Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Another Wolfe with a rather dark ending. This one has a great character in it--Amy Jackson aka Julie Jaquette. Great last page.
The mystery in this one was boring and even more unbelievable than usual.
Insight into the workings of Nero Wolfe's team.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are many Nero Wolfe books, and this is one of them. I kind of like them.
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:
Complicated
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, Murder
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
While not the best in the series this was still a solidly fun and entertaining mystery filled with snarky dialogue.
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
Хороший детектив, но, конечно же в рексстаутовском стиле: много разговоров, остроумия, немного кулинарии и романтики!
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.