I consider this series to be a US answer to British famous detectives: Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. When it comes to detective fiction, the personality of the character doing the detection can make or break a book, or a series. I am happy to say the personalities of the series' two main characters made them stand as equals among the greatest fictional detectives, including the ones I mentioned. For the people unfamiliar with the series, the two main characters are Nero Wolfe, a Yugoslavia...

*** 3.75 ***We have to start with the indisputable fact - this book was written in 1934! Depression era United States. If you, like me, are a fan of that era's black and white mystery movies and radio serials, you know exactly what you are in for. This is a very typical example of the times. Think Holmes and Dr. Watson but in New York. Also, our Holmes, Nero Wolf, is a very heavy, mostly homebound, eccentric gentleman who has a passion for Lilies, and our Watson, Archie, is not a doctor at all,

I was a bit let-down given the popularity of the Nero Wolfe series. Well-written, well-crafted mystery. I don't want to spend one more minute with Archie, the narrator. If the story was told in the third-person, I'd probably read a few more over the years. As it is, the 1930’s slang of a less-educated sidekick was not an appealing place to live for the week or so it took me to read this.

American answer to Golden Age British mysteries, Fer-de-Lance shows why I think American crime fiction is inherently better than their British counterparts. They have got a certain flamboyance and style that the English lack. Their prose and characters are usually more interesting though the Brits probably do plots better. Stout combines the tropes of golden age detective stories (genius crime solver, ridiculous methods of murder) with the hard-boiled archetypes (smart Alec narrator) that had st...

I am not a fan of mysteries or detective novels. Garrison Keilor admires Rex Stout, so I thought I'd give one a try. "Fer-de-Lance" is the first in a series of about 50 novels and novellas, and I am now into my tenth book. These novels are not so plot-driven as your typical who-dunnit, although that obviously is part of the appeal. I enjoy them enormously because of the quirky characters, sarcastic humor, and clever word-play. There are two heroes: Nero Wolfe is a morbidly obese genius who never...

Okay. Yes. So. I should have loved this book. I really should have. Only I didn’t (as my rating might or might not indicate). I should have loved this book because I’m a slightly very huge fan of books and movies from the 1930s and 1940s. And I should have loved this book because I’m a slightly very huge fan of classic mysteries. But I didn’t and I didn’t, so I didn’t.Fer-de-Lance wasn’t too bad at first. Somewhat sleep-inducing and with a pace that would please a lethargic barnacle, but well, y...

Fer-De-Lance introduces master detective Nero Wolfe and his right-hand man, Archie Goodwin. As author Loren Estleman, (Amos Walker series), points out in the introduction of the edition of this book I read, the reader meets the two protagonists as fully developed characters and seven years into their "partnership". Wolfe - cantankerous, agoraphobic and massive - is fully entrenched in his twice daily greenhouse visits to his beloved orchids - never to be interrupted - as well as pursuing his ins...

Continuing my survey of great detective and mystery fiction series, I turn now to Nero Wolfe and his intrepid associate, Archie Goodwin. This is the very first novel in the series, originally published in 1934, a series which is often described as America’s answer to Sherlock Holmes. Even though this is the first book in the series, it reads like one somewhere in the middle, with several references to past cases and adventures. I understand they are all like that, and that it doesn’t really matt...

Entertaining, but Slightly Unbelievable, Mystery/Crime NovelMaybe it has to do with the year the book takes place, 1933.But let's just say that certain things that happened in the book (I won't reveal them because they are spoilers) would not have been possible today.Maybe they were in 1933.After all, Prohibition had just been repealed, so the atmosphere was kind of rough-and-ready. I also found it slightly mind-blowing that the author flat out tells us who the murderer is half way through the b...

This is the book that started Nero Wolfe on his career. See my comments on "Full House" for review._______________________ I decided to take a break and do a re-read of the first book of the Nero Wolfe corpus....the book that started my obsession with that character. It may not be the best of the 40+ books, of which I have read all but four, but it is the beginning sketch of the Wolfe and Archie relationship, one of fiction's greatest duos. It also shows how the household on W35th Street changed...

Generally I bump up the first book in a good series by 1 star, but I won't in this case. I'm glad I didn't start with it since it was at least 1/3 too long. The other stories I've listened to didn't seem nearly as bloated. Still, it was a good mystery & I really liked the way Stout made it feel as if it was more in the middle of the series. Archie has worked for Wolfe for 7 years & many other details added to the feel.One downside to this was that although I downloaded it from the library as ele...

I like to think I'm relatively familiar with most popular detective fiction but somehow I never heard of Nero Wolfe before stumbling on the name in The Wolfe Widow. This feels particularly astonishing considering the series boasts no less than 47 titles. But for better or worse, I've finally come face to face with this overweight, alcoholic, pseudo-Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed the book more than I expected. Not enough to run out and find the sequel--but enough that I can understand why he is consi...

Back with a couple of old friends! I may not remember which of the Nero Wolfe mysteries I read *mumble* around thirty five years ago, but I remember Archie's cheeky insouciance and Nero's eccentricities. There is real affection in their relationship; He always thought he had a handkerchief in the breast pocket of his coat, but rarely did, so I went to the drawer where I kept a stack for him and got one and handed it to him. But there is never any doubt who is boss!. Archie may give a bit of

5 Stars. What a character Stout created! This is our first encounter with Nero Wolfe - even more eccentric than Christie's Poirot. He drinks 5 quarts of beer a day, is an expert on orchids which he tends faithfully, has no patience for interruptions, charges outrageous fees, can barely move because of his obesity, and remembers all slights from years past. More importantly, he's a detecting genius. We follow the story through the eyes of his competent but extremely opinionated assistant Archie G...

I'm givin' this sucka three stars, seeee?! Ya wanna make somethin' of it, tough guy?...Yeah, that's what I thought.Actually, Fre-de-Lance by Rex Stout is more cerebral than "tough guy" as far as detective fiction goes. Oh sure, there's some strong-arm scenes and a line like "Don't try no funny stuff, ya got me pal-y?" wouldn't be out of place here. However, as many of those kinds of phrases as you find, you'll discover just as many classical allusions and erudite quote-ables. This is due to the

I bought this book several years ago when I was trying to expand my mystery novel reading beyond Agatha Christie. I remember reading the first few pages before becoming bored and tossing it aside in favor of a more contemporary work. I picked it up about a week ago, expecting a quick, fun read, but was sorely disappointed.I found myself disliking nearly every character in the book, including the corpulent, agoraphobic Nero Wolfe and his closest employee, the wise-cracking, milk-drinking Archie G...

Having been a lover of mysteries most of my life, there are some characters that crop up again and again. Nero Wolfe is one of them and yet, for some reason, I had never tried any books featuring this classic fictional investigator and decided to give the series a try. “Fer-De-Lance,” is the first book in the series; although the characters seem quite settled, even at this stage, and there are references to past events which means that you feel you are already in a settled series.Published in 19...

The mystery itself is solid, but this lumbers along at a slow pace, and has more pages than are probably needed to tell this story, so that took some of the enjoyment out of it for me. This is my first Nero Wolfe novel, and Nero's character is not fully understandable to me based on just reading this novel. I understand he is a obese genius, but I am not sure if he is just lazy (refusing to ever leave his home and making Archie do all the legwork) or if he has a mental disorder that leaves him i...

"... And the purpose of the inset? Since everything in life must have a purpose except the culture of Orchidaceae."If Fer-de-Lance weren't a first book, I probably would have rated it three stars. But you know how that first-book magic works. You get to know the characters, you learn to love them--and surplus stars happen. Nero Wolfe became one of my favourite fictional sleuths a mere couple of minutes after his introduction. He is a sui generis aesthete, a lover of beauty for beauty's sake (esp...