Christopher Rush
Curtains for Three ⭐⭐⭐
Another enjoyable entry in the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin legacy (it will be difficult to find one we don’t like, I’m sure). The three short adventures for me got successively less enjoyable, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t good. The first story, “The Gun with Wings,” was very enjoyable and one of the more detective-engaging stories. By this I mean sometimes as the reader we aren’t all that interested in the resolution to the mystery or murder or whatever the issue is — our main interest is time with Wolfe and Archie and seeing how they wrap it up, regardless of how it wraps up. This story, though, with the murder weapon’s ability to change places multiple times, is so refreshingly different as a problem Wolfe is needed to solve and we really want to know the answer — especially when we think we get the answer but, like Archie in the book, become incredulous when Wolfe says we are only halfway to the solution! It was a very good story.
“Bullet for One” was less enjoyable, but perhaps that’s only because of how engaging the first story was, not because it is a dud itself. It has its irritating moments, especially when some nobody cop takes umbrage with Archie: even with their “hijinks,” you’d think the police force would appreciate Archie and Wolfe by now — it’s almost as irritating as Gotham policeman never trusting Batman (or Hogwarts kids not believing Harry from like the third book on), but it doesn’t drag out at least. It was a decent story, I suppose.
“Disguise for Murder” has always perplexed me, and finally reading it hasn’t alleviated any of that perplexion. The main twist, which I shan’t mention here, never seems all that believable to me, which hinders my enjoyment of this story. The resolution scene likewise seems rather bizarre and far-fetched and … bizarre. Here’s a dangerous murderer, who has killed two people, almost kills a third, comes close to killing Archie, but with a snap of the fingers the murderer is stopped and overcome and ba-ba-boo it’s all over. Shrug. The Hutton/Chaykin version of this is somewhat different, connecting as it does to another story in the series, but some of those differences are improvements, especially the “For the police there will be no sandwiches!” line, one of my favorites, which is not in the book version. Still, it’s a Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin story. It’s worth it.
Triple Jeopardy ⭐⭐⭐
I want to go with 3.5 stars, but the system won’t let me. Technology hasn’t gotten to the point in 2Q 2015 enabling us to give partial stars on Internet book review Web sites, much like the inability to indent paragraphs on Web sites. I say that for the sake of posterity, when this review will be read, mainly for its historical commentary interest. The three stories in this collection are diverse and bring unusual moods to the audience (different “feels” to the stories, which I say as a plurality of “feel,” not in the inane way many people seem to use it in 2015 — again, a comment for historical flavor).
“Home to Roost” was likely the most obvious Rex Stout-influenced story (at least it has been so far), in the sense of his personal antagonism against Communism (Socialism, really, or Marxist-Leninism if you prefer) driving the story overtly. It is a fairly dry story, but that shouldn’t be taken as a derision. It’s fairly straightforward without any wholly unusual scenes in some stories, if memory serves, but again that’s not a slight. It’s a good story driven by the political flavoring and an exciting twist of a conclusion/solution. It may seem dated today, with the necessary acceptance of all sorts of worldviews (even if you don’t agree with them) except old-fashioned ones that are true, but most likely the people who read good older books aren’t swayed by that sort of nonsense and will likely agree with Wolfe/Stout on this one.
I was fairly familiar with “Cop Killer” thanks to the Hutton/Chaykin series, even though that was one of my least favorite episodes, likely because of the weird photography of it, but it was still enjoyable to read. It almost drags on a bit too much by the end, feeling like Archie makes one too many trips to and from the barbershop where most of the story occurs, but it does have a few very enjoyable moments that make the story remarkable and make up for the pacing, especially the “the purpose of the front room is to keep the killers” jibe against Cramer, but he sort of deserves it for still not trusting Wolfe or Archie. The ending is atypical, in that Wolfe leaves his home to conclude the case for which he is not getting paid, and while the conclusion makes sense it is based on things we don’t really know and seems a bit of a stretch, even for Wolfe, even though reading it when knowing how it ends enables us to see a lot of the clues Stout gives us more overtly than usual. One other drawback of this story is the lowdown way Archie treats the non-paying clients: it’s one of those stories in which Archie seems far harsher than we want him to be, especially since Timothy Hutton is far nicer in his version of this story. Wolfe, too, is nicer in the TV version, especially in the denouement: in the book version, Wolfe is reluctant to help the refugee couple; in the television version, Wolfe eagerly assists them in citizenship, knowing his own hardships of being a refugee.
“The Squirt and the Monkey” is one of those stories I really tend to dislike — anytime guest stars or whoever come along to the episode or story and don’t like the main characters we always root for or intentionally make things difficult for them are stories/episodes I usually despise. This is definitely one of those stories, in which Archie is set up by a few people to take the fall for murder (with his own gun, no less), but the speed and unusual nature of the story (again, the “feel” of it) overcame for me my usual dislike, and I really enjoyed it. While we can always rely on the “well, we know our heroes are going to fix it by the end” standby, that doesn’t always make the experience of that novel/story/episode more palatable. Somehow, this time it did, perhaps because Archie gets his own gun back so soon. Another irritating aspect of this story was again how nonsensically Cramer treats Goodwin: you’d think he wouldn’t do this nonsense, even with the legitimacy of the charges, but I guess Cramer really takes a deep-seated umbrage to the frequency of Wolfe and Goodwin solving his crimes. I would think he would be more grateful for the capturing of murderers, but he is eager to take any legitimate opportunity of making things difficult for Wolfe and Goodwin, even if it irritates us almost as much as it does our heroes. Still, the unusual nature of the story makes it very enjoyable, especially with the very atypical maneuverings involved in the revelation of the murderer. Is it the monkey? Read it and find out.
Murder By the Book ⭐⭐⭐
Another enjoyable Wolfe/Archie adventure, and that’s, as usual, all we want. The premise is rather distinct this time: people who have read a manuscript are getting murdered … but Wolfe and Archie have to figure out if that is truly the motive, who did it, and who wrote the book itself — a very intriguing mix. It may remind diverse readers of The Shadow of the Wind and The Name of the Rose, but it’s not nearly as huge as those. It also features some victims’ family members more than usual, which one might think would detract a bit from it (not to sound heartless), but it ends up adding to the whole, especially at the shocking (perhaps “stunning” would be more accurate) finale. This entry suffers a bit from a rather protracted trip of Archie’s to California, and the unusual nature of that is more detracting than refreshing. Also, Archie makes some awkward remarks about a married woman throughout implying he’d be happy if she lost her husband so he could go after her (after she just lost her brother!), which isn’t nearly as pleasant as Archie’s usual banter. Still, it’s a good solid entry all in all. It has a good number of twists and surprises (but you were going to read it anyway, weren’t you?).
Prisoner’s Base ⭐⭐⭐
This is certainly among the saddest of the Wolfe mysteries, mainly because of who is killed (not because it mildly irks Archie’s and Wolfe’s consciences). Because it starts off on such a sour note, especially for Archie, it’s a bit more difficult to enjoy this one, since no one is having much fun. It starts out with some humorous moments, but just as on the Galactica, you know if people are smiling and laughing for more than a moment, some bomb is going to explode somewhere, which is effectively what happens here. The “humor” at the beginning is one-sided, puts Archie and Wolfe at an impasse, and results, perhaps somewhat circuitously, in the death of a prospective client, leaving everyone grumpy and out for their kind of vengeance. It’s a decent mystery, with Wolfe and Archie desperate for clues and information for most of the book, but some of the twists are a bit of a stretch and only make the book sadder (more death of a character we like, making Archie even grumpier). One highlight of this, even in Archie’s misery for the last half of the work (his guilt, his imprisonment, and so on), is the positive presentation of the police. Archie, in his multi-faceted desperation, works alongside Cramer and Stebbins, and we see them both presented very competently and positively, which is good, since we don’t want to conceive of them as hopeless without Wolfe’s help. Stebbins and Archie even have a friendly lunch. The TV version of this adventure made an interesting choice of trimming out some supporting characters, which curtailed some of the sorrow from the book. Another fine entry, though more sorrowful than even Wolfe on the run.
The Golden Spiders ⭐⭐⭐
Another of the sadder Nero Wolfe stories, this one is also among the more frustrating, primarily because an innocent boy is killed and Archie and Wolfe don’t feel all that bad about it. Wolfe’s dander is up more because people get killed who have been to his house (bad for business) more so than because they are people who are killed. This was so far my least favorite (at least within working memory) mystery, in part because of their strange attitudes, the slow pace of the investigation at times, and the general neglect of the poor boy’s mom after her first appearance. Plus, the whole thing hinges on the implausible scenario of only one pair of earrings in the entirety of New York City in the shape of spiders, which may have been likely at the time but is so foreign to present experience it’s just strange. Things just seem off for most of this, as in the scene with Archie, Saul, Fred, and Orrie all together overcoming some torturers: Archie is willing to see how much Fred can take before jumping in to save him! A bit off-putting. It has its fine moments, of course, as all Wolfe mysteries do, but I wouldn’t recommend starting here for first-timers or anything.
Three Men Out ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a very enjoyable collection, though I can’t explain too much why I thought so. It’s not that the mysteries were superlative or incredibly extraordinary, but for some reason (perhaps the period in my life in which I read them) this was a refreshing group of stories. The first story about the dangers of upsetting extended family in-laws was the least sparkling of the group, but the bizarre twists during the story, especially Archie tricking Wolfe into coming to the scene, make it different enough to be enjoyable. The second story, similarly, is another impressive mix of little movement in the story, a whole lot of Wolfe talking to people, Archie appearing at the wrong place at the wrong time (as is his wont), and a very clever twist that would be more frustrating to us ignorant boffs were it handled/presented by a lesser writer. The extended red herring throughout (especially the way it builds and builds upon itself as we become more aware of it) was definitely an enjoyable misdirection. The final story is a strange mix of baseball skullduggery and a wholly atypical scene of genuine danger, with Archie really shining on his own, though likely in ways in which we may not approve. This was a very fine mix of unusual stories that really sparked well with me.
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