Pfui

"The Doorbell Rang," Previewed by Lewis Nichols, New York Times, October 24, 1965

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From the New York Times, October 24, 1965:

"Nero has been solving sinister problems since "Fer-de-Lance" in 1934. "The Doorbell Rang" is the 30th Nero Wolfe book, or if you wish to add omnibus collections, the 35th Nero Wolfe book, both numbers as round as Nero is, in life, rotund. No one has ever bothered to figure officially the sales, but Nero has appeared in 22 languages, and Mr. Stout would give an unchecked guess that total sales have been about 40,000,000 copies."--Lewis Nichols

"Royal Flush" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, August 15, 1965

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From the New York Times, August 15, 1965:

"Reprint Dept.: Rex Stout's ROYAL FLUSH (Viking. $3.95), the fourth Nero Wolfe omnibus, contains "Fer-de-Lance" (1934), the historic Wolfe debut; "Murder by the Book" (1951), one of the best middle-period Stouts; and "Three Witnesses" (1956), a trio of fine novelettes including the classic "Die Like a Dog"—almost a quarter of a million words of excellent value."

"Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street" by William S. Baring-Gould, Reviewed by Harold C. Schonberg

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From the New York Times, January 30, 1969:

"When Baring-Gould is on facts, he is fine. But when he starts to speculate, his enthusiasm leads him to unsupported conclusions. The theory, for example, that Wolfe's parents were Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, and that he is Archie's uncle, has too many holes to be taken seriously. As Wolfe himself might say, shards of data improperly glued together build a grotesque artifact lacking in libratory quality."

From the New York Times, August 12, 1967:

"William Stuart Baring Gould, an author and authority on Sherlock Holmes, died of a stroke last night at the Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco. He was 54 year old and lived on East Wood Road.

"Mr. Baring-Gould was preparing a "biography" of Nero Wolfe, the detective created by Rex Stout. Scheduled for publication before the end of the year is his "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes," a collection of all the Holmes stories written by Conan Doyle, who died in 1930."

"A Right to Die" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, October 25, 1964

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From the New York Times, October 25, 1964:

"Mike Shayne made his debut in 1939; five years earlier, Rex. Stout introduced one of the immortals among series detectives, Nero Wolfe, who has had few better novel-length cases than A RIGHT TO DIE (Viking, $3.50). Here Wolfe has a Negro client, to say nothing of a few Negro suspects, and his murder investigation is largely entangled with the affairs of R.O.C.C. (the Rights of Citizens Committee). Mr. Stout handles black-white relationships with honesty, intelligence and wit. The unconventional situation presents Wolfe as a more fully-dimensioned character than usual and stimulates his creator to one of his best puzzles."

"Trio for Blunt Instruments" Reviewed by John Canaday

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"The new stories run true to formula, which for fans is a primary pleasure. Nero Wolfe's lips push in and out, in and out, when he is in the throes of revelation. Archie ogles the girls and is innocently narcissistic about his build and his dancing. Inspector Cramer gets red in the face. And Archie, when all labors are done, goes off to relax with Lily Rowan, leaving the reader in a speculative glow as to the raptures involved. Mr. Stout could perform a great public service by being more, specific about this delectable creature's ad-dress. She lives somewhere in the East Seventies. But he is too cagey."

From the New York Times, May 28, 1964.

"The Mother Hunt" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, August 4, 1963

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"Standard detectives at work: Nero Wolfe faces a weak whodunit problem, unsolvable by the reader, in Rex Stout's THE MOTHER HUNT (Viking, $3.50); his acerbity, however, is as enjoyable as ever, and there's some fine investigation of a baby's parentage (father probable, mother unknown, to reverse the usual order) . . ."

from New York Times, August 4, 1963.

"The Final Deduction" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, October 22, 1961

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"Readers of the latest Rex Stout novel, THE FINAL DEDUCTION (Viking, $2.95), will learn, among other things, an unfamiliar word (subdolous) and a brand-new motive for crime—both most astutely deployed by Nero Wolfe and his creator."

"Five of a Kind" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, July 30, 1961

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"A less arguable omnibus [than the first Fleming omnibus, GILT-EDGED BONDS (Macmillan, $4.95)] stars Nero Wolfe in Rex Stout's FIVE OF A KIND (Viking, $3.95) which contains the fine early vintage "The Rubber Band" (1936), the preposterous but enjoyable "In the Best Families" (1950), in which Wolfe duels with his own equivalent of Moriarty, and the three novelettes gathered in 1950 as "Three Doors to Death"—including "Door to Death" itself, one of my high favorites among Wolfe's shorter cases."

"One virtue I must acknowledge: nobody writes about gambling better than Fleming, and the first half of "Casino" is a brilliant novelette. From there on, I wish somebody would tell me why this is fun for so many."

"Too Many Clients" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, November 20, 1960

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, November 20, 1960.

"Wolfe happens to possess a fragment of inside information on the murder of an unusually whole-hearted satyr. Problem: How to parlay this fragment into a sizeable fee from a client?"

"3 At Wolfe's Door" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, May 15, 1960

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"Personal favorite: "The Rodeo Murder," with a lariat contest on Park Avenue and the first opportunity I can recall to get acquainted with Archie's Lily Rowan, who is usually kept discreetly offstage."

William Shatner as Archie Goodwin?, March 14, 1959

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from New York Times, March 14, 1959.

"William Shatner has been signed to star with Kurt Kasznar in a pilot film that may be the basis for a 'Nero Wolfe' television series."

"Report on Criminals at Large" by Anthony Boucher, January 4, 1959

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"Champagne for One" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, January 4, 1959

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, January 4, 1959.

"Archie Goodwin happens to attend a dinner party for unwed mothers, at which an 'impossible' champagne-poisoning furnishes Nero Wolfe with 'a devil of a problem, with monstrous difficulties in an disagreeable context.' It's Wolfe's best book-length case in some years, combining an adroit puzzle with the most agreeably disrespectful treatment of maternity...."

"Champagne for One" Display Advertisement November 30, 1958

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Display advertisement from New York Times, November 30, 1958.

"At a party for unwed mothers, Archie meets a murderer and Nero discovers his identity. The new Nero Wolfe mystery novel."

Mystery Guild Display Advertisement, October 5, 1958.

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Display advertisement, New York Times, October 5, 1958.

"In Before I Die, you meet a man who died for a pork chop."

"And Four To Go" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, July 13, 1958

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, July 13, 1958.

"Oddly, each is a case in which Wolfe is not hired by a client, but trapped by circumstance; however, his astute professionalism (and Mr. Stout's) is as evident as ever in these highly satisfactory novelties."

"Reprint Department,"All Aces," April 22, 1958

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, April 22, 1958.

"[I]n all, a quarter of a million of Archie Goodwin's choicest words, and grand value."

"All Aces" Display Advertisement April 18, 1958

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From display advertisement, New York Times, April 18, 1958.

"Wolfe In a Lady's Clothing," March 24, 1958

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From "Random Notes in Washington," New York Times, March 24, 1958.

Rex Stout Testifies, March 20, 1958

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From "Freedom of Arts Held Threatened," New York Times, March 20, 1958.

"If Death Ever Slept" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, November 3, 1957

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, November 3, 1957.

"Fair warning: Don't waste time (as I did) poring over the seven pages of fine-print timetables that are supposed to contain the key to the solution. They don't."

"Reprint Dept." July 21, 1957

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, July 21, 1957.

"Might As Well Be Dead" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, November 25, 1956

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, November 25, 1956.

"Readers who have followed this outsized private eye in his long career will welcome his latest exploit, even though the telling is a bit under par."

"He Wanted to Cook, and He Did" by Rex Stout, August 21, 1955

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From New York Times, August 21, 1955.

"This book fooled me. A book titled "International Chef" would surely be about cooking and would therefore have many recipes. But it hasn't."

"How Like A God" Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, May 22, 1955

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From "Criminals at Large," by Anthony Boucher, New York Times, May 22, 1955.

"...[W]holly unlike Stout's later work, it's a striking anticipation of the modern school of psychological suspense, and even more welcome today than when it originally appeared."