4/9/22

Robert Goldsborough captures and shares Nero and Archie's essence quite well. I am looking forward to his other works for this genre. ( )

My favorite series of all time is Rex Stout's mystery series featuring sedentary detective genius Nero Wolfe and his handsome, wisecracking assistant Archie Goodwin (who also happens to be my literary boyfriend). The good news is that Stout wrote 48 novels and short stories featuring the sleuthing duo over the course of 40-odd years. The last, [A Family Affair], was published in 1975 shortly before Stout's death.

That said, I am not a fan of other authors continuing series. At worst they are dreadful, completely tone-deaf and make a mockery of the characters and milieu the original author created. At best they are methadone, reasonably well-done imitations that fail to provide the high readers got from the originals.

Goldsborough's continuation of the Wolfe novels are methadone. He tries very hard, and he clearly knows and loves the world and characters Stout created. But there is just some ineffable something that jars ever so slightly on every page that reminds me this is not the real thing. Sometimes it's a turn of phrase that's not as elegant as I came to expect from Stout, or an attempt to create the humor in the originals that falls a bit flat. Sometimes it's a tiny detail of the Wolfe universe that is wrong or inconsistent with the originals. I read the first one, [Murder in E Minor], long ago and swore I'd never read another.

Reader, I read it. Yes, I'm weak and without willpower. I recently picked up and re-read a couple of my favorite original Stouts and they did what they always do: both satisfied my craving and left me wanting more, more, more. So I was in a vulnerable state when the second Goldsborough went on e-sale, and I bought it.

And ... it's OK. It's not Stout, it could never be Stout, and these are not exactly the Wolfe and Archie and Fritz and and Saul and Lon and Cramer and Stebbins that I've come to love. But they are close, and for now they are enough. They have to be enough, unless Rex rises from the dead or some unknown manuscripts miraculously surface in Harper Lee's safe deposit box.

Oh, you want an actual review of this particular book instead of my moody navel-gazing? Weird, but all right. The plot involves the pending sale of the Gazette newspaper — employer of Lon Cohen, who over the years has fed Wolfe plenty of information to solve cases in exchange for exclusive stories. The rapacious media baron threatening that cozy arrangement is clearly a stand-in for Rupert Murdoch, for all that he's Scottish instead of Australian. Before he can complete his stock takeover, though, the current owner (who vigorously opposed the sale) is found dead of an apparent suicide. Was she murdered, and by whom? Is it connected to the takeover?

Mystery fans who haven't formed an unhealthy attachment to fictional characters would enjoy this one, I think, even if you haven't read any of the originals. Maybe especially if you haven't read any of the originals. ( )

This is the first Nero Wolfe novel I've read that wasn't written by the series creator Rex Stout, while I've never been more than a casual reader of the original novels (hardly an expert on the subject) this addition to the series does seem to touch on all the Wolfe standards. The brownstone, the gourmet food, the orchids, the enigmatic, eccentric genius that is Nero Wolfe and the wisecracking that is a signature of Archie Goodwin.

It's been sometime since I've read any of Stout's original novels so it could well be nothing more than a sort of literary nostalgia on my part but this book seemed a little less compelling than the originals... as though it were somehow lacking a certain spark - some indefinable something. Not bad at all just less riveting than I recall the old Nero Wolfe books. It's good as a standalone but probably not quite as much when compared to the originals.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes classic style mysteries with the caveat that those who are devout Nero Wolfe fans may find it disappointing. ( )