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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
It's summertime, and Archie's out Montana way living the good life with the well-heeled and playful Lily Rowan, who just so happens to own a ranch and a couple thousand head of cattle. It was supposed to be a vacation, but we know better, and before long Archie's up to his eyeballs in murder. Everybody seems to think Lily's ranch foreman Harvey bumped off the no-account city slicker who got his daughter pregnant, but Archie's convinced that Harvey would never shoot a man in the back. Still, knowing it and proving it are two very different things, and it looks like Archie may be out West for the long haul. This is, of course, a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs for Nero Wolfe, so the corpulent genius trundles off to Big Sky Country to expedite matters. Will the dynamic duo be able to clear Harvey and catch the real bad guy? And will Wolfe ever get Archie back home to the comfort of his beloved brownstone?
I know Wolfe's big schtick (or one of them, anyway) is that he never, ever leaves his house on business. He hates going anywhere. And yet, it seems like more often than not, these stories see him traipsing off to a flower show or a Christmas party or upstate New York or West Virginia or California or Montenegro, for crying out loud. It is a testament to Stout's writing that Wolfe's continued protestations in the face of travel (and Archie's unflinching insistence that Wolfe never leaves the house) never sound false or inflated. Instead of rolling my eyes and thinking 'Yeah, I'm so sure he never leaves the house ... except for always,' I find myself gleefully anticipating Wolfe's explosive denouncement of outdoor activities, or his longsuffering acceptance of travel as an unfortunate burden to be born. The stories are first and foremost character pieces, and a good bit of the fun is knowing those characters well enough to know how they will react to the events around them. So I find myself laughing before Inspector Cramer ever even gets a shot off, because I know he will blow his top over Wolfe's latest shenanigans. (Not that Cramer's in this one, but you get the idea.) These people aren't just characters in a book--they're our friends. We know them, and we know how they are likely to feel in various situations.
So when a longtime Stout fan hears the description 'Wolfe stays on a ranch in Montana', well, you know it's gonna be a hoot. And it is. Not, perhaps, the hootiest of Stout's works, but still well worth the cost of admission. And the supporting characters do not disappoint. Chief among these is Lily Rowan, who shows more to advantage here than she does in any other Stout book in my recollection--largely because of her longstanding 'friendship' with Archie and her ability to know when to hold her tongue. But she's not alone--Stout gets to invent a whole town full of cowboy types (something he doesn't get to do much in his typical New York stories). And mixed in among all the slow-talkin', cattle wranglin' types is the rather unexpected Woodrow Stepanian, who runs the town 'dance hall' (of sorts) and is fully capable of engaging Wolfe in surprisingly complex philosophical discussions.
The mystery here is kind of a non-starter, honestly, and the solution seems to be well within the capabilities of local law enforcement. But then, we don't read these stories for the mysteries, do we?
Prichard narrates--and does a pretty good job with all the country accents, to boot.
I know Wolfe's big schtick (or one of them, anyway) is that he never, ever leaves his house on business. He hates going anywhere. And yet, it seems like more often than not, these stories see him traipsing off to a flower show or a Christmas party or upstate New York or West Virginia or California or Montenegro, for crying out loud. It is a testament to Stout's writing that Wolfe's continued protestations in the face of travel (and Archie's unflinching insistence that Wolfe never leaves the house) never sound false or inflated. Instead of rolling my eyes and thinking 'Yeah, I'm so sure he never leaves the house ... except for always,' I find myself gleefully anticipating Wolfe's explosive denouncement of outdoor activities, or his longsuffering acceptance of travel as an unfortunate burden to be born. The stories are first and foremost character pieces, and a good bit of the fun is knowing those characters well enough to know how they will react to the events around them. So I find myself laughing before Inspector Cramer ever even gets a shot off, because I know he will blow his top over Wolfe's latest shenanigans. (Not that Cramer's in this one, but you get the idea.) These people aren't just characters in a book--they're our friends. We know them, and we know how they are likely to feel in various situations.
So when a longtime Stout fan hears the description 'Wolfe stays on a ranch in Montana', well, you know it's gonna be a hoot. And it is. Not, perhaps, the hootiest of Stout's works, but still well worth the cost of admission. And the supporting characters do not disappoint. Chief among these is Lily Rowan, who shows more to advantage here than she does in any other Stout book in my recollection--largely because of her longstanding 'friendship' with Archie and her ability to know when to hold her tongue. But she's not alone--Stout gets to invent a whole town full of cowboy types (something he doesn't get to do much in his typical New York stories). And mixed in among all the slow-talkin', cattle wranglin' types is the rather unexpected Woodrow Stepanian, who runs the town 'dance hall' (of sorts) and is fully capable of engaging Wolfe in surprisingly complex philosophical discussions.
The mystery here is kind of a non-starter, honestly, and the solution seems to be well within the capabilities of local law enforcement. But then, we don't read these stories for the mysteries, do we?
Prichard narrates--and does a pretty good job with all the country accents, to boot.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nero Wolfe is pulled OUT of New York to solve a multi murder in Montana, where not only does he solve the murder - he cooks for the guests of Lily Rowans Dude Ranch.
Having read only book club books this year, and having to get through three really difficult ones, I indulged in a little re-reading. Rex Stout himself said that the test of a book was if it could be re-read, and his own books are very much in that category. This is one of the best of the bunch, though I would recommend that you begin with [b:Some Buried Caeser|1094199|Some Buried Caeser|Rex Stout|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|143758]if you are just making the acquaintance of Nero, Archie, Fritz and the gang. They are not great literature, and they are not politically correct, but they are a lot of fun, and the characters are the best. Some of the mysteries are better than others, but the books are always entertaining.
Here, Nero Wolfe breaks his biggest rule to rescue Archie from Montana -- his vacation having been indefinitely extended because he is trying to solve a murder under very trying circumstances.
Here, Nero Wolfe breaks his biggest rule to rescue Archie from Montana -- his vacation having been indefinitely extended because he is trying to solve a murder under very trying circumstances.
Maybe 3.5 but I really missed Wolfe in the first quarter of this book. And I wish this had been one to make it to the screen- Wolfe wandering around Montana, shaking hands, removing his shoes... priceless.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Nero Wolfe novel most interesting, and rather charming, for its picture of Montana life as imagined from New York in the late 1950s. If, like me, you prefer Archie to Nero, it is also nice in that you get quite a ways in before the big guy makes his first appearance.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a ton of fun and it might just be one of my favorites of the series.
I have a feeling this was a case of picking up the wrong book in a long-running series. I read this Nero Wolfe story because the series was recommended to me, but it was so disappointing I doubt I'll read another. There's no "there" there. Perfunctory plot: since the main characters have decided the guy in jail isn't the murderer, someone else in town is. Time to line up some suspects, who are little more than names on a page. No characterization. No motives. Just figure out who doesn't have an airtight alibi and basically solve the crime "offstage," as it were. Seriously, there was more time spent detailing dinner menus than fleshing out characters. Maybe the first dozen or two of these novels are worth reading, but this being #44, it feels like an author going through the motions to pick up a paycheck.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix