About a decade ago, I decided to read all the Nero Wolfe series in order. It took me about a year (work got in the way). Rex Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1975. Some of the Nero Wolfe books are fabulous. My favorite Nero Wolfe novel is The Golden Spiders. The Golden Spiders was published in 1953 when Rex Stout was at the height of his powers. Wolfe is confronted by three murders and a paucity of clues. But the key clue is a pair of golden spider earrings. And the spider metaphor leads Wolfe and Archie to the killer. But the unraveling of the mystery is cunning and the solution is ingenious. I also enjoyed the Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin TV version of The Golden Spiders. I’ve sure other Nero Wolfe fans will have different choices, but if you’re looking for the best Nero Wolfe novel, here it is.
Interesting choice as “Best” Wolfe book. I’ll be curious to see if others (like Art) name their favorites. I liked TOO MANY COOKS a lot.
Jeff, I’m sure other Rex Stout books will be nominated as the “Best” Nero Wolfe mystery. But THE GOLDEN SPIDERS is my choice!
Here’s a Top Five off the top: And Be a Villain, Murder By the Book, Some Buried Caesar, Too Many Women, The Silent Speaker. Golden Spiders is certainly in my Top 10. There’s no contest for the worst, it’s Please Pass the Guilt.
Yes, Some Buried Caesar was another favorite of mine too.
Jeff & Art, SOME BURIED CAESAR is right up there with the best Nero Wolfe mysteries.
Art, I can agree with your five choices. Something about THE GOLDEN SPIDERS clicked with me in a way none of the other Nero Wolfe mysteries did. And I liked Timothy Hutton/Maury Chaykin version of THE GOLDEN SPIDERS, too!
Over at Pattinase, Patti supplies a link to Terry Teachout’s tribute to Stout in his blog, from 2009. He supplies a personal Top Ten list, all worthy, and I was pleased to see 4 of my 5 on it. Missing is And Be a Villain, and I’m guessing he’s not fond of it because it’s part of the Arnold Zeck story line (for those not in the know, Zeck was Wolfe’s Moriarty, and it took 3 books to finish him). I’m not keen on the Zecks either, but he’s a minor element in Villain, the 1st book, and there are too many great scenes in it to leave it out; and I especially love the radio broadcasting background.
Art. I’ll check out Terry Teachout’s list. Thanks for the heads-up!
At a Bouchercon panel in Long Beach Max Collins singled out The Golden Spiders as an example of how Stout is unappreciated as a pioneering stylist in the breezy, colloquial first person private eye manner (through Archie’s “voice”) that everyone associates with the “hardboiled” school. And indeed, the scene in the garage basement – torture and gunplay – is worthy of the best of Black Mask.
Art, the garage basement scene is one of my favorites in the Nero Wolfe canon!
A bit OT:
George, how did you manage to read so many books – and even remember the stories and the names in them?
I have read maybe 5000 SF books (and of course other stuff, maybe a few hundred detective novels and I remember names like Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe …) – nut I couldn’t give you a synopsis of most of them …
Wolf, I keep track of my reading using a Microsoft ACCESS data base. I seem to only remember the really good books–and the really bad books!
I think I’ve read most of the Nero Wolfe books, but don’t have a specific memory of Golden Spiders. The one I remember liking best is Black Mountain. IIRC, the only one Nero travelled in, to Montenegro.
OT: I remember at the SF Bouchercon, my friend Nancy was looking for Stout’s daughter. She was attending, and they have mutual friends. (both live in La Jolla). We actually ran into her while waiting for the elevator. She was very nice and invited us to her house for tea, an invitation that we sadly never followed up.
Maggie, had you visited Rex Stout’s daughter for tea, you might have seen some wonderful Nero Wolfe First Editions!
Either this is one I haven’t read or else it made no impression on me. I have read and remember the others Art listed, however.
Rick, if you haven’t read THE GOLDEN SPIDERS you’re in for a real treat!
George, THE GOLDEN SPIDERS was the first Nero Wolfe book I ever read (and it was in that paperback edition, too!) but certainly not the last. My own personal favorite is THE DOORBELL RANG, perhaps because I could imagine the joy Stout got when putting it to J. Edgar.
Jerry, you started out your Nero Wolfe reading with a winner! I’m fond of THE DOORBELL RANG, too.
Maggie: Wolfe traveled in other books, but not overseas!