the gun hired for more than undercover work.
This is, as usual, a highly knit thriller that will have you wondering who the real killer is and just why it happened. A fun, fun read.
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supposedly told a “friend” of hers who cut into the deal costing the Jarrell a million bucks or more. All the client wants is proof she did it and to separate her from his son without losing the son in the bargain. Archie gets sent undercover as secretary to Jarrell, given a room in the swanky duplex Jarrell shares with his wide, son and daughter-in-law, his own daughter, his brother-in-law Roger Foote and Nora Kent, Jarrell’s stenographer, a butler, cook and a pair of maids.Soon there is the clever theft of a gun, murder and lies a plenty. Goodwin and Wolfe are in the wringer with the case, the cops are being stalled, and things get very complicated. Wolfe faces a deadline for solving the case before the police grab onto Archie as perhaps the gun hired for more than undercover work.
This is, as usual, a highly knit thriller that will have you wondering who the real killer is and just why it happened. A fun, fun read.
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1957
Physical description
6.7 inches
ISBN
0553236490 / 9780553236491