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Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe

© Linda Kinkead

In the short lived television show called Nero Wolfe, where Wolfe was played by William Conrad and Archie was played by Lee Horsley, the elevator was one of those elegantly adorned wire cage types that were so beautiful and are so rare now. Reruns of this series have returned on Nick at Night's TVLand. I saw an episode today and I remember enjoying them when they first aired 1981, but at that time I had not read any of the books and now comparing the two, I can see why it was canceled so quickly. The formula which Rex Stout created by having Archie narrate was disrupted by frequent scenes of the bad guys interacting and planning ways to foil Wolfe, including shooting at Archie from a moving car, which never would have happened in the books. In the books we were never privy to the bad guys' true characters until Wolfe was ready to point his finger.

On the second floor is Wolfe's bedroom, Archie's bedroom and the guest room (which Cramer is sure Wolfe is using to hide someone he (Cramer) is looking for) and the glass roofed third floor holds the orchids and a small den where Theodore sleeps.

I had wrongly believed that the Nero Wolfe series was the only one Rex Stout wrote. He also wrote a three-volume series featuring a Native American named Tecumseh Fox, all three of which are delightful stories. Stout also wrote one book which featured Inspector Cramer absent Nero Wolfe. He also wrote several solitary mysteries and at least one non-mystery about Montenegro, but he will always be best known and loved for Nero Wolfe. There is none other like him.

What's New

I just finished reading Lee Harris' new book,The Labor Day Murder. It was great reading as usual and the ending has an unexpected twist. I have not found one of Lee's books anything but extremely entertaining reading. I went to a library book sale last weekend and found a copy of a book Lee wrote in 1984 under her real name. I can't wait to read it.

For those of you in the Northeastern Pennsylvania area, there is going to be a small mystery conference sponsored by The Tudor Book Shop and Cafe on October 11th. It is a very nicely priced conference. There will be a brunch with various authors which I am told will cost $35, ten dollars of which will be applied to merchandise purchases. There will be what sounds to me like a round table discussion in the afternoon which will cost $10. The telephone number and the address are as follows: