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A review by hannahstohelit
Fer-De-Lance by Rex Stout
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
OK, I don't know where Rex Stout has been all my life but this is exactly the kind of thing I like. It's a shockingly well-realized world for a first book- maybe almost to a fault- the density of detail could be a bit dizzying. But the characters were great, there was that "certain unexpected pawky vein of humor" that Sherlock Holmes detects in Watson in The Valley of Fear- it was extremely fun, and of course even if I hadn't already been familiar with Stout as a Sherlockian it would have been obvious from the get go that this was a very loving tribute that still had plenty of its own flavor. The mystery itself was kind of... just there, but it was pretty okay (and I've read other otherwise good books that had mysteries that didn't work at all, so "pretty okay" is solid), even if it felt like they only lit on the murderer because he had a weird name and was suspiciously foreign , without a whole lot of other indications.
I will also say- the ending was a masterpiece ofclever yet extremely dubious morality in a way that I found daring for a first novel for this kind of detective series.There were enough context clues that I knew pretty much what was going to happen, but discovering WHY was kind of delightful in a disturbing way. It's also very funny because they hammered home "we have JURY EVIDENCE" and STILL killed off the murderer- which is hilarious because usually books do that when the author's written themself into a corner and can't come up with any.
Final thought- as a native of the NYC suburbs and current NYC resident, I'm loving that the book is set in this area so vividly- I'm always kind of startled at the lack of grid traffic, but the descriptions of driving from Manhattan to the Bronx/Westchester are fascinating in the era before/during Robert Moses, when most of the infrastructure we're used to just didn't exist yet. And the mention of the Tarrytown-Nyack ferry that wouldn't be replaced by the Tappan Zee Bridge for another 20 years was fun as well (especially as, as a Rockland native, it doesn't come up all that much in fiction, even just the mention of a town name).
I will also say- the ending was a masterpiece of
Final thought- as a native of the NYC suburbs and current NYC resident, I'm loving that the book is set in this area so vividly- I'm always kind of startled at the lack of grid traffic, but the descriptions of driving from Manhattan to the Bronx/Westchester are fascinating in the era before/during Robert Moses, when most of the infrastructure we're used to just didn't exist yet. And the mention of the Tarrytown-Nyack ferry that wouldn't be replaced by the Tappan Zee Bridge for another 20 years was fun as well (especially as, as a Rockland native, it doesn't come up all that much in fiction, even just the mention of a town name).