Nero Wolfe

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One conception of Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe
One conception of Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created by the American mystery writer Rex Stout, who made his debut in 1934. He appeared in 33 novels and 39 short stories from the 1930s to the 1970s, with most of them set in New York City.

Contents

[edit] Character

I suggest beginning with autobiographical sketches from each of us, and here is mine. I was born in Montenegro and spent my early boyhood there. At the age of sixteen I decided to move around, and in fourteen years I became acquainted with most of Europe, a little of Africa, and much of Asia, in a variety of roles and activities. Coming to this country in nineteen-thirty, not penniless, I bought this house and entered into practice as a private detective. I am a naturalized American citizen.

– Nero Wolfe addressing the suspects in "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957)

Rex Stout originally intended Nero Wolfe's age to be 56, at least in the first books[1]. Some descriptions and remarks in the later books show that Stout was allowing his principal characters to age somewhat, although much more slowly than the world they inhabit. The books take place contemporaneously with their writing, however, so that they do depict a changing landscape and society, primarily that of New York City, over the course of 40 years.

Wolfe is is 5'11" tall and is frequently said by the books' narrator to weigh "a seventh of a ton" (about 286 pounds or 130 kg). At the time of the first book, 1934, this was intended to indicate unusual obesity, especially through the use of the word "ton" as the unit of measure. [2] Although capable of normal movement, Wolfe tries to adhere to a policy of never leaving his house for business reasons and seldom for any reason at all. As the British critic Kingsley Amis says, Wolfe "distrust[s] all machines more complicated than a wheelbarrow and [has] to be heavily pressured each time before getting into a car." [3]

Wolfe was born in Montenegro. He is reticent about his youth, but apparently he was athletic, fit, and adventurous. Before World War I, he spied for the Austrian government, but had a change of heart when the war began. He then joined the Serbian-Montenegrin army (rebuilt as a joint force after both countries suffered disastrous losses) and fought against the Austrians and Germans. After a time in Europe and North Africa, he came to the United States.

[edit] Wolfe's home

Wolfe, who has expensive tastes, lives in a luxurious and extremely comfortable New York City brownstone at a shifting address on West 35th Street. In the course of the books, nine different specific addresses are given, ranging from 506 to 938; those numbers above 914 would actually be located in the Hudson River. [4] Ken Darby's meticulously researched book about the brownstone house, supposedly related by Archie Goodwin, says that the real location of the house was on East 22nd Street in the Gramercy Park District and that "there never were brownstone houses on West 35th Street.[5] The house has three floors, plus a large basement with living quarters, a roof-top greenhouse also with living quarters, and a small elevator to connect them all. A well-known amateur orchid grower, Wolfe has 10,000 plants in the brownstone's greenhouse and employs three live-in staff to see to his needs:

[edit] Wolfe's staff

  • Archie Goodwin, the narrator of, and an active participant in, all the stories. He is occasionally referred to by the New York newspapers as "Nero Wolfe's legman." Like Wolfe, Archie is a licensed private detective and is expected to handle all investigation that takes place outside the brownstone as well as to perform mundane tasks such as sorting through the mail, taking dictation and answering the phone. At the time of the first novel, Fer-de-Lance, Archie has been working for Wolfe for seven years and by this time he has been trained by Wolfe in his preferred methods of investigation. Like Wolfe, he has developed a prodigious memory and can recite verbatim conversations of many hours duration. But perhaps his most useful attribute is his uncanny ability to cajole people into Wolfe's presence for often extended interrogation. Archie has his own bedroom (one floor above Wolfe's) in the brownstone and lives there rent-free. On several occasions he makes the point of his owning his own bedroom furniture. Except for breakfast (which chef Fritz Brenner generally serves him in the kitchen) he takes his meals at Wolfe's table and has become very knowledgeable about food, "sandwiched," as it were, between the experts Wolfe and Fritz. While Archie is not averse to alcohol his beverage of choice is milk. Archie's initial rough edges become smoother across the decades, just as American norms evolved over the years. In the first Wolfe novel, Archie uses a racially offensive term, for which Wolfe chides him,[6] but by the time that A Right To Die was published in 1964, racial epithets were used only by Stout's criminals, or as evidence of mental defect. Many reviewers and critics regard Archie as the stories' true protagonist. Compared to Wolfe, Goodwin is the man of action: tough, street smart, and hot-blooded. His narrative style, which evolved over the years, is breezy and vivid. Some commentators saw this as a conscious device by Stout to fuse the hard school of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade with the urbanity of Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. [7] But there is no doubt that Goodwin was an important addition to the genre of detective fiction. Previously, foils such as Watson or Hastings were employed as confidants and narrators ("The great detective and his stooge," as Poirot referred to them), but none had such a fully-developed personality or was such an integral part of the plot as Archie. Occasionally, either to augment Archie's efforts during an investigation or when Wolfe prefers to keep him in the dark, freelance operatives employed by Wolfe take are added to the mix. These are primarily Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin and Orrie Cather.
  • Fritz Brenner, an exceptionally talented Swiss cook who prepares and serves all of Wolfe's meals except those that Wolfe occasionally takes at Rusterman's Restaurant, of which Wolfe became trustee after the death of his friend, and Rusterman's owner, Marko Vukcic. Fritz (by which name he is generally referred to in the stories) also acts as the household's majordomo and butler. In his room, Fritz keeps 289 cookbooks, the head of a wild boar he shot in the Vosges, and busts of Escoffier and Brillat-Savarin as well as a cooking vessel thought to have been used by Julius Caesar's chef.[8].
  • Theodore Horstmann, an orchid expert who assists Wolfe in the plant rooms and has his living quarters on the roof. In the first Wolfe book, Fer-de-Lance, Horstmann is described as being an "old man" who yells at Wolfe, who "seemed to have the same effect on Horstmann that an umpire had on John J. McGraw." Sometimes when Horstmann appears, his existence is little more than a plot device — as in "Door to Death." in which his extended absence forces Wolfe to find another orchid tender. In Black Orchids, however, Theodore's actions are central to the denouement. It is curious that in spite of the great emphasis on food and eating throughout the series, along with Wolfe's frequent query of guests or gathered suspects as to whether they have yet eaten, no mention is ever made of where, when, or what Horstmann eats.

[edit] Wolfe's eccentricities

Wolfe has pronounced eccentricities, as well as strict rules concerning his way of life, and their occasional violation adds spice to many of the stories:

  • According to Amis, Wolfe "allow[s] hardly anybody to use [his] first name, keep[s] television out and read[s] all the time, [and] react[s] so little in conversation that an eighth-of-an-inch shake of the head becomes a frenzy of negation." Amis sums up Wolfe as "every man's Tory, a contemporary Dr. Johnson. The original Dr. Johnson was a moralist before everything else, and so at heart is Wolfe." Note that in at least Plot It Yourself and The Doorbell Rang Wolfe is described as having a television in his house. In the latter story it is located in the basement and is used to drown out conversations from potential eavesdroppers.
  • The stories insist that Wolfe conducts no business outside the brownstone, but in fact this rule is frequently violated. At times, Wolfe and Archie are on a personal errand when a murder occurs, and legal authorities require that they remain in the vicinity (Too Many Cooks, Some Buried Caesar, "Too Many Detectives" and "Immune to Murder," for example). In other instances, the requirements of the case force Wolfe from his house (In the Best Families, The Second Confession, The Doorbell Rang, The Silent Speaker). Although he occasionally ventures by car into the suburbs of New York City, he is loath to travel, and clutches the safety strap continually on the rare occasions when Archie drives him somewhere.
  • Wolfe maintains a rigid schedule in the brownstone. After breakfast in his bedroom while wearing yellow silk pajamas, he is with Horstmann in the plant rooms from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Lunch is usually at 1:15 p.m. He returns to the plant rooms from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Dinner is generally at 7:15 or 7:30 p.m. The remaining hours, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and after dinner, are available for business, or for reading if there is no pressing business on hand (by Archie's lights, sometime even if there is). Sunday's schedule is more relaxed.
  • Wolfe drinks copious amounts of beer, starting after returning to his office from the plant rooms at 11 a.m., and not ending until bedtime. He carefully collects the bottle caps to track his consumption. In the first book, Fer de Lance, his daily consumption is said to be six quarts but that he was considering cutting it back to five quarts. With 32 fluid ounces per quart, this means he was contemplating reducing his consumption from 16 bottles per day to approximately 13.
  • Wolfe has stated, apparently with a straight face, that "music is the last vestige of barbarism."
  • In the course of the stories, Wolfe displays a pronounced, almost pathological, dislike for the company of women. Although some readers interpret this attitude as simple misogyny, various details in the stories, particularly the early ones, suggest it has more to do with an unfortunate encounter in early life with a femme fatale. He not so much dislikes women as their perceived frailties, especially a woman having hysterics — to which he thinks every woman is prone for little or no reason. In an early Wolfe novel Over My Dead Body, we learn that he has an adopted daughter, who subsequently plays an important role in the 1954 novel The Black Mountain. It is also noted early in the first Wolfe novel that there is a gong under Archie's bed that will ring upon any intrusion into or near Wolfe's own bedroom: "Wolfe told me once... that he really had no cowardice in him, he only had an intense distaste for being touched by anyone...."
  • In nearly every story, Wolfe solves the mystery by considering the facts that Archie has brought him, information gathered (usually by Saul Panzer) without Archie's knowledge, and the replies to questions he himself asks of suspects. Wolfe ponders while closing his eyes, leaning back in his chair, breathing deeply and steadily, and pushing his lips in and out. Archie says that during these trances Wolfe reacts to nothing that is going on around him. Archie seldom interrupts Wolfe's thought processes, he says, largely because it is the only time that he can be sure that Wolfe is working.

[edit] Food

Along with reading, enjoyment of good food is the keystone of Wolfe's mostly leisured existence. He is both a gourmand and a gourmet, eating enormous quantities of Fritz's delectable cuisine three times a day. Shad roe is a particular favorite of his, prepared in a number of different ways. Archie, who heartily enjoys his food but to a lesser degree than Wolfe, laments at one point that "Every spring I get so fed up with shad roe that I wish to heaven fish would figure out some other way. Whales have." Shad roe is frequently the first course, followed by another Wolfe favorite, roasted or braised duck. Archie also complains that there is never corned beef or rye bread on Wolfe's table, and he sometimes ducks out to eat a corned beef sandwich at a nearby diner. Strangely enough for a man of Wolfe's highly cultivated palate and tastes, he rarely discusses or drinks wine of any kind, although he does offer excellent vintages to his guests.

On weekdays, Fritz serves Wolfe's breakfast in Wolfe's bedroom. Archie eats his separately in the kitchen, although if Wolfe has morning instructions for Archie, Wolfe will ask Fritz to send Archie upstairs before Archie eats. For lunch and dinner, regularly scheduled mealtimes are part of Wolfe's daily routine. In an early story, Wolfe tells a guest that luncheon is served daily at 1:00 p.m. and dinner at 8:00, although later stories suggest that lunchtime may have been changed to 1:15 or 1:30, at least on Fridays. Lunch and dinner are served in the dining room to Wolfe, Archie, and any guests who may be present. If Archie is in a rush due to pressing business or a social engagement, however, he will eat separately in the kitchen because Wolfe cannot bear to see a meal rushed. Wolfe also has a rule, sometimes bent but never overtly broken, that pending business is never discussed at the table.

Wolfe views much of life through the prism of food and dining, going so far as to say at one point that Voltaire could not have been a great philosopher because he did not enjoy eating. He knows enough about fine cuisine to lecture on American cooking to Les Quinze Maîtres (a group of the 15 finest chefs in the world) in Too Many Cooks and to dine with the Ten for Aristology (a group of epicures) in "Poison à la Carte" and The Doorbell Rang. Wolfe does not, however, enjoy visiting restaurants (with the occasional exception of Rusterman's, owned for a time by Wolfe's best friend, Marco Vukcic); Wolfe states once that would not voluntarily dine at a restaurant even if Vatel were the chef.

It appears that Wolfe himself knows his way around the kitchen; in the story "Cordially Invited To Meet Death", he works closely with a visitor to develop an improved recipe for corned beef hash, and in The Mother Hunt, he offers to prepare scrambled eggs for a client, suggesting that he would need 40 minutes to prepare them to perfection. (The early story "Bitter End" suggests the contrary view that Wolfe was unable to prepare his own meals, as in that story Fritz's illness with the flu causes a household crisis and forces Wolfe to resort to canned liver pâté for his lunch.)

Wolfe's meals generally include an appetizer, a hearty main course, a salad served after the entrée (with the salad dressing mixed at tableside and used immediately), and a dessert course with coffee.

[edit] Wolfe's parentage

In 1956, John D. Clark put forth a theory in the Baker Street Journal that Wolfe was the offspring of an affair between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (a character from A Scandal in Bohemia). Clark suggested that the two had had an affair in Montenegro in 1892, and that Nero Wolfe was the result. The idea was later co-opted by William S. Baring-Gould, but there is no evidence that Rex Stout had any such connection in mind. Certainly there is no mention of it in any of the stories. Some commentators, noting both physical and psychological resemblances, suggest Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes as a more likely father for Wolfe. There is also a curious coincidence: in the names "Sherlock Holmes" and "Nero Wolfe", the vowels appear in the same order. In 1957 Ellery Queen called this "The Great O-E Theory" and suggested that it derives from the father of mysteries, Poe. [9].

[edit] Wolfeian aphorisms

  • "Afraid? I can dodge folly without backing into fear."
  • Client to Wolfe: "You're an incredible man.... Is there anything you couldn't do?" "Yes, madam.... There is. I couldn't put sense in a fool's brain."

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout

Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books are listed below in order of publication. Novels are also browsable by title at the Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout page. Titles of the novella collections are listed alphabetically on the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout page.

  • Fer-de-Lance (1934) — The first Nero Wolfe mystery and the basis for the 1936 movie Meet Nero Wolfe. The story involves the death of a college president while playing golf in Westchester County, New York. Although the characters are not as fully developed as they would become later in the series, the essential characteristics of Wolfe, Archie, and several other regulars already are clearly present.
  • The League of Frightened Men (1935) — Author Paul Chapin is on trial for obscenity in his popular novel. Wolfe reads the book, then tells Archie that a potential client had asked Wolfe to arrange to protect him from Chapin. The potential client, along with some classmates at Harvard, had taken part in a hazing incident years before, in which Chapin was crippled. Now some of the "League of Frightened Men" — who chipped in to help Chapin after the accident — have begun dying. It is unclear whether that is through malice or by chance, but the surviving members of the League wish to hire Wolfe to find out. (The prominent American man of letters Edmund Wilson wrote in a review in The New Yorker that the book "makes use of a clever psychological idea.") The book was adapted for the 1937 movie The League of Frightened Men.
  • The Rubber Band (1936) — Archie books two new clients on the same day, and before the day is over Wolfe has to choose which to keep and there are more than two crimes to untangle. The client he keeps in the end is a beautiful young woman, but it's Wolfe who reads her Hungarian poetry, not Archie. In the course of this novel, Lieutenant Rowcliffe, not one of the NYPD's finest (in the opinion not only of Wolfe but Cramer), earns Wolfe's enmity that lasts until the final Wolfe novel in 1975.
  • The Red Box (1937) — In the midst of a murder investigation, one of the suspects visits Wolfe and begs Wolfe to handle his estate and especially the contents of a certain red box. Wolfe is at first concerned about a possible conflict of interest, but feels unable to refuse when the man then dies in his office before telling Wolfe where to find the red box. The police naturally think that he told Wolfe somewhat more before dying.
  • Too Many Cooks (1938) — Wolfe, a knowledgeable gourmet as well as a detective, attends a meeting of great chefs, The Fifteen Masters, at a resort in West Virginia, and jealousies among them soon lead to death. Wolfe sustains his own injury in the course of finding the culprit but also obtains the secret recipe for saucisse minuit.
  • Some Buried Caesar (1939) — On the way to an agricultural fair north of Manhattan, Wolfe's car runs into a tree, stranding Wolfe and Archie at the home of the owner of a chain of fast-food cafés. A neighbor is later found gored to death; the authorities rule the death an accident but Wolfe deduces that it was murder. Lily Rowan, Archie's longtime girlfriend, makes her first appearance.
  • Over My Dead Body (1940) — This novel and its much later sequel The Black Mountain, have as a background Montenegrin (Yugoslavian) politics[10]
  • Where There's a Will (1940) — Wolfe is initially retained to assist in a will contest, only soon to find himself engaged in investigating a murder.
  • Black Orchids (1942) — Novella collection that includes "Black Orchids" and "Cordially Invited to Meet Death"
  • Not Quite Dead Enough (1944) — Novella collection that includes "Not Quite Dead Enough" and "Booby Trap"
  • The Silent Speaker (1946)
  • Too Many Women (1947) — A malcontent at the Naylor-Kerr corporation charges that one of its employees, thought to have been killed in a hit-and-run accident, was actually murdered. The president of the colossal company hires Archie to look into the matter in the guise of a personnel consultant working in Naylor-Kerr's executive offices — where 500 beautiful woman have been gathered under one roof.
  • And Be a Villain (1948) (British title More Deaths Than One) — The first of three novels (The Second Confession, In the Best Families) that concern Nero Wolfe's struggle with Arnold Zeck, an organized crime kingpin.
  • Trouble in Triplicate (1949) — Novella collection that includes "Help Wanted, Male," "Before I Die" and "Instead of Evidence"
  • The Second Confession (1949)
  • Three Doors to Death (1950) — Novella collection that includes "Man Alive," "Omit Flowers" and "Door to Death"
  • In the Best Families (1950)
  • Curtains for Three (1951) — Novella collection that includes "The Gun with Wings," "Bullet for One" and "Disguise for Murder"
  • Murder by the Book (1951) — Because the New York police have written the case off as an accident, a Peoria businessman asks Wolfe to investigate the hit-and-run death of his daughter, a reader for a book publishing company, in Van Cortlandt Park. Wolfe connects her death to a list of names he was recently shown by Inspector Cramer, related to a stalled homicide investigation — and concludes there is a second murder. A third murder validates Wolfe's conclusion, and Archie follows the trail of an unpublished novel to California and back.
  • Triple Jeopardy (1952) — Novella collection that includes "Home to Roost," "The Cop-Killer" and "The Squirt and the Monkey"
  • Prisoner's Base (1952) (British title Out Goes She)
  • The Golden Spiders (1953) — A squeegie kid, Pete Drossos, tells his neighbor and hero, Nero Wolfe, how he saw a woman being held at gunpoint at a nearby intersection. It isn't long before Pete is murdered and Wolfe investigates his death for a fee of $4.30 that Pete had managed to save from washing windshields.
  • Three Men Out (1954) — Novella collection that includes "Invitation to Murder," "The Zero Clue" and "This Won't Kill You"
  • The Black Mountain (1954) — Wolfe and Archie clandestinely go to Yugoslavia in order to avenge the death of Wolfe's oldest friend and bring the murderer to justice
  • Before Midnight (1955) — A national literary contest to promote a new brand of perfume leads to murder and more.
  • Three Witnesses (1956) — Novella collection that includes "The Next Witness," "When a Man Murders" and "Die Like a Dog"
  • Might As Well Be Dead (1956) — Wolfe is hired to find a missing person, who soon turns up — under a new name — as a newly convicted murderer in a sensational crime.
  • Three for the Chair (1957) — Novella collection that includes "A Window for Death," "Immune to Murder" and "Too Many Detectives"
  • If Death Ever Slept (1957) — Millionaire Otis Jarrell retains Nero Wolfe to get a snake out of his house — the snake being his daughter-in-law, whom he believes is ruining his business deals by leaking information to his competitors. Since Archie and Wolfe are in the midst of one of their periodic squabbles, it is decided that Archie will move into Jarrell's Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment, posing as his new secretary, While he's away, Orrie tests out Archie's desk.
  • And Four to Go (1958) — Novella collection that includes "Christmas Party," "Easter Parade" "Fourth of July Picnic" and "Murder Is No Joke"
  • Champagne for One (1958) — Archie sits in for a friend at a charity dinner dance for unwed mothers, and one of the guests drops dead on the dance floor.
  • Plot It Yourself (1959) (British title Murder in Style) — The National Association of Authors and Dramatists joins forces with the Book Publishers of America in hiring Wolfe to investigate an ingenious series of plagiarism claims against highly regarded authors. The extortion leads to murder.
  • Three at Wolfe's Door (1960) — Novella collection that includes "Poison a la Carte," "Method Three for Murder" and "The Rodeo Murder"
  • Too Many Clients (1960) — A man who identifies himself as Thomas Yeager, head of Continental Plastics, asks Archie to ascertain whether he is being followed when he visits a certain address in one of New York's worst neighborhoods. When Yeager's body is found at an excavation site in the vicinity of that address, Archie crosses the threshold and finds a fantastically appointed love nest where Yeager secretly entertained many women.
  • The Final Deduction (1961) — In a departure from most other Wolfe books, Wolfe is initially hired to solve a kidnapping, but deaths soon crop up.
  • Homicide Trinity (1962) — Novella collection that includes "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo," "Death of a Demon" and "Counterfeit for Murder"
  • Gambit (1962)
  • The Mother Hunt (1963)
  • Trio for Blunt Instruments (1964) — Novella collection that includes "Kill Now — Pay Later," "Murder Is Corny" and "Blood Will Tell"
  • A Right To Die (1964)
  • The Doorbell Rang (1965)
  • Death of a Doxy (1966) — Orrie Cather, one of Wolfe's operatives, has been secretly seeing a wealthy man's kept mistress at her secret lovenest, but is arrested when she turns up dead.
  • The Father Hunt (1968)
  • Death of a Dude (1969)
  • Please Pass the Guilt (1973)
  • A Family Affair (1975) — Rex Stout's final Nero Wolfe novel
  • Death Times Three (1985) — Posthumous novella collection that includes "Bitter End," "Frame-Up for Murder" and "Assault on a Brownstone"

[edit] Nero Wolfe novellas by Rex Stout

Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novellas are listed below in order of first appearance.

  • "Bitter End" (1940) — Rex Stout's rewrite of what was originally a novel that featured Tecumseh Fox, not Nero Wolfe. Originally printed in the November 1940 issue of The American Magazine, "Bitter End" saw its first book publication in Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe (James A. Rock & Co., 1977), a posthumous collection edited by Michael Bourne. Corsage was produced in a numbered limited edition of 276 hardcovers and 1,500 softcovers.
  • "Black Orchids" (1941) — Curiosity about the black orchids grown by millionaire Lewis Hewitt compels an envious Nero Wolfe to attend New York's annual flower show.
  • "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (1942) — High-society party arranger Bess Huddleston comes to Nero Wolfe with two anonymous letters threatening her.
  • "Not Quite Dead Enough" (1942) — How Archie joined Army Intelligence in WWII and got Wolfe involved in it.
  • "Booby Trap" (1944) — Another story about Archie in uniform, this time involving attempts by the munitions industry to bribe Congress in order to steal industrial secrets for use after the war.
  • "Help Wanted, Male" (1945) — An anonymous threat leads Wolfe to take unusual steps to prevent his own murder.
  • "Instead of Evidence" (1946) — Certain that his partner is about to murder him, the owner of a novelty company retains Wolfe to keep him from getting away with it.
  • "Before I Die" (1947) — Mobster Dazy Perrit comes to Wolfe for help in stopping a blackmailer.
  • "Man Alive" (1947) — A high-fashion designer consults Wolfe after she sees her uncle — believed to have committed suicide a year before — in disguise and in the audience at one of her shows.
  • "Bullet for One" (1948) — An industrial designer is shot to death while riding horseback in Central Park.
  • "Omit Flowers" (1948) — As a favor for his oldest friend Marko Vukcic, Wolfe takes the case of Virgil Pompa, a chef who traded his genius for a high-paying job as the supervisor of a restaurant chain. He is in jail, charged with murder. Archie begins the story with the statement, "In my opinion it was one of Nero Wolfe's neatest jobs, and he never got a nickel for it."
  • "Door to Death" (1949) — When orchid nurse Theodore Horstmann leaves the brownstone indefinitely to tend to his sick mother, Nero Wolfe goes out — in the snow and on foot — into the raging wilds of Westchester to find a replacement. He and Archie find a corpse in the greenhouse, as well.
  • "The Gun with Wings" (1949) — The police are satisfied that a top tenor at the Metropolitan Opera shot himself, but his widow and the man she hopes to marry know it was murder.
  • "Disguise for Murder" (1950) — The garden editor of the Gazette persuades Nero Wolfe to play host to the Manhattan Flower Club. While a couple of hundred people are upstairs in the plant rooms looking at Wolfe's orchids, a woman is strangled in his office.
  • "The Cop-Killer" (1951) — Tina and Carl Vardas, employees at the barbershop Archie patronizes, are questioned by a policeman after a hit-and-run. When the Vardases flee to the brownstone and desperately ask Archie for help, their overreaction proves to be justified.
  • "The Squirt and the Monkey" (1951) — Archie becomes involved with gunplay at the unconventional and uncomfortably warm home of a syndicated cartoonist.
  • "Home to Roost" (1952) — A young man is poisoned shortly after confiding to his aunt that his objectionable advocacy of the Communist party is a front for his undercover work for the FBI.
  • "This Won't Kill You" (1952) — Wolfe honors a guest's request by taking him to a World Series game at the Polo Grounds. After the Giants are trounced by the Red Sox, members of the team are found to have been drugged — and a body is discovered in the locker room. Wolfe solves the crime without leaving the ball park.
  • "Invitation to Murder" (1953) — A client hires Archie to assess the matrimonial intentions of his wealthy invalid brother-in-law. When Archie finds the client dead, he tricks Wolfe into leaving the brownstone and identifying the killer before the police are called in.
  • "The Zero Clue" (1953) — Leo Heller, a probability expert who has parlayed his math skills into celebrity, tries to consult Wolfe after he calculates that one of his clients has committed a serious crime. Wolfe refuses the case, but Archie — "who is subordinate only when it suits his temperament and convenience," Wolfe later complains — agrees to explore on his own.
  • "When a Man Murders..." (1954) — Caroline and Paul Aubry ask Wolfe's help after her first husband — reportedly killed in action in Korea — turns up alive in New York. Their marriage is at stake, along with a million-dollar inheritance.
  • "Die Like a Dog" (1954) — A Labrador retriever follows Archie home from a murder scene, and a volatile demirep is at the center of the crime.
  • "The Next Witness" (1955) — When their would-be client Leonard Ashe is on trial for murder, Wolfe and Archie are subpoenaed to testify as witnesses for the prosecution. Wolfe bolts from the courtroom when he realizes his testimony will convict an innocent man. He and Archie elude arrest for contempt — even spending the night at Saul Panzer's apartment — as they investigate the crime themselves.
  • "Immune to Murder" (1955) — Wolfe is invited by the State Department, at the behest of an ambassador from an oil-rich country, to cook a special meal for him at an oil baron's private retreat in the Adirondacks. This naturally results in a death to investigate.
  • "A Window for Death" (1956)
  • "Too Many Detectives" (1956) — Wolfe and Archie are called to Albany, along with other licensed private detectives in New York, when there are complaints about how lax the licensing of detectives in the state is and how the detectives violate the rights of private citizens by tapping their phones.
  • "Christmas Party" (1957) — Archie goes to a holiday gathering where the host toasts the season with a poisoned glass of Pernod.
  • "Easter Parade" (1957) — When Wolfe sends him to photograph the uniquely colored orchid that will be worn in the Easter Parade, Archie snaps a murder scene.
  • "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957) — One of a set of fine knives is put to use at a restaurant workers union picnic where Wolfe has agreed to speak. The story is notable for the autobiographical sketches Wolfe and Archie share with the principal suspects gathered at Saul Panzer's apartment.
  • "Murder Is No Joke" (1958, expanded and serialized as "Frame-Up for Murder") — The sister of a fashionable designer asks Wolfe to ascertain what mysterious hold a woman from her brother's past has over him. When she arranges for Wolfe to speak to the woman by telephone, he and Archie hear a murder on the other end of the line.
  • "Method Three for Murder" (1960) — After discovering a body in the back seat, Mina Holt drives the taxi she has borrowed for the evening to 918 West 35th Street. She walks up the front steps of the brownstone just as Archie is walking down — having just told Nero Wolfe that he's quit.
  • "Poison à la Carte" (1960) — Wolfe reluctantly agrees to let Fritz prepare the annual dinner for the Ten for Aristology — "a group of ten men pursuing the ideal of perfection in food and drink" — at the home of millionaire orchid fancier Lewis Hewitt. He and Archie are guests at the table where one of the ten becomes acutely ill during the meal and soon dies of arsenic poisoning. Wolfe resolves to clear any suspicion that Fritz is responsible by discovering which of the actresses serving the meal is the guilty party.
  • "The Rodeo Murder" (1960) — A party at Lily Rowan's Park Avenue penthouse includes a roping contest between some cowboy friends, with a silver-trimmed saddle as the prize. One of the contestants is at a disadvantage when his rope is missing. When it is found wound more than a dozen times around the neck of the chief backer of the World Series Rodeo, Lily asks Wolfe to sort out the murder.
  • "Counterfeit for Murder" (1961)
  • "Death of a Demon" (1961)
  • "Kill Now — Pay Later" (1961) — Wolfe's aging Greek bootblack is accused of murder.
  • "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" (1962)
  • "Blood Will Tell" (1963) — Archie receives a blood-stained tie in the mail from the owner of a small walk-up apartment building in lower Manhattan, who also lives on the top floor. Archie investigates, only to find yet another dead body.
  • "Murder Is Corny" (1964) — A female acquaintance of Archie's implicates him in a murder but seeks his assistance in getting herself out of the mess.
  • "Assault on a Brownstone" (1959, published 1985, posthumous)

[edit] An article "by Archie Goodwin"

[edit] Nero Wolfe books by Robert Goldsborough

  • Murder in E-Minor (1986) — 1st Nero Wolfe novel by Robert Goldsborough. Wolfe is brought out of de facto retirement by the death of a man who saved his life 50 years before in Montenegro — against a background of politics at a major symphony orchestra.
  • Death on Deadline (1987) — A deadly fight for control of the narrowly held stock of the New York Gazette, publicizer of many of Wolfe's earlier cases.
  • The Bloodied Ivy (1988) — A novel about academic intrigue combined with the attractions and pitfalls of having dedicated groupies as graduate students.
  • The Last Coincidence (1989) — A novel concerning the fallout of the (alleged) date rape of the niece of Lily Rowan, Archie's girlfriend.
  • Fade to Black (1990) — The second of two Wolfe books about the world of advertising.[11]Fade to Black has, among other things, material about the Cherokee Trail of Tears and a realistic opportunity for the reader to zero in on the likely culprit without any extra info supplied later by Wolfe.
  • Silver Spire (1992) — A novel concerning the politics of a successful televangelism ministry based in Staten Island.
  • The Missing Chapter (1994) — In retrospect, an explicit farewell to Nero Wolfe by Goldsborough: this novel concerns the murder of a mediocre (at best) continuator of a popular detective series.

[edit] "Nero Wolfe" books by John Lescroart

While not mentioning Wolfe by name, it is strongly hinted in these books that the main character, Auguste Lupa, (the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler) later becomes Nero Wolfe.

  • Son of Holmes (Reissued 2003)
  • Rasputin's Revenge (Reissued 2003)

[edit] Books about Nero Wolfe

  • At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (1991; revised 2003) by J. Kenneth Van Dover. Bibliography, reviews and essays. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918736-51-X Paperback: ISBN 0-918736-52-8
  • The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe, as Told by Archie Goodwin (1983) by Ken Darby. Full-length book about Wolfe's house, including several elaborate floor plans. ISBN 0-316-17280-4
  • The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1973) by Rex Stout. ISBN 1-888952-24-5
  • Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street (1969) by William S. Baring-Gould. ISBN 0140061940
  • Rex Stout: A Biography (1977) by John McAleer. Reissued as Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life (2002), with a foreword by P.G. Wodehouse. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918736-43-9 Paperback: ISBN 0-918736-44-7
  • Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography (1980) by Guy M. Townsend, with John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer. ISBN 0-8240-9479-4

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Wolfe in cinema

[edit] Meet Nero Wolfe

Columbia Pictures adapted the first Nero Wolfe novel, Fer-de-Lance, for the screen in 1936. Herbert Biberman directed a cast that included Edward Arnold as Wolfe; Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin; John Qualen as Olaf, Wolfe's Scandinavian chef; and a young Rita Hayworth (then Rita Cansino) as Maria Maringola (Maffei).

"Wolfe's first cinema assignment is to discover who, by means of a gun concealed in a golf club, with a trigger released by impact with the ball, killed jolly old Professor Barstow and why," wrote Time magazine (July 27, 1936). "By the time he succeeds, the picture has unraveled the grim and interwoven biographies of an irascible golf professional, an Argentine olive oil dealer, a lady idol worshipper and a young man with an Oedipus complex. It has also indicated that its hero, less dashing than Philo Vance and less whimsical than Charlie Chan, but more mercenary than either, will be a highly acceptable addition to the screen's growing corps of private operatives."

[edit] The League of Frightened Men

In 1937, Columbia Pictures released its adaptation of the second Wolfe novel, with Lionel Stander reprising his role as Archie Goodwin and Walter Connolly taking over the role of Nero Wolfe. Like those for the earlier Meet Nero Wolfe, reviews for The League of Frightened Men were generally lukewarm, and Rex Stout disliked the way his characters were portrayed. For the rest of his life, he declined to authorize any more Hollywood adaptations.

[edit] Wolfe on radio

[edit] The Adventures of Nero Wolfe (ABC)

1943–1944, 30 minutes

"Santos Ortega played Wolfe," wrote John McAleer in Rex Stout: A Biography[12] "John Gibson was Archie. Gibson was breezy and Ortega wheezy — indeed, he opened the program with a wheeze, as his signature.... Rex thought the actors were creditable but winced at the plots. He never listened to the broadcasts. ... Louis Vittes was the chief script writer and wrote most of the scripts. None of Rex's story material was used. All characters beside Wolfe, Archie and Cramer were ABC's own. For the use of Wolfe and Archie, Rex received a weekly royalty." Luis Van Rooten succeeded Ortega in 1944,[13] the last year of the ABC series.

"Differences between (ABC producer) Hi Brown and Edwin Fadiman, who represented Rex's radio, screen and television interests, as Nero Wolfe Attractions, Inc., prevented its later resumption on ABC," McAleer reported. "This fact Brown regretted. 'Nero Wolfe,' Brown says, 'is one of the strongest and most successful detective characters in all of fiction.'"

  1. "The Case of the Bloodstained Orchid" (July 5, 1943)
  2. "The Case of the Vacant Blonde" (July 19, 1943)
  3. "The Case of the Noisy Ghost" (July 26, 1943)
  4. "The Case of the Deadly Million" (August 2, 1943)
  5. "The Case of the Stuttering Records" (August 9, 1943)
  6. "Death Played a Dummy" (August 16, 1943)
  7. "The Case of the Departed Guest" (August 23, 1943)
  8. "The Case of the Murderous Signature" (August 30, 1943)
  9. "The Case of the Allergic Blonde" (September 6, 1943)
  10. "The Case of the Plastered Bride" (September 13, 1943)
  11. "The Case of the Missing Mind" (September 20, 1943)
  12. "The Case of the Red-Headed Baby" (September 27, 1943)
  13. "The Case of the Traveling Pajamas" (January 28, 1944)
  14. "The Case of the Superfluous Husband" (February 11, 1944)
  15. "The Princess Charming Case" (February 18, 1944)
  16. "The Case of the Bewildered Brothers" (February 25, 1944)
  17. "The Case of the Two-Headed Dolls" (March 3, 1944)
  18. "The Case of the Wandering Wife" (March 17, 1944)
  19. "The Case of the Passionate Pigeon" (March 24, 1944)
  20. "The Case of the Tattooed Terror" (April 7, 1944)
  21. "The Case of the Lonely Corpse" (April 14, 1944)
  22. "The Case of the Coy Cadaver" (April 21, 1944)
  23. "The Case of the Dying Portrait" (April 28, 1944)
  24. "The Case of the Million Dollar Baby" (May 5, 1944)
  25. "The Case of the Tenth Tornado" (May 12, 1944)
  26. "The Case of the Burning Book" (May 19, 1944)
  27. "The Wrong Leg Murder" (May 26, 1944)
  28. "The Case of the Invisible Murderer" (June 2, 1944)
  29. No title available (June 9, 1944)
  30. No title available (June 16, 1944)
  31. No title available (June 23, 1944)
  32. No title available (June 30, 1944)
  33. No title available (July 7, 1944)
  34. "The Last Laugh Murder Case [finale] (July 14, 1944)[14]

[edit] The Amazing Nero Wolfe (MBC)

1946, 30 minutes

"The series next surfaced early in 1946, on Sundays, on the Mutual Network," wrote Stout biographer John McAleer, "with Francis X. Bushman, one-time movie idol, as Wolfe, and Elliot Lewis as Archie. ... The scripts once again were network originals. The humor verged on slapstick."

The concluding show in the series, "The Case of the Shakespeare Folio," aired December 15, 1946.

[edit] The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe (NBC)

1950–1951, 30 minutes

Sydney Greenstreet starred as Nero Wolfe. "Rex thought Greenstreet a splendid choice for the role and Greenstreet did, in fact, fill every reasonable expectation," wrote Stout biographer John McAleer."The wryness of Wolfe, for which Archie's drollery is a whetsone, was not felt in the Ortega or Bushman interpretations. Greenstreet caught it." A succession of Archies included Gerald Mohr, Herb Ellis, Larry Dobson, Wally Maher and Everett Sloane.

  1. "The Case of the Stamped for Murder" (October 20, 1950)
  2. "The Case of the Careworn Cuff" (October 27, 1950)
  3. "The Case of the Dear, Dead Lady" (November 3, 1950)
  4. "The Case of the Headless Headhunter" (November 10, 1950)
  5. "The Case of the Careless Cleaner" (November 21, 1950)
  6. "The Case of the Beautiful Archer" (November 24, 1950)
  7. "The Case of the Brave Rabbit" (December 1, 1950)
  8. "The Case of the Impolite Corpse" (December 8, 1950)
  9. "The Case of the Girl Who Cried Wolfe" (December 15, 1950)
  10. "The Case of the Slaughtered Santas" (December 22, 1950)
  11. "The Case of the Bashful Body" (December 29, 1950)
  12. "The Case of the Deadly Sell-Out" (January 5, 1951)
  13. "The Case of the Killer Cards" (January 12, 1951)
  14. "The Case of the Calculated Risk" (January 19, 1951)
  15. "The Case of the Phantom Fingers" (January 26, 1951)
  16. "The Case of the Vanishing Shells" (February 2, 1951)
  17. "The Case of the Party for Death" (February 16, 1951)
  18. "The Case of the Malevolent Medic" (February 23, 1951)
  19. "The Case of the Hasty Will" (March 2, 1951)
  20. "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" (March 9, 1951)
  21. "The Case of the Midnight Ride" (March 16, 1951)
  22. "The Case of the Final Page" (March 23, 1951)
  23. "The Case of the Tell-Tale Ribbon" (March 30, 1951)
  24. "The Case of the Shot in the Dark" (April 6, 1951)
  25. "The Case of the Lost Heir" (April 20, 1951)
  26. "The Case of Room 304" [finale] (April 27, 1951)

"Radio found three outstanding Nero Wolfes," wrote John McAleer in 1977, "but none of the scripts was perfect."

[edit] Nero Wolfe (CBC)

1982, 60 minutes

In 1982, Canadian actor, producer, writer and cultural pioneer Mavor Moore (1919–2006) starred as Nero Wolfe in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 13-episode radio series Nero Wolfe. Don Francks portrayed Archie Goodwin, and Cec Linder played Inspector Cramer.

"It took [Toronto actor and producer] Ron Hartmann two years to adapt, direct and produce the 13 episodes for radio," reported the Toronto Globe and Mail (January 16, 1982). "Ron and I are ardent Nero Wolfe fans, and we're out to convert the listener," Moore said. The series was released on audiocassette by DH Audio.

  1. "Disguise for Murder" (January 16, 1982)
  2. "Before I Die" (January 23, 1982)
  3. "Counterfeit for Murder" (January 30, 1982)
  4. "The Cop Killer" (February 6, 1982)
  5. "Christmas Party" (February 13, 1982)
  6. "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (February 20, 1982)
  7. "Man Alive" (February 27, 1982)
  8. "Instead of Evidence" (March 6, 1982)
  9. "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" (March 13, 1982)
  10. "The Squirt and the Monkey" (March 20, 1982)
  11. "The Next Witness" (March 27, 1982)
  12. "Death of a Demon" (April 3, 1982)
  13. "Murder is No Joke" (April 10, 1982)

[edit] Wolfe on television

[edit] Nero Wolfe (Paramount Television)

Rex Stout, disappointed with the Nero Wolfe movies of the 1930s and unimpressed with television in general, vetoed Nero Wolfe film and TV projects in America until his death in 1975. In 1977, Thayer David, Tom Mason, Anne Baxter and Brooke Adams filmed Nero Wolfe, a Paramount Television production based on the novel The Doorbell Rang. Intended as the pilot for a TV series, the telemovie was shelved due to the death of David shortly after filming. The film was finally broadcast in December 1979.

A year later, Paramount produced the short-lived Nero Wolfe, a weekly series that ran for the first six months of 1981 on NBC TV. William Conrad played a bearded Wolfe and Lee Horsley played Goodwin, in a production that departed considerably from the Stout originals. The episodes were set in present-day New York City.

[edit] A Nero Wolfe Mystery (A&E Network)

In March 2000, Maury Chaykin (as Nero Wolfe) and Timothy Hutton (as Archie Goodwin) starred in The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, a Jaffe/Braunstein Films co-production with the A&E Network. High ratings led to the original series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, which ran two seasons (2001-2002) on A&E TV. A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on DVD as two sets (The Golden Spiders bundled with the second season), and as a single eight-disc thinpack set.

Hutton had a strong creative hand in the A&E series, serving as an executive producer and directing a number of episodes. Many consider the series the most accurate adaptation of the Wolfe stories ever seen. The episodes followed the plots of the stories closely; unlike previous Wolfe adaptations, they were not updated to contemporary times. They were colorful period pieces, set in a somewhat vague past (the 1940s to the early '60s). The production values were exceptional and critics responded favorably.

One distinguishing feature of the series is its use of a repertory cast to play non-recurring characters. The same actor who played the murder victim in one episode might play the murderer in another. Kari Matchett has the distinction of playing a recurring role (Archie Goodwin's sometime girlfriend Lily Rowan) and a non-recurring role (nightclub singer Julie Jaquette) in the same episode, "Death of a Doxy." Nicky Guadagni has the distinction of playing two non-recurring characters (a secretary and Mrs. Cramer) in the same episode, "The Silent Speaker." Its accomplished ensemble cast gives A Nero Wolfe Mystery the effect of a play put on by a repertory company, as might have been done in the early 20th century.

[edit] Omnibus, "The Fine Art of Murder" (ABC)

Rex Stout appeared in the December 9, 1956, episode of Omnibus, a cultural anthology series that epitomized the golden age of television. Hosted by Alistair Cooke, "The Fine Art of Murder" was a 40-minute segment described by Time magazine as "a homicide as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe [and] Rex Stout would variously present it." The author is credited as appearing along with Gene Reynolds (as Archie Goodwin), Robert Echols, James Daly, Jack Sydow and Dennis Hoey. Written by Sidney Carroll and directed by Paul Bogart, "The Fine Art of Murder" is in the collection of the Library of Congress (VBE 2397-2398) and screened in its Mary Pickford Theater February 15, 2000.

[edit] International TV productions

Between 1969 and 1971, the Italian network RAI broadcast a successful series of black-and-white telemovies starring Tino Buazzelli (Nero Wolfe), Paolo Ferrari (Archie Goodwin), Pupo De Luca (Fritz Brenner) and Renzo Palmer (Inspector Cramer). Ten episodes of this series are currently (2004) available on DVD.

The German-made mini-series of Too Many Cooks -- Zu viele Köche (1961) -- stars Heinz Klevenow as Nero Wolfe, and Joachim Fuchsberger as Archie Goodwin.

A series of Russian Wolfe TV movies were made in 2001-2002. The teleplay was written by Vladimir Valutsky, who had previously written the Russian Sherlock Holmes TV series (around 1980). Nero Wolfe is played by Donatas Banionis and Archie Goodwin by Sergei Zhigunov.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Memorandum dated 1949 and reprinted in the 1992 Bantam edition of Fer-de-Lance.
  2. ^ In the 1953 book In the Best Families, Wolfe temporarily sheds 117 pounds.
  3. ^ "My Favorite Sleuths", by Kingsley Amis, Playboy, December 1966
  4. ^ The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe, as Told by Archie Goodwin, by Ken Darby, page 9
  5. ^ The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe, as Told by Archie Goodwin, by Ken Darby, page 8
  6. ^ But this admonition apparently did not take hold. In the fifth (and arguably greatest) Wolfe novel, Too Many Cooks, (1938), Archie is clearly revealed as being a bigot. The setting of the story is a West Virginia resort, Kanawha Spa, and the support staff of waiters and cooks is almost exclusively black. A murder is committed and Wolfe’s friend, Marko Vukcic, is a suspect. Although it is past midnight, Wolfe tells Archie that about a dozen of the cooks and waiters, who might have been witnesses, are coming to his room. Archie’s response, replete with demeaning racial epithets, is that interviewing them will be a waste of time. Wolfe, however, gains the trust of the group through a combination of disarming openness and persistence, which includes ordering them drinks and remembering all their names. The session ends at 4:30 in the morning and Wolfe, having gleaned what will turn out to be vital information, instructs Archie to get the (white) district attorney on the phone. Again Archie objects, suggesting that Wolfe should wait until later that day. Wolfe calmly says: “Archie, please. You tried to instruct me how to handle colored men. Will you try it with white men too?”
  7. ^ Another fictional creation by Stout, the solo operative Tecumseh Fox, who is perhaps a fusion of the best qualities of Wolfe and Goodwin into a single person without Wolfe's collection of idiosyncrasies, is arguably a better and more effective fictional character, as in the novel The Broken Vase. That book, however, was not a commercial success, and only three books featuring Fox were written, one of which was later used as the basis for a Wolfe story at the urging of Stout's publisher.
  8. ^ The Doorbell Rang, chapter 7.
  9. ^ Ellery Queen, In the Queens' Parlor, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1957, pages 4-5
  10. ^ The dissolution of the Turkish and Astro-Hungarian empire created an opportunity for the "South Slavs" (Yugoslavs), previously in separate spheres, to unite in a single country, but over the centuries of separation they had adopted three different religions (Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim) and there was much intrigue both within the region and instigated by outside powers for control of the area.
  11. ^ The first was Rex Stout's Before Midnight.
  12. ^ McAleer, John, Rex Stout: A Biography. Little Brown and Company, 1977. The Edgar Award-winning biography was reissued as Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life (James A. Rock and Company, 2002).
  13. ^ Van Dover, J. Kenneth, At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout. James A. Rock and Company, 2003.
  14. ^ Townsend, Guy M., with John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer, Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography. Garland Publishing, Inc., 1980. Episodes listed for The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe are also drawn from this source.


[edit] External links

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