Yes, I know I just did an "I Read" post but I couldn't resist sneaking in this second one because 1. It's been a while since I spent my weekend blowing through a whole book (yeah it's only a small 200 pager but still), and 2. it was so good.
The book that engaged several chunks of my delightful weekend was Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout, a Nero Wolfe mystery (#1 out of 33 novels and 39 novellas!). I first became aware of Nero Wolfe after stumbling across the show A Nero Wolfe Mystery on TV years ago, before streaming services were a thing and you spent half your time flipping though the channels trying to find something you wanted to watch which was hopefully only just starting.
I'm not sure what made me settle on this (nothing else on maybe? What a thought!) but I remember watching a small handful of episodes and liking it- a detective show set in the 40s/50s with all the charm and a lot less of the camp than you would imagine. Somewhat recently, for whatever reason, it popped into my head when I was trying to find a new show to watch. After tracking it down and watching a few episodes, I decided to to give the books a shot, and I'm glad it did.
It's a classic "armchair detective with legman solves murder" scenario but the characters are such characters and the writing so good that it really sucked me in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nero Wolfe, the armchair detective here, is a very large genius of a man who wants nothing more than to tend his impressive orchid collection, read his books, drink his 6 quarts of beer a day (!), and enjoy his fine food cooked by his own personal chef without having to leave his luxurious New York apartment EVER. Like... ever ever. To finance this lavish yet hermit-like lifestyle he solves mysteries with the help of his trusty New York street-wise legman Archie Goodwin, from who's perspective the books are told. In this first book, they're tasked with solving the murder of a prominent University employee who had absolutely no enemies and who was killed in the most ingenious way.. for the substantial reward money offered of course.
I would highly recommend this book and have already ordered the next 2 books (though I heard it doesn't not matter which order you read them in).
Star rating: 4.7/5
2021 Book count: 5
I've heard of Nero Wolf, probably from the TV show, but have never read one. I'll keep an eye out for them next time I'm browsing in the book section of my thrift store (I enjoy the hunt), so thanks for the recommendation! They sound awesome.
ReplyDeleteI love a good thrift store book rummage. Good luck!
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