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samhouston23's review against another edition
4.0
Although I have probably read at least a dozen Nero Wolfe novels, I was still in my mid-twenties the last time I read one of them. And that was a long time ago, a very long time ago. So when I started reading Death of a Doxy (written in 1966), I thought I knew pretty much what to expect from Mr. Stout. But (perhaps because this is one of the later Wolfe novels), it holds up surprisingly well and delivers a good bit more than I was expecting from it.
My copy of Death of a Doxy is a 1972 seventh reprinting of the book’s original paperback edition. The little plot summary on the first page of the book captures both the basic premise of the mystery and the tone of the times:
“Poor Orrie Cather. He was being held for a murder he swore he hadn’t committed. Poor Avery Ballou. He’d been paying the rent of the victim’s apartment and if anyone found out, Orried’d be free and Ballou would be suspect #1. But most of all, poor Isabel Kerr. She was so young, so beautiful, so stone-cold dead.
Then, of course, there was poor Nero Wolfe. Orrie was a friend, Balllou was his client, and the real murderer was playing hard-to-get….”
As for as teasers go, that’s a pretty good one. The only quibble I have with it, and it’s a minor one, is that Ballou only even became a provisional client of Wolfe’s very near the end of the book – and only if taking him own did not at all interfere with Wolfe’s determination to clear Orrie Cather’s name with the police. But this little book (155 pages) is much more complicated than the blurb makes it sound.
Once again, the rather large and set-in-his-ways Nero Wolfe stays at home and dispatches his minions, led by right-hand man Archie Goodwin, to do all the leg work and to haul witnesses and suspects back to the Wolfe residence on New York’s 35th street as required to move the investigation along. This time, however, Wolfe is one minion short because Mr. Cather spends the entire novel in police custody. But Wolfe and the available boys are still well up to their task.
Isabel Kerr was a doxy, a kept woman, and there is no way she was able to pay the $300 monthly rent of the luxury apartment in which the body of this ex-showgirl was found. All the police have to work with is Isabel’s diary, but there is evidently enough in it to tell them that she was pressuring Wolfe’s friend into marrying her and not his fiancé – the woman he preferred to marry. Orrie Cather, however, is not a man with enough money to be the Isabel’s sugar daddy - and that man’s life would be ruined if he were somehow connected to the dead woman. Was he desperate enough, or angry enough, to be her killer?
Now it’s up to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to figure out a way to solve the murder that will earn them the conditional $50,000 fee they have been promised. Depending on how it all works out, Death of a Doxy is a case that Wolfe will solve for free or for $50,000 – and that’s a heck of a big difference in 1966.
My copy of Death of a Doxy is a 1972 seventh reprinting of the book’s original paperback edition. The little plot summary on the first page of the book captures both the basic premise of the mystery and the tone of the times:
“Poor Orrie Cather. He was being held for a murder he swore he hadn’t committed. Poor Avery Ballou. He’d been paying the rent of the victim’s apartment and if anyone found out, Orried’d be free and Ballou would be suspect #1. But most of all, poor Isabel Kerr. She was so young, so beautiful, so stone-cold dead.
Then, of course, there was poor Nero Wolfe. Orrie was a friend, Balllou was his client, and the real murderer was playing hard-to-get….”
As for as teasers go, that’s a pretty good one. The only quibble I have with it, and it’s a minor one, is that Ballou only even became a provisional client of Wolfe’s very near the end of the book – and only if taking him own did not at all interfere with Wolfe’s determination to clear Orrie Cather’s name with the police. But this little book (155 pages) is much more complicated than the blurb makes it sound.
Once again, the rather large and set-in-his-ways Nero Wolfe stays at home and dispatches his minions, led by right-hand man Archie Goodwin, to do all the leg work and to haul witnesses and suspects back to the Wolfe residence on New York’s 35th street as required to move the investigation along. This time, however, Wolfe is one minion short because Mr. Cather spends the entire novel in police custody. But Wolfe and the available boys are still well up to their task.
Isabel Kerr was a doxy, a kept woman, and there is no way she was able to pay the $300 monthly rent of the luxury apartment in which the body of this ex-showgirl was found. All the police have to work with is Isabel’s diary, but there is evidently enough in it to tell them that she was pressuring Wolfe’s friend into marrying her and not his fiancé – the woman he preferred to marry. Orrie Cather, however, is not a man with enough money to be the Isabel’s sugar daddy - and that man’s life would be ruined if he were somehow connected to the dead woman. Was he desperate enough, or angry enough, to be her killer?
Now it’s up to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to figure out a way to solve the murder that will earn them the conditional $50,000 fee they have been promised. Depending on how it all works out, Death of a Doxy is a case that Wolfe will solve for free or for $50,000 – and that’s a heck of a big difference in 1966.
marneyjane's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
michael5000's review against another edition
3.0
There are many Nero Wolfe books, and this is one of them. I kind of like them.
jdcorley's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is the 42nd Nero Wolfe novel and perhaps the most incisive one into an element of Wolfe's character that's often remarked on inside and outside the books: his apparent loathing of women. You can have your critiques of the racial politics of Wolfe's novels but, to me, there was never any doubt that Rex Stout did not agree with Wolfe's position on women and, as the reader was also intended to do, found it a point of ridicule. Ridiculing Wolfe is one of the things that makes Wolfe a unique classic mystery protagonist. Only Poirot's vanity comes in for more teasing from the author than Wolfe's misogyny. But faced with an undeniable force in the form of hepcat nightclub singer Julie Jacquette, Wolfe just can't hold to it, and we like him a little more because he can't, and he goes out of his way to do her a good turn. The mystery itself is an interesting question of respectability and wealth, as many classic mysteries are. Jacquette isn't a "respectable" woman; she lounges around until eleven, eats breakfast in bed at a hotel she lives in, but she can count to two and say the alphabet backwards. In the end it's her bravery that solves the case.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
hotsake's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
While not the best in the series this was still a solidly fun and entertaining mystery filled with snarky dialogue.
naluju's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
sergei_ter_tumasov's review against another edition
4.0
Хороший детектив, но, конечно же в рексстаутовском стиле: много разговоров, остроумия, немного кулинарии и романтики!
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Death of a Doxy marks a few unusual passages for Rex Stout's famous orichid-loving sleuth. Nero Wolfe finds himself taking on a case with no pay in sight and, more importantly, he stands in the presence of a woman. That's something he does rarely in the presence of men, let alone ever in the presence of sex that he is so uncomfortable with. And, by the end of the book, she is calling him Nero. Not Mr. Wolfe. This is one of the few times that Stout invested more of his creative energy in one of the non-series characters and he did so to good effect. Julie Jaquette more than gives Wolfe a run for his money With so many out-of-the-ordinary factors, one might think that this book would not sit well with a tried-and-true Stout fan. Not so. This winds up being one of my favorite Wolfe books.
In this one, Wolfe finds himself involved in a murder case when Orrie Cather, one of his sometime operatives, is collared for the death of a doxy--mistress or paramour to a rich man. Orrie had been fooling around with Isabel Kerr but decided to end the affair when he fell in love with a stewardess. Only Kerr didn't want things to end and kept a few mementos in her apartment. When she is found dead in her apartment and the items pointing to Cather are found as well, the cops put two and two together and get five. Nevermind that Nero Wolfe has told them that Cather is innocent (haven't they learned yet that Wolfe is never wrong?)--they've got all the circumstantial evidence they need and look no further. It's up to Wolfe--aided by Archie Goodwin and other legmen, Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin--to dig up the clues that will lead to the real culprit.
It doesn't take them long to discover that Miss Kerr had been the kept woman of a very prominent man of business and that there were several people who might not have wanted that fact to get out. Also in the picture is a nasty blackmailer and a sexy lounge singer. Wolfe starts out to solve the crime purely out of obligation to Orrie Cather (and with no fee in sight) at the end he finds himself faced with the puzzle of how to earn fifty thousand dollars--which he can only do if certain facts are not made public. Can he do that and still see justice done?
The puzzle itself is not a difficult one. I actually stayed neck and neck with Wolfe on making deductions--that's rare enough. What made the book for me was the character of Julie Jacquette and her interactions with Nero Wolfe. And her scene with Inspector Cramer was worth the whole book in and of itself.
In this one, Wolfe finds himself involved in a murder case when Orrie Cather, one of his sometime operatives, is collared for the death of a doxy--mistress or paramour to a rich man. Orrie had been fooling around with Isabel Kerr but decided to end the affair when he fell in love with a stewardess. Only Kerr didn't want things to end and kept a few mementos in her apartment. When she is found dead in her apartment and the items pointing to Cather are found as well, the cops put two and two together and get five. Nevermind that Nero Wolfe has told them that Cather is innocent (haven't they learned yet that Wolfe is never wrong?)--they've got all the circumstantial evidence they need and look no further. It's up to Wolfe--aided by Archie Goodwin and other legmen, Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin--to dig up the clues that will lead to the real culprit.
It doesn't take them long to discover that Miss Kerr had been the kept woman of a very prominent man of business and that there were several people who might not have wanted that fact to get out. Also in the picture is a nasty blackmailer and a sexy lounge singer. Wolfe starts out to solve the crime purely out of obligation to Orrie Cather (and with no fee in sight) at the end he finds himself faced with the puzzle of how to earn fifty thousand dollars--which he can only do if certain facts are not made public. Can he do that and still see justice done?
The puzzle itself is not a difficult one. I actually stayed neck and neck with Wolfe on making deductions--that's rare enough. What made the book for me was the character of Julie Jacquette and her interactions with Nero Wolfe. And her scene with Inspector Cramer was worth the whole book in and of itself.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
Orrie Cather is an interesting case study. He is part of Nero's detective team but he's probably the one they depend on least. And this book shows part of the reason why.
The book opens with Archie in a young woman's apartment, trying to help Orrie out of a pickle. Orrie had been seeing the young woman but broke it off when he decided to get engaged to an airline stewardess. The young woman caused a fuss and Orrie needed some help. But what Archie didn't know was that he'd be walking into the apartment of a dead woman. He quickly backs out but can't believe that Orrie would have done it. Well, mostly he believes that.
The police, however, immediately light on Orrie as their chief suspect and it's up to Nero Wolfe and the gang to help make sure that Orrie isn't convicted of a murder he didn't commit.
The book opens with Archie in a young woman's apartment, trying to help Orrie out of a pickle. Orrie had been seeing the young woman but broke it off when he decided to get engaged to an airline stewardess. The young woman caused a fuss and Orrie needed some help. But what Archie didn't know was that he'd be walking into the apartment of a dead woman. He quickly backs out but can't believe that Orrie would have done it. Well, mostly he believes that.
The police, however, immediately light on Orrie as their chief suspect and it's up to Nero Wolfe and the gang to help make sure that Orrie isn't convicted of a murder he didn't commit.
samhouston's review against another edition
4.0
Although I have probably read at least a dozen Nero Wolfe novels, I was still in my mid-twenties the last time I read one of them. And that was a long time ago, a very long time ago. So when I started reading Death of a Doxy (written in 1966), I thought I knew pretty much what to expect from Mr. Stout. But (perhaps because this is one of the later Wolfe novels), it holds up surprisingly well and delivers a good bit more than I was expecting from it.
My copy of Death of a Doxy is a 1972 seventh reprinting of the book’s original paperback edition. The little plot summary on the first page of the book captures both the basic premise of the mystery and the tone of the times:
“Poor Orrie Cather. He was being held for a murder he swore he hadn’t committed. Poor Avery Ballou. He’d been paying the rent of the victim’s apartment and if anyone found out, Orried’d be free and Ballou would be suspect #1. But most of all, poor Isabel Kerr. She was so young, so beautiful, so stone-cold dead.
Then, of course, there was poor Nero Wolfe. Orrie was a friend, Balllou was his client, and the real murderer was playing hard-to-get….”
As for as teasers go, that’s a pretty good one. The only quibble I have with it, and it’s a minor one, is that Ballou only even became a provisional client of Wolfe’s very near the end of the book – and only if taking him own did not at all interfere with Wolfe’s determination to clear Orrie Cather’s name with the police. But this little book (155 pages) is much more complicated than the blurb makes it sound.
Once again, the rather large and set-in-his-ways Nero Wolfe stays at home and dispatches his minions, led by right-hand man Archie Goodwin, to do all the leg work and to haul witnesses and suspects back to the Wolfe residence on New York’s 35th street as required to move the investigation along. This time, however, Wolfe is one minion short because Mr. Cather spends the entire novel in police custody. But Wolfe and the available boys are still well up to their task.
Isabel Kerr was a doxy, a kept woman, and there is no way she was able to pay the $300 monthly rent of the luxury apartment in which the body of this ex-showgirl was found. All the police have to work with is Isabel’s diary, but there is evidently enough in it to tell them that she was pressuring Wolfe’s friend into marrying her and not his fiancé – the woman he preferred to marry. Orrie Cather, however, is not a man with enough money to be the Isabel’s sugar daddy - and that man’s life would be ruined if he were somehow connected to the dead woman. Was he desperate enough, or angry enough, to be her killer?
Now it’s up to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to figure out a way to solve the murder that will earn them the conditional $50,000 fee they have been promised. Depending on how it all works out, Death of a Doxy is a case that Wolfe will solve for free or for $50,000 – and that’s a heck of a big difference in 1966.
My copy of Death of a Doxy is a 1972 seventh reprinting of the book’s original paperback edition. The little plot summary on the first page of the book captures both the basic premise of the mystery and the tone of the times:
“Poor Orrie Cather. He was being held for a murder he swore he hadn’t committed. Poor Avery Ballou. He’d been paying the rent of the victim’s apartment and if anyone found out, Orried’d be free and Ballou would be suspect #1. But most of all, poor Isabel Kerr. She was so young, so beautiful, so stone-cold dead.
Then, of course, there was poor Nero Wolfe. Orrie was a friend, Balllou was his client, and the real murderer was playing hard-to-get….”
As for as teasers go, that’s a pretty good one. The only quibble I have with it, and it’s a minor one, is that Ballou only even became a provisional client of Wolfe’s very near the end of the book – and only if taking him own did not at all interfere with Wolfe’s determination to clear Orrie Cather’s name with the police. But this little book (155 pages) is much more complicated than the blurb makes it sound.
Once again, the rather large and set-in-his-ways Nero Wolfe stays at home and dispatches his minions, led by right-hand man Archie Goodwin, to do all the leg work and to haul witnesses and suspects back to the Wolfe residence on New York’s 35th street as required to move the investigation along. This time, however, Wolfe is one minion short because Mr. Cather spends the entire novel in police custody. But Wolfe and the available boys are still well up to their task.
Isabel Kerr was a doxy, a kept woman, and there is no way she was able to pay the $300 monthly rent of the luxury apartment in which the body of this ex-showgirl was found. All the police have to work with is Isabel’s diary, but there is evidently enough in it to tell them that she was pressuring Wolfe’s friend into marrying her and not his fiancé – the woman he preferred to marry. Orrie Cather, however, is not a man with enough money to be the Isabel’s sugar daddy - and that man’s life would be ruined if he were somehow connected to the dead woman. Was he desperate enough, or angry enough, to be her killer?
Now it’s up to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to figure out a way to solve the murder that will earn them the conditional $50,000 fee they have been promised. Depending on how it all works out, Death of a Doxy is a case that Wolfe will solve for free or for $50,000 – and that’s a heck of a big difference in 1966.